WILKIE — McLurg High School sent a team of six boys and three girls to compete in SHSAA regional wrestling at Outlook March 5, with Unity Composite High School also sending a couple of boys, all coached by Wilkie’s Chris Kent.
Dominating the podium, the boys brought home a total of seven medals: four gold, two silver and one bronze. The girls were also at the top of their game, winning one silver and two gold medals.
Andy Gallernault, awarded the gold medal in the 69 kilogram class, was also recognized for having the most “tech falls” of the tournament and the fastest technical overall. A match is whistled over and a wrestler is awarded a technical fall over his or her opponent once he or she reaches a 10-point advantage.
Gold medal winner Kaidin McGinnis, in the 62 kilogram class, had the highest single match points of all 62 wrestlers competing.
Arhya Thomas was fast on her feet, earning a silver medal and the distinction of making both the first and second fastest pins in the tournament enroute to her medal win. Her only loss came in the 56 kilogram class gold medal match, and that was to McLurg teammate Zara Meier.
Also winning gold were Piper Kent on the girls’ side and Scott Huber and Darren Toothill in the boys’ competition.
Silver medal winners were Cody Bleier of Wilkie and Shawn Dyck of Unity. UCHS’s Steyn Hoogstad won the bronze.
The only athlete coached by Kent not to medal this time around was McLurg’s Daylin Leslie, who is new to wrestling and had only participated in five practices before the tournament. Kent said Daylin “showed tremendous heart … [and I] can’t wait to see what he can do next year.”
Kent pointed out that McLurg once again won the 3A male regional team title “and were only seven points behind the 5A male team champs who had almost double our wrestlers. The boys also achieved the most tech falls in the least amount of time, doubling the school behind them."
Even with only three girls competing, McLurg was second in the 3A female regional team competition, only two points away from winning. Kent was excited to share, “They finished with a 90 per cent winning percentage.”
All medal winners will now move on to provincial competition, being held at Evan Hardy School in Saskatoon March 18 and 19.
