The Maple Ridge Ramblers had three wrestlers at the national championships in Calgary last month, and came away with gold and bronze medals.
Graduating superstar Agnia Krakovska, who had only one point scored against her all season, took gold in the U-19 women's 57 kg class.
She won one match with an impressive suplex throw, as she launched her opponent onto her back, and won by an immediate pin called a touche. Her coach Kevin Menic said it's a move that shows a wrestlers dominance.
The honours keep coming for Krakovska, who was named the Sport BC High School Female Athlete of the Year in March. She won gold at the high school provincial championships in February, and was chosen the top female wrestler at the tournament.
She also won at the national championships last year, took bronze at the under-17 Pan American Championships, and was the under-17 Canadian World Team Trials champion.
Krakovska will vie for a spot on the national team again, this time at the U20 level, as an 18-year-old, with trials taking place at the end of the month. The Junior Pan American Games will be held in Paraguay in August.
In the U17 men's Greco style, Tyson Deane-Freeman took bronze in the 60 kg class. He won three matches, lost in the semi-final to the eventual champion, but finished on the podium for the third time in his wrestling career.
The Grade 10 had already won national silver as a Grade 8, and bronze as a Grade 9.
Greco is a style that prohibits wrestlers from grabbing their opponent's legs, and it works well for Deane-Freeman
"The way he wrestles – he likes to throw a lot, and pick his opponents up," said Ramblers coach Kevin Menic. "So it was an easy transition to Greco for him."
He also won a silver medal at the BC Games in his hometown last summer, and finished fourth at provincials.
Grade 11 Linden Sinow-Horton also fought at nationals, but he pulled a muscle in his shoulder during the Greco semi-finals, and had to settle for a sixth-place finish in the 92 kg class.
He won bronze at provincials, numerous other tournament medals, and had a gold medal at the BC Summer Games last summer.
Menic said Sinow-Horton will be the male team captain of the Ramblers in his Grade 12 year.
"Linden and Tyson are looking like they'll be great leaders next year," said Menic.
