Prince Rupert high school wrestlers pin medals at tournament

Charles Hays Secondary School wrestling team members were pinned medal winners at the Shas Ti Kelly Road Secondary Wrestling Tournament held in Prince George, on Jan. 7.

The all-day tournament saw wrestlers from throughout the province compete for the first time in a long time, Chantal Meggison, a coach for the team, said.

The tournament had more than 100 competitors attend from as far away as Salmon Arm to Haida Gwaii.

“COVID had really put a damper on sports for such a long time, so seeing our athletes back out there competing again, having fun with big smiles on their faces is truly the biggest win,” she stated to The Northern View.

Five girls competed in the tournament, with Dennay Yaroshuk winning gold in two matches, one with a huge win by a major point lead and still finishing with a pin, Meggison said.

Hannah Kiesman also brought home a gold and wrestled two exhibition matches, one in a higher-weight class against a female competitor and another one against a male competitor from Vanderhoof.

Arian Lewis adorned her neck with a silver medal after wrestling the same competitor for a tough three matches.

Anastasia Watts took fourth place, asserting control throughout all her matches and was dominating but got stuck on some ground moves, Meggison said, adding teammate Kate-lynn Storm has only been wrestling for a short amount of time, less than four weeks, and has shown nothing but promise.

“She brought home third place after giving it her all,” the coach said.

Meggison said the CHSS has been taking an active approach to competition, with two more events coming up shortly. The team is fundraising to travel to zones in Smithers and provincials down south.

The coaching team, made of Head Coach Mark Page, with Kyle Yaroshuk, Jason Watts, Chris Daniele and Meggison helping out, soon realized heavy fundraising was required for much-needed gear and travel for the players to participate in the sport fully and gain experience.