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Armada wrestlers rumble at SFU

Wrestlers from Alberni's high school Armada wrestling team fared well at the Simon Fraser University Roberts Rumble.
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Nolan Badovinac competes at the Roberts Rumble at Simon Fraser University last weekend.

Members from the senior ADSS wrestling team competed at the Roberts Rumble at Simon Fraser University on the weekend.

For many of the wrestlers it was their first competition of the season. Teams were made up from regional clubs and many of the top wrestlers from around the province were present.

Alberni finished third overall in this dual meet tournament. In this type of tournament format teams compete head to head at each weight class. Points are awarded to teams based on how a wrestler wins or loses.

“We brought most of our top male wrestlers to this competition.  It is an important tournament to go to because it is an indicator of how we compare to the other top wrestlers and teams around the provincet,” said Alberni coach James Messenger.

Alberni’s was without their younger and intermediate wrestlers, who were competing in a tournament in Chemainus.

The Alberni team faced four different teams in dual meet competition.  In the opening round robin dual, Alberni lost to Burnaby Cengtral, the eventual championship team.

Alberni rebounded with a 26 – 11 victory over the Tri-Cities All Stars.  In cross over play despite winning just as many matches the Alberni team fell to an elite team from Abbotsford 24 – 19.  In the bronze final the Armada team won 26– 24 against South Burnaby.

Two ADSS boys went undefeated to claim their individual weight class titles.

Grade 10 wrestler Jesse Wagner was a perfect 4-0 in the 50 kilogram division.  Grade 9 standout Nolan Badovinac went 3-0 including a come from behind victory to win the 69 kilogram division.

Grade 12 wrestler, Wes Boris was also undefeated in his two exhibition matches at 69 kilograms.

The only female to make the trip, Grade 12 Daley Forbes, proved she is going to be tough to beat this season going relatively unchallenged in two exhibition matches at 80 kilograms.

At 76 kilograms, Grade 12 wrestler Cullen Hines went 2 -1.  Hines’ only loss was to provincial and national medalist Jaskarn Ranu, who wrestled for Central Burnaby.

Hines wasn’t happy with the loss, he said. “I was in a position to win at the end of the match and I ran out of gas.  I obviously need to get my cardio up a bit.”

Coach James Messenger sympathized with Hines, but said that it’s early in the season yet.  “I am not too worried about the outcome right now.  He had two good wins,” Messenger said. “The good thing is we know what we did well and we know how to improve.”

The next action for the Armada Wrestling Team will be next week when the team travels back to SFU for the ‘War on the Floor’ tournament.

There will be novice and elite divisions and it is expected that the team will be bringing as many wrestlers as they can compete.