(Megan) Buydens

The U of S men were a mere three points away from being the best in the west at the Canada West wrestling championships in Edmonton.

With 50 points, the Huskies trailed only the Simon Fraser University Clan, which had 53.

On the women's side, the Huskies were fourth with 22 points. SFU won the women's title.

University of Saskatchewan wrestling coach Todd Hinds was named Canada West Men's Wrestling Coach of the Year.

"The two teams (U of S and SFU) were pretty dominant," noted  Hinds, whose team brought home five gold, two silver and one bronze.

"What an unbelievable weekend for us. This is my best team ever.

"SFU has a number of senior national team members, but we stepped in and competed with everyone."

Rookie Ryley Walker set the pace, winning gold in the 57-kilogram category over SFU's Hardeep Aujla.

Walker was named Canada West rookie of the year.

Team captain Colin Wist followed Walker's lead by beating SFU's Jake Ledoux for gold in the 61-kg class.

Wist was named the Canada West's most outstanding wrestler after competing in what Hinds calls "the toughest weight class of them all."

Danny Jutras (72 kg) and Dan Dupuis (76 kg) also won gold.

Freshman Jeff Adamson settled for silver in the 68-kg division, falling to defending national champion Chris Harada from SFU. The match was tied at half-time.

Kris Kulbida grabbed silver in the 130-kg category.

On the women's side, Megan Buydens won gold in the 70-kg category.

"Megan was true to form, just outstanding," said Hinds.

"Our young girls did quite well. They're just not quite there yet."

All eight medallists advance to the Canadian Interuniversity Sport championships to be held March 5-6 at Brock University.