Hannah Taylor's hard work paid off.
The Brock Sport Management student from Cornwall, PEI won her third consecutive provincial gold and was named the OUA's Outstanding Female Wrestler at the OUA Wrestling Championships in Guelph on Saturday.
Taylor toppled Western's Julie Steffler in dominating fashion, with a technical fall score of 10-0, to win the women's 59-kilogram gold-medal match.
"Today was an exciting day. Julie has beaten me previously in two tournaments this year, so I knew it would be a tough battle," said Taylor. "My hard work paid off."
Incidentally, Taylor was also an underdog against the same opponent en route to winning her first OUA championship in 2017. She pulled off a comeback to defeat Steffler in the last few seconds.
"Hannah is a hard-working, dedicated athlete," said assistant Brock coach Dave Collie. "She is a true competitor with great natural instincts that allow her to find ways to win in important matches."
Taylor, the 2017 U SPORTS Rookie of the Year, was naturally motivated heading into her third season of university wrestling, but a tough loss at the Junior World Championships in Slovakia during September added fuel to her fire.
"My goals to begin this season were to get better," said Taylor. "I have been working my hardest this year at just becoming a student of the sport, and having stronger offence, so when I get to world-level tournaments I'll be able to preform better."
Taylor credited her coaches - Marty Calder, Tonya Verbeek, Chris Prickett and Collie - for having a positive influence on her wrestling career, and the wrestling ecosystem at Brock.
"They are the best coaches in Canada, in fact some of the best in the world," said Taylor. "They believe in me more then I do in myself sometimes, and it's honestly a privilege to work with each of them, receiving such specialized attention on a daily basis is a huge reason I have been successful in recent years."
Taylor is now focused on winning her second consecutive national gold when the Badgers travel to the U SPORTS Wrestling Championships at the University of Calgary from Feb. 21-23.
