Written by Sarah Dunstan
After a triumphant reign at the Brock Invitational in St. Catharines, Guelph wrestlers didn’t fare as well as they’d hoped at the Guelph Open this past Saturday in the W.F. Mitchell Athletic Centre.
The Guelph Open is one of Canada’s largest varsity wrestling tournaments, and one of only two tournaments in Canada in which competitors have the chance to grab national team carding.
As a byproduct of its prestige, the event featured a mix of Canada’s toughest university wrestling teams and clubs, as well as a variety of national team athletes.
Although the Gryphons finished the tournament with seven wrestlers placing in the top three for their respective categories, and an overall team ranking of second place, there was a lingering feeling of disappointment at the Athletic Centre when the matches finished, late Saturday afternoon. While a valiant afternoon of wrestling resulted in Guelph bringing home gold, silver, and bronze medals, the Gryphons didn’t achieve the explosive start to the season that they hoped for.
Despite high hopes for Kyle Grant to place first after his OUA championship title and CIS silver medal in 2008-09, Grant only placed second in the men’s 120kg weight division. Allison Leslie, a former OUA gold medalist who also dominated the women’s 67kg category at the Brock Invitational, placed third in Guelph.
The Gryphons, however, did not leave the tournament empty-handed. Korey Jarvis, who won silver at the Hargobind National carding tournament, defeated Brock wrestler Mike Neufeld to win first place in the men’s 96kg class, and Ohenewa Akufo placed first in women’s 72kg.
The Brock team defeated Guelph by a mere 12 points, scoring 74 points to the Gryphons, 62. The third highest team total came from the Calgary Dino’s Wrestling Club with 51 points, followed by Lakehead with 37, and Missouri Baptist with 23.
Among the numerous Guelph Gryphons and club wrestlers from Guelph who participated in the event was four-year club member and eight-year wrestling aficionado Ryan Lue.
Although Lue attends Conestoga College in Waterloo, he’s been coming to Guelph regularly since he was in his upper years of high school, eventually becoming a dedicated member of the Gryphon Wrestling Club. The club differs in that its members are excluded from ‘university-exclusive’ events, such as those hosted by the OUA and CIS. Otherwise, these club wrestlers enjoy the opportunity to compete in all the same events as the official team.
Lue has the Gryphon wrestling logo permanently tattooed onto his shoulder. The ink is part of an long-standing tradition amongst Guelph wrestlers who place first or second at the national championships. Lue was named Junior National Champion in 2009, and went on to take second place in the men’s 66kg event this past Saturday in Guelph.
The next big event for the Gryphons will be the Canadian Interuniversity Sport Championships at the end of February in Calgary.
While pop culture would suggest that most wrestlers are bloodthirsty monoliths, Lue assures anyone curious about the sport that as long as you’re willing to put in the effort, wrestling can be a rewarding endeavour for anyone.