Making his national championships debut, Javier Tonita-Charriez went undefeated over the weekend, earning himself a gold medal in the 57kg bracket. On Friday, Feb. 27, in his first matchup against the Western Mustangs' Leo Kitambala, the Kinesiology major fell behind 2-0 early but battled back to earn a 12-3 decision. Facing Andrew Lewis-Garrway of the York Lions in Round 2, the first-year standout did not give up a single point, winning by fall at 1:50. His next two matches saw him win both by technical fall, defeating Evan Burch of the Guelph Gryphons just 1:22 into the match by a score of 10-0, then besting Deandrae Jabaybay of the Saskatchewan Huskies 12-1. These four victories on Day 1 earned Tonita-Charriez a spot in the gold medal match where he faced off against the Thunderbird's Brandon Carrillo on Saturday, Feb. 28. After falling behind 6-1 early, he battled back to take a 9-7 lead and ultimately secured a 9-8 decision victory.
