Ian Hamilton
Leader-Post

Each week, the Leader-Post has been checking on the progress of Saskatchewan's teams for the Canada Summer Games, which are to be held in Regina, Moose Jaw, Lumsden and Saskatchewan Beach from Aug. 6-20. The series concludes today when sports writer Ian Hamilton takes a look at Saskatchewan's wrestling teams.
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Ron Gonzales believes Saskatchewan can pin its hopes for medals at the Canada Summer Games on the province's men's and women's wrestling teams.

The men's squad goes into the Regina-based event ranked second, while the women are No. 1 in the rankings.

"The bottom line is we can win both team titles and a lot of individual medals," says Gonzales, the head coach of Saskatchewan's wrestling teams. "We can make some history here."

There are 21 wrestlers -- 11 men and 10 women -- between the ages of 14 and 18 on Saskatchewan's teams. They're to compete Aug. 16-18, spending the first two days battling for team titles and the third day going after individual medals.

"We'd have to mentally screw up to not do well," says Gonzales, who wrestled for the Northwest Territories at the 1989 and '93 Summer Games before coaching the Territories team at the '97 Games. "It's just a matter of doing our job as coaches to make sure (the athletes) are healthy, conditioned and mentally prepared."

The teams' rankings for the '05 Canada Games are based on the showings their predecessors had at the '01 Games. As a result, Saskatchewan's wrestlers have to live up to the hype.

"(The rankings) reflect how good a wrestling team we have," says Beth Thompson, an 18-year-old product of Saskatoon. "At the same time, we can't sit back and say, 'We're the No. 1 team, we're the team to beat.' We have a lot of work to do to deserve the No. 1 spot."

"Saskatchewan has always performed well at Canada Games," adds Kirk Ackerman, a 15-year-old who hails from Regina. "That only makes us (on the men's team) want to do better than second." Ackerman certainly wasn't going to settle for second at Saskatchewan's Canada Games trials. The Balfour Collegiate wrestler beat 2005 Canadian juvenile champion Joseph Nifasha of Saskatoon twice to win the 46-kilogram title and earn a berth on the Games team.  "It was just determination," Ackerman says. "This has been a goal of mine since the last Canada Games. One of my coaches at Balfour (Aaron Bjorklund) was on the team before. Talking to him really made me want to get there."

Gonzales has high hopes for all of his wrestlers, including Regina's Calvin Daum (at 68kg) and Saskatoon's Daniel Olver (74kg) among the men and Thompson (75kg), Saskatoon's Alyssa Krahn (48kg) and Regina's Caileigh Beckman (60kg) among the women.

The provincial squads are likely to face their stiffest competition from Ontario and B.C., in the team competitions.

"In a dual-meet format, if you get pinned, that's five points against us, but if you pin your opponent, that's five points for us," says Beckman, who competed at the Canadian juvenile championships in each of the past two seasons. "We need to work as a team; that's the most important thing."

"That's why it's our job as veterans to make sure everybody is at their best," notes Thompson, who attended the Canadian junior and juvenile championships in '05. "In wrestling, you have to prepare yourself the best you can. But as veterans, you have to push your teammates to get them to be their best, too."

That attitude could explain Saskatchewan's ascension into the upper echelon of wrestling provinces. Despite having a small population compared to Ontario and B.C., Saskatchewan is right there with those provinces.

"We have lots of competition and lots of talent," Gonzales says. "Because of that, we can go toe to toe with those places."

"We're underdogs," Ackerman adds. "Everybody thinks of Ontario and B.C., as the big teams. They don't really think about Saskatchewan. That puts drive in a lot of people's hearts."

© The Leader-Post (Regina) 2005