Torfason fourth to lead 'Wolves women at CIS championships
A contingent of eight men’s and four women’s Thunderwolves wrestlers made the trip west to Calgary for the CIS Championships, Friday and Saturday at the University of Calgary. When the dust settled men’s wrestlers Steve Gross (Cambridge, Ontario), Gaston Tardif (Calgary) and Corey Lee (La Salle, Ontario) each earned bronze medals to lead the team.
The three bronze medals helped the Thunderwolves men to a fourth place team finish with 35 total points. Heading into the tournament, the men’s squad was tied with Concordia at fourth in the CIS rankings. The Stingers finished fifth as a team, one point behind LU while Simon Fraser successfully defended their national title and were well ahead of second place UNB and third place Regina.
Lee’s ascent back to the national podium was a gruelling one as the senior inched his way up from a fifth place finish in 2008 and a fourth in 2009 after winning bronze in 2007 as a freshman. The hard-earned bronze medal adds to his OUA gold in the 82 kg division.
Also an OUA champion, junior Gaston Tardif performed well in front of his hometown crowd to add a bronze in the 57 kg weight class to his silver from last year.
A surprise medalist in Calgary was Gross, a sophomore who was also a bronze medalist at last month’s provincial championships. Matching his OUA bronze at the CIS tournament was unexpected, but an encouraging sign for a grappler with three years of varsity sports eligibility remaining.
OUA heavyweight silver medalist Preston Mikulasik (Thunder Bay) was fourth while OUA Champion freshman Dustin Helwig (Belfountain, Ontario) was fifth among 61 kg wrestlers. Scott Christian (Brampton, Ontario) and Brandon Gardner (Thunder Bay) were sixth in the 68 kg and 90 kg groups, respectively, while Jason Bresele (Thunder Bay) was seventh in the 65 kg class.
On the women’s side, OUA 59 kg champion Aislynn Torfason (Winnipeg) was fourth as the sophomore improved from her fifth place finish in 2009. She was the top finisher for the Lakehead women who settling into ninth place as a team with 14 points. Simon Fraser’s women completed the team sweep with 56 points, edging out host Calgary by two points while Western was third.
Junior Laurel Knowles (Desbarats, Ontario) was fifth in the 63 kg weight class while senior Nicole Plummer (Windsor, Ontario) was sixth in the 82 kg class and fellow senior Katelyn Proulx (Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario) with seventh.
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Last Edited: March 8th, 2010
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