By William Bailey
Grace Postma started off the Canadian Wrestling Championships with a bang for the host National Capital Wrestling Club on Thursday at TD Place, winning her two first matches en route to a silver medal performance in the under-17 cadet women’s 46-kilogram division.
Postma added the first national podium of her career to the provincial silver medal and Ontario Winter Games gold medal she won in February, in Markham and Thunder Bay respectively.
“She’s having a really good season,” highlights NCWC head coach Chris Schwauren. “Last year, she was scoring lots of points, but sometimes she’d be giving up lots of points too. What she’s really cleaned up this season is just her positional defence, so she’s not giving up a lot of points.”
Schwauren says Postma’s 8-2 and 3-0 victories over Oromocto’s Emerald Kingsbury and Saskatoon’s Elaine King were “very good tactical matches” and a sign of the discipline she’s developed.
“When Grace is doing well, she’s focusing on the little things like head position, good stance, taking one position at a time and not getting stressed out and trying to finish the match right away,” notes Schrauwen, whose athlete went on to lose 8-2 to Team Impact’s Adsaya Piranavan in her final match.
“She does have good offensive attacks, but she’s selective, picking the attacks when they’re there, when her opponents are in danger or leave openings. Not just going all out right off the bat.”
Postma was the most successful of the four NCWC athletes in action of the first of four competition days, held on the TD Place arena floor that’s usually ice for PWHL Ottawa and the 67’s hockey teams.
~~~~~~~~~ Advertisement ~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~ Advertisement ~~~~~~~~~
Hannah Stoneburg, who went 4-1 last week in Hamilton to win silver at the OFSAA provincial championships for Nepean High School, lost both her nationals matches by pinfall in the U17 women’s 57 kg event. Ayden Gilbert Parsons and Rozen Cundell-Trieselmann were also winless in their respective U17 women’s 53 kg and U17 men’s 65 kg categories.
On the heels of a 7-1 performance and an OFSAA bronze medal for St. Mother Teresa Catholic High School, Titus Diceman was pinned twice in the U20 men’s 86 kg national competition on Friday, while NCWC’s Elliot Fleming won his second of three matches in the U20 men’s 70 kg event. Both have entered Sunday’s greco-roman competition.
Schwauren says “it’s a really good opportunity” for less experienced athletes “to see the big stage in their hometown.”
“It kind of makes it a little more attainable,” he explains. “It is super high pressure, but as you walk out, a lot of the volunteers are friendly faces they know, which might help ease their stress levels.”
Before the junior finals on Friday evening, 2016 Olympic champion Erica Wiebe was honoured by the hometown crowd after officially announcing her retirement on Wednesday.
As decorated of a career as she may have had, Schwauren believes Wiebe’s impact on wrestling extends well beyond medals and accolades.
“I’d say she’s a big inspiration for all of the young girls, and we do have a good girls’ base in Ottawa,” underlines Wiebe’s former youth teammate. “Some of that is just seeing someone from Ottawa on TV wrestling and people could look at that and say ‘OK, that could be me’.
“She’s been a great ambassador for the sport over the years. Her success has been a big part of wrestling in Canada, in terms of funding and opportunities for other girls.”
The 2024 Canadian Wrestling Championships will continue with the senior contestants set to face-off at TD Place on Saturday, followed by greco-roman competition on Sunday. A half-dozen local athletes will wrestle in senior events, with a few more in greco-roman.
“We’re excited to host,” Schwauren indicates. “It’s been fun so far just having everybody from the country be here. It’s a good stage to showcase what wrestling is to the town.”
– with files from Dan Plouffe