Pin it to win it

It’s not the way Brock Curtis wanted Lakehead’s men’s team to enter the CIS national wrestling championships.

Curtis, who coaches both LU squads, said the disappointment of a fourth-place result at the OUA’s two weeks ago in Thunder Bay means the defending league co-champions are a long-shot at best to take home a national title.

“For the men’s side, for us to challenge for the team title, we would pretty much need all golds,” said Curtis, helping launch the national tournament, which will be staged at the C.J. Saunders Fieldhouse on Friday and Saturday.

It may sound like a tall task, but it’s not something Curtis is willing to rule out of the realm of possibility just yet.

“You know what, they’re all capable of it, it’s just that they have some tough pools and they’re going to have to go through some tough No. 1 seeds to get to the championship match,” Curtis said.

All six members of the women’s squad who competed at the OUAs qualified, leaving the team two short of a full complement on that side of the ring.

Individual weight classes each have eight wrestlers competing this weekend, with each class divided into a pair of pools of four wrestlers each.

Each athlete will wrestle the other three people in their pool on Friday. The person with the top record in each pool will advance to Saturday’s final. The second-place finishers will square off for bronze, with the remainder fighting for placement.

The men’s and women’s team with the most points on Saturday will be crowned the national champion.

Curtis said while the team titles might be out of reach because of numbers, there are plenty of Lakehead athletes who can expect to fight for gold this weekend.

He’s particularly excited about the chances of the women’s team.

“I think Nicky Plummer, Aislynn Torfason and Jessica Bershatsky are capable of doing it,” he said.

Plummer took the 82-kilogram title at the OUAs, while Torfason topped the 59-kilogram category.

For others, like Jes Smith, a silver medalist two weeks ago, and Alexei Kreps, who took bronze, it’s their first time at nationals and a real opportunity to build experience going forward.

“Of course, you never know what can happen, but I think this is a great experience for them. They’re not necessarily going for gold, but they can do very well,” Curtis said.

“On the guy’s side, every single one of those guys are capable of getting gold. Some of the weight classes, they’ve got bigger names to go through than others. But certainly Gaston Tardif (OUA gold medalist) and Colten Woznow, Dustin Helwig and Trevor Steffler are capable of anything.”

Steffler, a Whitby, Ont. native who finished third at the OUA championship, said he feels good about his chances at nationals, where the competition is bound to be stronger, but the crowd is definitely going to be on his side.

“It feels nice to wrestle in front of friends and family in the local gym. I’m just trying to wrap my head around it. It’s a pretty exciting time,” he said.

It’s also a chance to throw some attention on a sport that the school has enjoyed enormous success competing at, but little attention as it almost always happens away from home.
“It’s a great opportunity to see what we’re all about.”

He’s trying not to put too much pressure on himself before hitting the mats on Friday morning.

“It’s not too important to do well. The thing is it’s more of individual performance. They want to wrestle well in front of their friends and family.”

Other teams competing include McMaster, Toronto, Western, Guelph, Brock, Queen’s, New Brunswick, Concordia, Memorial, Saskatchewan, Regina, Calgary and Alberta.

Regina is the No. 1-ranked team on the men’s side, while Calgary is tops in the women’s division. Lakehead is seventh in men’s and tied for fifth in women’s.