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Huskies have good showing at home tournament
For the second year in a row, the University of Regina Cougars
took both the men and women's varsity titles among Canada West
teams at the 2009 Huskie Open Saturday in Saskatoon.
The Cougars were crowned the top team with 61 points on the men's
side and 34 on the women's side of the University of Saskatchewan
hosted tournament. It's the only time in the season that the
Huskies wrestle on home turf.
"The support we have in Saskatoon for wrestling is wonderful," said
Huskie head coach Todd Hinds. "We hide what we do in a special room
and people don't get to see what we do daily. So thank you for
coming out. I'm really pleased with the tournament."
The Cougars had eight men and five women finish in the top three.
On the men's side, the Huskies finished second followed by the
University of Alberta Golden Bears, the University of Calgary Dinos
and the Jamestown Jimmies from North Dakota. The Dinos finished
second among the women, followed by the Huskies, Pandas and
Jimmies.
"I'm pleased with how we competed this weekend," said Hinds. "We
are closer to where we want to be come championship time but we
still have some work to do. We had three champions on the men's
side and we had some great performances. We still have some work
but we have a solid team."
On the men's side, Huskies Ryan Myrfield (72-kg), Daniel Olver
(76-kg) and Tim Kent (130-kg) all won gold medals for the Huskies.
Beth Thompson (90-kg) was the only gold medalist for the Huskie
women's team. Thompson won the medal wrestling up a weight
class.
Chris Hobman (82-kg) had the next best finish with a silver medal,
while Landon Squires (90-kg) and Shane Johnson (50-kg) rounded out
the Huskie medal winners both winning bronze. Banain Cote
(61-kg) and Deepak Grover (50-kg) finished fourth, Alex Kelly
(68-kg) finished fifth, Mark Downing (57-kg) and Paul Beaton
(76-kg) sixth, Joseph Moser (130-kg) seventh and Adam Burbage
(76-kg) ninth.
Lindsay Wickstrom (48-kg) finished with a silver medal after
defeating a major opponent for the first time in the semifinal. She
lost to the reigning CIS champion in the gold medal bout. Koren
Pitkethly (55-kg) also won silver. Huskie women's captain
Jill Gallays wrestled up a class in 59-kg. She was upset in the
semifinal and won the bronze medal. Natasha Kramble (51-kg) also
finished with bronze.
The Saskatoon Wrestling Club finished first on both the men and
women's side at the tournament. Bryan Blackwell (54-kg), who will
join the Huskie squad in January, won the silver medal. Former
Huskie wrestlers and now assistant coaches Jeff Adamson (90-kg),
Ryley Walker (65-kg) and Megan Buydens (67-kg) all won gold
medals.
"They were all dominant in their weight classes," said Hinds. "To
have our assistant coaches and former Huskie athletes display a
high level of wrestling is good for our younger wrestlers."
Dino Jarrie Barker (59-kg) was handed the most outstanding women's
wrestler of the meet award, while Golden Bear Jason Wass won the
award on the men's side.
The Huskies will hit the mat next in Edmonton at the Golden Bear
Open January 9-10.
Full
Individual Results
Team
Results
