HIGH ACHIEVERS: NCSSAA wrestlers, swimmers excel at OFSAA championships

By Martin Cleary

At the first two rounds of OFSAA high school provincial championships in the fall, Team National Capital Secondary School Athletic Association benefited from the stellar play of its team sports for medals.

The boys’ volleyball and girls’ basketball teams produced one gold and three bronze medals. There also was an antique bronze in field hockey. Cross-country runners provided the individual medals – one gold and one bronze.

The first wave of winter OFSAA championships delivered a more balanced results package of individual and team medals for the NCSSAA.

At the alpine ski championships, racers from Louis-Riel high school and Ashbury College earned a combined six individual medals (three gold, one silver and two bronze) and six team medals (five gold and one bronze).

The nordic ski championships were quite similar as NCSSAA athletes won one gold, one silver and two bronze medals in the individual races and one gold, two silver and two bronze medals in team relays.

There were eight OFSAA championships this week in the second wave of the Ontario high school winter finals, but this time the athletic pendulum swung in favour of athletes competing in individual sports.

The wrestlers and swimmers saved the day for Team NCSSAA as the seven entries in six boys’ basketball and girls’ volleyball tournaments couldn’t reach the medal podium as only two teams qualified for the championship-bracket playoffs.

The NCSSAA qualified 57 student-athletes from its city championships for the OFSAA wrestling finals in Kitchener and emerged with three gold medals.

Fifteen NCSSAA schools were represented at the OFSAA swimming championships and left the Pan Am Sport Centre in Toronto with two gold, one silver and four bronze individual medals, and one silver and one bronze medals in the team relays.

Competing in his third OFSAA wrestling championships, Dexter Bates of Holy Trinity proved unstoppable, winning five straight matches for the gold medal in the boys’ 64-kilogram class. The Grade 11 student-athlete scored 51 points in his wins, but never surrendered a single point.

Bates, who was forced to withdraw from the 2024 OFSAA championships because of a concussion after a second-round win, defeated Aiden O’Neill of Nouvelle-Allian 10-0 in the final, after only 40 seconds.

“In the finals, Dexter pulled out another amazing match, winning the gold medal with a score of 10-0,” NCSSAA wrestling convenor Jason Kirby wrote in an email.

“Not conceding a point at OFSAA wrestling is a feat that seldom occurs. He has a bright future ahead of him and has certainly served notice, he’s the one to beat next year as a senior at Holy Trinity.”

After winning back-to-back bronze medals at the last two OFSAA championships, Mary Ofili of St. Francis Xavier stepped up to capture the gold medal in the girls’ 115-kilogram-plus category. She defeated Jameka Campbell of Sir Frederick Banting 10-0 for her golden moment.

There were only six girls registered in Ofili’s weight class and after receiving three straight byes, she met and eliminated Precious Emeka of Bronte College with a fall in the semifinals.

In her first full season in wrestling as a Grade 12 student-athlete at Gloucester, Audrey Komon rose to the occasion in five consecutive matches and finished with a victory by a fall in the girls’ 95-kilogram final over Gurjot Sidhu of Streetsville.

“It’s rare for a novice wrestler to capture gold at OFSAA wrestling, but Audrey is such an amazing athlete, she managed to pull it off,” Kirby added. “Full of energy (and) super aggressive, she outworked her opponents all the way through the tournament.”

At the OFSAA swimming championships, a pair of girls in the 15-and-over senior high school division stood on the top of the medal podium as gold medallists.

Tea Bouchard of Gisèle-Lalonde won the 100-metre short-course breaststroke final in one minute, 18.38 seconds. She broke the OFSAA record in her qualifying heat with a time of 1:16.98. The former record was 1:17.04.

Zoe Romanov of Paul-Desmarais was the champion in the 100-metre freestyle in 1:02.54. She also swam the anchor leg in the girls’ 15-and-over senior high school 200-metre medley relay and shared the silver medal with Alyssa Brule, Madyn McKay and Isabelle Hemstead. The Desmarais relay time was 2:18.93.

Merivale’s William Zhang placed second in the boys’ 14-and-under junior high school division 50-metre backstroke in 32.66.

Samuel Lanca of Glebe was a double bronze-medal winner. He was third in the boys’ 13-19 open 200-metre individual medley in 2:09.02 and anchored Jason Wen, Hadley Meredith and Calum Macdonald to the bronze in the 400-metre freestyle relay.

The other bronze medalists were: George Zhu, Ashbury, boys’ 13-19, 200-metre freestyle, 1:54.60; Costa Romanov, Paul-Desmarais, boys’ 15 and over, 200-metre freestyle, 2:11.14; and Arthur Galiano, Louis-Riel, boys’ 13-19, 100-metre freestyle, 51.98.

Ashbury was the top NCSSAA school at the OFSAA championships, placing sixth in the team standings with 524 points, while Paul-Desmarais was ninth overall at 502 points. The NCSSAA top-five was completed by Colonel By at 282 points for 37th place, Merivale at 265 points for 40th and Glebe at 262 points for 41st.

Here’s the breakdown of NCSSAA teams at the OFSAA boys’ basketball and girls’ volleyball championships:

BASKETBALL

· Boys’ AA – Samuel-Genest, 10th seed, defeated West Ferris 53-45; defeated George S. Henry Academy 59-50, lost to St. Mother Teresa, championship quarterfinals, 63-57;

· Boys’ A – Notre Dame, 10th seed, defeated Almonte 48-45; lost to Woodland 45-43; lost to Gravenhurst, consolation quarterfinals, 78-50;

· Boys’ AAA – Earl of March, 16th seed, lost to Oakwood 62-55; defeated Chippewa 69-44; lost to Grand River 58-55.

VOLLEYBALL

· Girls’ AAA – Franco-Cité, fourth seed, lost to Bishop Allen 25-18, 25-22, defeated Maple Ridge 25-18, 25-18, defeated Adam Scott 25-19, 25-15, and lost to St. Robert 17-25, 25-21, 15-8 in round-robin play; defeated A.B. Lucas, consolation quarterfinals, 25-22, 25-14, 25-18; defeated Uxbridge, consolation semifinals, scores unavailable; defeated Humberside, consolation final, scores unavailable;

· Girls’ AA – Franco-Ouest, 12th seed, defeated Perth District 26-24, 27-25, defeated Lorne Park 25-27, 25-18, 15-13, lost to Elsie MacGill 25-23, 9-25, 15-8, and lost to Riverside 25-11, 25-9 in round-robin play; lost to Champlain, championship quarterfinals, scores not provided;

Béatrice-Desloges, first seed, defeated Chippewa 25-13, 25-17, lost to Branksome Hall 25-13, 17-25, 15-8, lost to Glenview Park 25-23, 25-20, and defeated Fort Frances 25-20, 25-16 in round-robin play; defeated Sir Oliver Mowat, consolation quarterfinals, scores not provided; and lost to Port Perry, consolation semifinals, scores not provided;

· Girls’ A – Notre Dame, 16th seed, lost to Woodstock 25-17, 25-17, lost to De La Salle College 25-10, 25-7, lost to Renaissance 25-19, 25-18, and lost to St. Michael 26-24, 25-16, in round-robin play.