Wrestling with Success

Lakehead Wrestling rounding off an impressive season

Most people believe that wrestling is an individual sport, however this idea couldn’t be any further from the truth.  Our men’s and women’s teams both placed 3rd at the OUA Wrestling championships held during the first weekend of February at Guelph University.

Coach Francis Clayton explains that, “To place third, Lakehead had to put in a team effort. Team points are earned by weight class placings, with 10 points being awarded to the champion and 1 point going to the 8th place finishers for each individual weight class.” He added that the success at the OUA championships was found in “a well-balanced team from the lightest to the heaviest weight division. Every wrestler contributed to the team’s success, and that was nice to see.”

Sourced from thunderwolves.ca

After the success at the OUAs, Lakehead sent 12 athletes to the U Sports Championships held at the University of Calgary. Lakehead had 4 wrestlers who reached the medal rounds: Marco Palermo won the 61 kg weight class, Megan Smith claimed the Bronze medal in the 48 kg weight class, and both Madison Clayton and Jesse Leach placed 4th in their respective weight divisions.

Clayton was happy with these results, noting: “The Lakehead program is made up of mostly first and second year students, which is a good sign for the future. A number of these wrestlers are still training and preparing for National Junior and Senior tournaments as well as National team trials. It is an exciting time to be a Thunderwolf!”