 photo submitted - Medicine HatÕs Caleb Donahue pins his opponent during the LCI Green and Gold Tournament Saturday in Lethbridge. |
Three years ago a tiny Medicine Hat wrestling team ventured to its first tournament with no experience, let alone proper singlets or shoes.
This past weekend the Hawks returned to Lethbridge's LCI Green and Gold Tournament with big expectations.
While coach Darren Klein notes many newcomers are in the fold this year, there's now plenty of veteran leadership and lots of medals to go around.
"This tournament has been a great gauge of our learning and direction for our program as we aim toward provincial competition in three weeks," he wrote in a press release Monday.
With members as young as five the competitive high schoolers did enough to earn a third-place team finish at the tournament. Coreen Riley and Brayden Scott both dominated en route to gold medal results at LCI, while Rielen Anton narrowly lost his final and had to settle for silver. Caleb Donahue, who in Klein's words started slow but finished well, also took second.
Four athletes earned third-place finishes. Jon Reiger and Jon Heninger both lost to the eventual gold medal winners in their respective divisions, but rebounded with bronze medal wins instead. Rookies Amber Henderson and Spencer Weselosky also finished with bronze, showing "a great deal of strength and promise as we head into High River next weekend and then onto Rural Provincials after that."
Rurals are Feb. 24 and 25 in Bonnyville.
