聽 聽 聽 聽 聽 聽 Tianna Kennett recently grappled her way to gold at the Canadian Junior and Senior Wrestling Championships in St. Catherines, Ontario. Her trip to the top of the podium earned the Manor native and University of Calgary nursing student a second year on Team Canada's wrestling roster and a chance to compete (in her 59 kg weight class) for her country in June at the Pan-American United World Wrestling Championships in Lima, Peru and at the Junior World Championships in Finland in August.
听听听听听听听听听听听 鈥淭his year was a lot different than last year,鈥� says the Manor native, who now studies and trains at the University of Calgary, as a member of the school's Dinos Women's wrestling team. 鈥淚 was competing aganst an entirely different group of people and I had no idea who I was wrestling against or what the outcome would be.鈥�
听听听听听听听听听听听 Kennett overcame a knee injury (ACL-anterior cruciate ligament) and although she made it to Nationals, the athlete says the experience was a sobering one.
听听听听听听听听听听听 鈥淏asically, I thought I was bulletproof in a sense,鈥� she says. 鈥淓veryone gets bumps and bruises when they're wrestling, but mentally, it was really tough.鈥�
听听听听听听听听听听听 鈥淚t happened right before I was to compete as part of Team Canada in Azerbaijan,鈥� says Kennett. 鈥淭he coaches made their decision and the trip was cancelled two days before I was supposed to leave. Then, I was off the mats for three months.鈥�
听听听听听听听听听听听 鈥淚 got injured - the ACL in my left knee 鈥� in November, 2016. It ruptured and although it hurts a lot in the beginning, later, not so much. I went into the doctor feeling great, but there was a lot of swelling.鈥�
听听听听听听听听听听听 鈥淎fter seeing two doctors, I was looking at surgery,鈥� she says. 鈥淎ll of a sudden, physically, I can't do something I've done for six years. It was hard to stay off that one. I walked with a brace for quite a while.鈥�
听听听听听听听听听听听 鈥淭he whole process really added to my nerves,鈥� adds Kennett. I'd never been injured in my career before. I've done rehab and I'm still doing it.鈥�
听听听听听听听听听听听 鈥淏ut it was hard to get cleared for some competitions and it was tough mentally not to compete on that Senior Team Canada trip to Azerbaijan.鈥�
听听听听听听听听听听听 鈥淎 lot of competitions running up to Nationals in St. Catherines were just a few weeks apart. And although I knew I'd probably be cleared to compete in St. Catherines, as an athlete, it's always a question of: 'Is it safe (to compete)?'鈥�
听听听听听听听听听听听 鈥淪o the second time at Nationals was really different than the first time,鈥� says Kennett.
听听听听听听听听听听听 鈥淲hen I made it to Nationals last year, I didn't expect it at all,鈥� she explains. 鈥淭his time, returning and defending, I had kind of a personal expectation, because of the injury.鈥�
听听听听听听听听听听听 鈥淣ot many people knew about (the injury), so for me, the entire experience was kind of a triumph and really exciting in that way.鈥�
听听听听听听听听听听听 Although her gold medal now means Kennett will represent Canada in Peru and Finland this summer, she is no stranger to international competition, which poses unique challenges for competitors.
听听听听听听听听听听听 She has already wrestled in Austria, Brazil, China, France, Germany and Italy and says: 鈥淭his summer, I'll be competing in Lima, Peru and Finland. In Finland, we'll be dealing with disrupted sleep patterns and stuff. We don't fly to those destinations a lot of days in advance, so we do deal with jet lag. In a place like Lima, it will be a question of dealing with how hot it is. When I've competed in Pan-Ams previously, the venues in really hot places weren't air-conditioned, so there were some things I had to change in my warm-up.鈥�
听听听听听听听听听听听 鈥淐ompeting against international athletes, you'll find they have different styles and a lot of that is a case of what different countries do and how their coaches train their athletes.鈥�
听听听听听听听听听听听 When asked how she juggles her nursing studies at the University of Calgary with her wrestling career, Kennett says: 鈥淲omen's wrestling's not for everyone, but I found my fit. I'm really passionate about both nursing and wrestling. I'm stubborn, so I make it work.鈥�
听听听听听听听听听听听 鈥淚t's all I've ever done and I think I'll just keep wrestling until I don't want to do it anymore.鈥�
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