Alyssa Kroeker and Egzon Emini found themselves among the province’s best when the B.C. high school wrestling championship concluded.
Kroeker of the Okanagan-Similkameen Wrestling Club finished fifth in the 47-kilogram women’s group winning two of her four matches, while Emini of Penticton Wrestling Club placed sixth at the championship held at the South Okanagan Events Centre over the weekend.
Robert Kroeker, coach of the OSWC, said his daughter represented Pen High well. Carrying a competitive demeanour onto the mat, Kroeker said she wasn’t entirely happy with her result.
“She felt she could have done better,” said Kroeker. “She has qualified for the nationals through her performance at the Western Canada Age Class, Port Alberni Invitational and provincials.”
The rest of the wrestlers from the OSWC didn’t crack the top-10, but Kroeker felt they performed well being first-year wrestlers.
Skaha Lake Middle School’s Justin Chahil (66 kg) finished with two losses, as did Leo Kruger (84 kg), Braden Marriott-Holm (54 kg) of Princess Margaret and Mason Poon (57 kg), also of Princess Margaret. Winning two of their four matches were Dakota Simmons (90 kg) and Josh Regier (110 kg) of Princess Margaret, while Landon Wigley (60 kg) and Zac Thompson (110 kg) of Princess Margaret won one of three matches.
“We are very proud of them,” said Kroeker. “They are already looking forward to next season and we always make off-season training and conditioning available to those who wish to continue.”
PWC coach Tony Ramsay, who also chaired the provincial championship, said going in that Emini could be a sleeper or surprise. Competing in the 84 kg men category, Ramsay said for him to place sixth “is a great accomplishment.”
“He made some critical mistakes from a lack of experience,” said Ramsay.
Nico Carboni of Pen High also represented the PWC and placed 12th. After winning his first match, he was faced with the tough task of taking on No. 1 ranked Jobanjit Phulka (78 kg) of Rick Hansen in his second to last match. The Abbotsford Hurricane continued on to win gold.
“I thought he did quite well,” said Ramsay of Carboni’s effort against Phulka. “He has come a long way from the start. To have it in Penticton allowed him to have more experience and gain from it. It was just nice to have it in his hometown, meant a lot to him.”
As for how the event was run, Ramsay felt it was a success. He received positive comments from several individuals, including this email.
“On behalf of all my wrestlers here at Ucluelet Secondary I would like to echo Tom McEvay’s compliments to all of you who helped to put on such a smooth B.C.’s,” said Mike Rhodes from Alberni Wrestling. “It was top-notch all the way and whether they won or lost, it was certainly an experience that everyone on my team will not forget. Special thanks to Pam MacDonald and the IT crew, who did the live updates and the webcast. I’ve already had several comments from members of the community and school that they thought it was really cool to be able to watch the finals and cheer on our wrestlers via the web.”
“They are just blown away,” said Ramsay, noting that one person who has attended events for 40 years said this was right up there for being run.
Ramsay said it was complimentary to the team of 100 volunteers he had helping. Admittingly, Ramsay was nervous as it was the first time he had done this. It was suggested to Ramsay that the city should consider hosting a national or Western Age Class event.
“People were impressed with the facility and friendliness of people,” said Ramsay, adding that visitors also liked how close the accommodations are to the SOEC.
For complete final results on all wrestlers, check www.pentictonwrestling.com/#!bcsswa-draw-updates and click the pdf file for championship. Follow this link to more photos from the B.C. wrestling championship www.momentsunderframe.com/wrestling.html. For video of Carboni’s first bout, check www.pentictonwesternnews.com.