Press Release - Roberts Rumble
Post date: Dec 5, 2011 7:46:02 AM
Members from the Senior ADSS Wrestling team competed at the Roberts Rumble at Simon Fraser University on the weekend. For many of the elite Armada wrestlers it was their first competition of the season. Teams were made up from regional clubs and many of the top wrestlers from around the province were present.
The Alberni Boys Team finished 3rd overall in this dual meet tournament. In this type of tournament format teams compete head to head at each weight class. Points are awarded to teams based on how a wrestler wins or loses. The format makes for exciting and spectator friendly battles between teams.
“We brought most of our top male wrestlers to this competition. It is an important tournament to go to because it is an indicator of how we compare to the other top wrestlers and teams around the province at this point early in the season. It helps us gauge where are at and where we need to focus our development,” commented Alberni coach James Messenger. “There was an Island Wrestling tournament happening in Chemanius on Saturday as well. A number of our younger and intermediate wrestlers elected to attend this tournament instead. The result was we had a few empty weight classes and had to forfeit 2 or 3 matches before the dual meet even started. A third place finish was remarkable given this fact.”
The Alberni team faced four different teams in dual meet competition. In the opening round robin dual the Alberni team lost to eventual championship team from Central Burnaby. The Alberni team rebounded quickly with a 26 – 11 victory over the Tri-Cities All Stars. In cross over play despite winning just as many matches the Alberni team fell to an elite team from Abbotsford 24 – 19. In the bronze final the Armada team won 26 – 24 against South Burnaby.
Two ADSS boys went undefeated to claim their individual weight class titles and lead the Alberni team to their third place finish. Grade 10 wrestler Jesse Wagner was a perfect 4-0 in the 50 kilogram division. Grade 9 standout Nolan Badovinac went 3-0 including one dramatic come from behind victory to win the 69 kilogram division. Grade 12 wrestler, Wes Boris also went undefeated to win his two exhibition matches at 69 kilograms. The only female to make the trip, Grade 12 Daley Forbes proved she is going to be tough to beat this season going relatively unchallenged in two exhibition matches at 80 kilograms.
At 76 kilograms Grade 12 wrestler Cullen Hines went 2 -1. Hines’ only loss was to Provincial and National medalist Jaskarn Ranu who wrestled for Central Burnaby. Hines had this to say about his performance, “I am not very happy with that loss. I was in a position to win at the end of the match and I ran out of gas. I obviously need to get my cardio up a bit.” Coach Messenger was quick to chime in on Hines’ critical assessment. “I know Cullen was frustrated with that loss. At this point in the season I am not too worried about the outcome right now. He had two good wins against tough opponents as well. The good thing is we know what we did well and we know how to improve.”
Other Alberni wrestlers winning matches for the day included Jordan Wagner (2-2 at 54 kilograms) and Russell David (2 – 3 at 50 kilograms).
The next action for the Armada Wrestling Team will be next week when the team travels back to SFU for the War on the Floor Tournament. There will be novice and elite divisions at the tournament and it is expected that the team will be bringing as many wrestlers as they can to get some competition prior to the Christmas Break.