Team Sask. sets sight on gold

Tim Switzer, The Leader-Post

PHOTO CREDIT: Don Healy, The Leader-Post: Saskatchewan's Ryan Myrfield got the upper hand on Nunavut's Logan Kadlak during a 54kg match on Tuesday. Myrfield won the match

August 17, 2005  Brad Peters had a pretty relaxing day.

The 18-year-old Swift Current wrestler got to stand by for much of the day Tuesday while his teammates did most of the work to put Saskatchewan in first place in the men's Pool B after the first day of dual meet competition in the Canada Summer Games.

Peters wrestles in the 130-kilogram weight class and only one of Saskatchewan's opponents -- Newfoundland -- had a wrestler to go up against him.

"It's sometimes nice to not always have a match but it's nice to get lots of matches out of the way sometimes before you have to wrestle those big matches," he said. "It's nice to get a few warm-ups in."

From his unique vantage point, Peters had the opportunity to watch his team steamroll over the Northwest Territories and Nunavut earlier in the day before having to suit up himself for his evening bout with Harbour Grace's Neil Barrett, which he won handily by pinfall.

So far, he says, Saskatchewan is looking like a gold-medal contender.

"The team's looking really good," he said. "We've got a lot of guys who are wrestling really well. I think we just need to step it up a bit more to wrestle those good teams."

After three dual match-ups the Saskatchewan men went undefeated and collected six points to go toward the team title, leaving them tied for first in their pool with B.C., who they wrestle today.

The Saskatchewan women were just as impressive, going undefeated save for one medical forfeit when Caileigh Beckman was stung by a wasp before her final match. The women still managed to pick up all six possible points with wins over the Northwest Territories, Newfoundland and Manitoba. They're tied for first in their pool with Alberta.

The top team from each pool in each men's and women's will square off for the team title this evening.

Saskatchewan coach Ron Gonzales said he wasn't surprised by Tuesday's performance as both teams were matched up against slightly weaker competition.

"They started out really, really strong," he said. "With the first match they got the jitters out of their system. After that they're starting to focus on their technique in warm-up as well as their offense. Overall, it was a good day but they know they have to wrestle great (today)."

© The Leader-Post (Regina) 2005.