Tonya Verbeek was a Brock University student-athlete who played a pivotal part on the women’s wrestling team from 1996 to 2003, earning a Bachelor of Arts in Recreation & Leisure (Honours) in 2000, a Bachelor of Education in 2003 and a Master of Education in 2006.
Verbeek helped lead the Badgers to four OUA titles. During the
2001-02 season, she led the women’s team to their first-ever CIS title. As a collegiate wrestler, she earned five provincial gold medals and one silver. While at the CIS Championships, she claimed three golds, two silver and one bronze. Verbeek recieved multiple accolades, including the OUA Outstanding Female Wrestler of the Year award in 1999-2000 and the Brock University Female Athlete of the Year award in 1999-2000 and 2000-01. In 2005, Verbeek represented Canada and was the flag bearer at the World University Games in Turkey, where she won a silver medal in women’s freestyle wrestling in the 55kg event.
Verbeek wore the Maple Leaf at three Olympic Games. At the 2004 Athens Olympic Games, she earned the first Canadian Olympic medal in women’s wrestling after earning a silver in the 55kg weight class in women’s freestyle wrestling. Four years later, she won a bronze medal (55kg) at the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games and capped off her Olympic career with her second silver medal (55kg) at the 2012 London Olympic Games.
Her other international accolades include two silver medals at the 2003 and 2011 Pan American Games, a bronze at the 2007 Pan American Games, two bronze medals at the 2005 and 2009 World Championships and a silver at the 2010 Commonwealth Games and 2011 World Championships.
Verbeek is a 11-time national champion and was named Ontario Athlete of the Year in 2004.
Verbeek has served as Wrestling Canada’s Talent ID coach from 2013 to 2017 and as an international coach and head coach of Team Canada from 2017 to 2021. For her impressive achievements, Verbeek was inducted into the St. Catharines Sports Hall of Fame in 2019 and the United World Wrestling Hall of Fame in 2024. Currently, she is the assistant coach for women’s wrestling team at the University of Iowa; a position she has held since 2022.
