The Alberni Armada boys’ wrestling team won the Vancouver Island Secondary School Wrestling Championships for the 20th consecutive year. It was the 32nd time in the last 36 years that the Armada boys have won the title of Island Champions.
The Alberni District Secondary School (ADSS) boys finished with 69 points—more than double the 27 points accumulated by second place Cowichan Secondary. Ucluelet Secondary was third with 13 points.
The Armada girls finished second behind Cowichan Secondary School. South Island Distance Education was third.
Individually, 17 wrestlers qualified to represent ADSS at the BC High School Championships February 17 – 19 in Langley.
Nine Alberni wrestlers claimed the gold medals in their respective weight classes. Anna Frost, Paige Maher, Makenzie Boudreau, Mason Bodnar, Jayce Clayton, Jayden Iversen, Owen Spencer, Seth Price and Bobby McKenzie all went undefeated.
Evan McLeod, Duncan McLeod, Darien Van Ingen and Scott Coulthart finished with silver medals, while Connor Alexander, Cole Robinson, and Prateesh Giri rounded out the podium finishes with bronze.
Miranda Barker was petitioned into the BC High School Championships based on past results from the season in order to allow a minor injury to heal.
“We did what we needed to do today and now the focus turns to getting ready for the BC Championships,” said ADSS coach Russ Bodnar. “It was great to see Anna Frost return to competition after appendix surgery kept her out so far. She dominated her first two matches back. It was also great to see all our Grade 12s wrestle hard at their last Island Championships. They should be proud of their effort and helping to achieve that 20 year milestone.”