Wrestling tackles tough weekend

Sarah O'Connor

Staff Reporter

McMaster’s wrestling team was busy this past weekend taking part in two high-stake competitions.

On Jan. 25 the team participated in the Ontario Junior Championships where Monica Wood (48 kg) finished a strong third and will advance to the National Junior Championships scheduled for March of this year.

“I love getting time on the mat with strong competitors,” said second-year wrestler Monica Wood.

She expressed excitement about her upcoming trip to nationals but knows there is a lot of work to be done before that, “I am quite excited to compete to my best ability and prepare in every way I can. I can definitely feel the intensity in practice rising and the extra workouts have definitely helped in practice and in my matches.”

“Nationals is just around the corner and I know that the schedule that our coach has the team on will definitely prepare my team mates and myself ready to compete,” said Wood.

On Jan. 26 the wrestling team competed at the Queens Open and brought home gold thanks to the efforts of Chris Garneau in the 68 kg class.

Erica D’Angelo finished in third place as well, but lost a critical match to last year’s Brock University CIS champion.

“I feel we performed well, our team has been training hard and really upping the strength and conditioning workouts which showed this weekend,” said D’Angelo.

“I placed silver,” added D’Angelo, “which is a real accomplishment for me since this is my third tournament back since my concussion. I feel confident that we are going to do well at the western open this weekend, and OUAS which are Feb 15.”

Coach Nick Cipriano expressed great pride in his team and sees great achievements in their future.

“We are very pleased thus far how our season is unfolding. While at present, we have a couple of key players out of our line-up because they are nurturing injuries, we are optimistic that they will be back in full force for our championships,” said Cipriano.

“If everyone is healthy, we’ll be in terrific shape.”