EDMONTON – The Brock Badgers men's wrestling team extended their U SPORTS dominance claiming their eighth consecutive national championship banner in Edmonton on Saturday evening.
Despite not having a U SPORTS national championship event over the past two years, the Badgers made a strong return to the event entering the showcase as the No. 1 nationally ranked team in the country. Showing no signs of rust, the Brock men went on to capture six total medals including two gold, three silver, and one bronze. Brock finished first overall in the men's standings with a total of 65 points, placing them 14 clear of McMaster (51) in second, followed by the host Alberta (48) in third.
"Our guys put the work in, that was the bottom line this weekend. They took on the challenge of being the defending champions, and stepped up and performed all weekend," said Badgers head coach
Marty Calder, who was also named the U SPORTS Men's Team Coach of the Year. "It was great to be back competing at this event, it was for the athletes."
Leading the charge for the Badgers was veteran team captain
Bobby Narwal and first-year sensation
Carlos Vargas, who each captured gold in their 72kg and 68kg categories. Narwal swept the round-robin matches earning techincal fall victories over McMaster and Alberta, while also picking up a pin fall win over UNB. The undefeated Friday sent him into the Saturday gold medal match, where he showed incredible skill in a decisive 10-0 technical fall victory versus Calgary to claim the top step on the podium. Meanwhile, Vargas also delivered an undefeated Friday round-robin recording three technical fall wins over Toronto, Calgary, and Concordia, never conceding a single point in the trio of matches. Facing off against Saskatchewan in the 68kg final, Vargas maintained his clean sheet with another 10-0 technical fall win to earn gold in his first U SPORTS national championship appearance.
Joining the duo of gold medalists on the podium for the Badgers was team captain
Max Budgey who claimed silver in the 76kg weight class,
Roger Li who placed second in the 125kg category,
Jordan Wylie who claimed silver at 82kg, and
Gabriel Blanchette who finished third in the 65kg event.
Rounding out the Badgers men at the national championship,
Mark Summers picked up fourth in the 90kg bracket,
Callum Knox placed fifth at 100kg,
Gabriel Sementilli finished sixth in the 57kg category, and
Cho Sherpa placed sixth at 61kg,
"To win a national championship you need balance, you need to be prepared, and you need to be willing to put everything on the line." mentioned Calder following the banner ceremony. "You can't just win it with your hot shots, so we had some people give us some really valuable contributions, and those are the sort of things that help you win a national championship."
The U SPORTS banner will mark the 21st in program history for the Badgers men's wrestling team, more than double any other wrestling program across the country. With eight straight U SPORTS national championships dating back to 2014, the Brock men sit just two banners shy of their longest program streak of national championships, which previously saw the Badgers bring home 10 consecutive banners between 1999-2008.
A full list of award winners and results is featured below.
MAJOR AWARD WINNERS
Male Most Outstanding Wrestler of the Year: Alex Moore - Concordia Stingers
Male Rookie of the Year: Treye Trotman - Western Mustangs
Male Team Coach of the Year: Marty Calder - Brock Badgers
Male Student-Athlete Community Service Award: Drake Buechler - Saskatchewan Huskies
Male R.W. Pugh Fair Play Award: Gianni Vecchio - Queen's Gaels
FINAL TEAM STANDINGS
MEN
| 1 |
Brock |
65 |
| 2 |
McMaster |
51 |
| 3 |
Alberta |
48 |
| 4 |
Saskatchewan |
46 |
| 5 |
Calgary |
39 |
| 6 |
Concordia |
39 |
| 7 |
Western |
39 |
| 8 |
Lakehead |
25 |
| 9 |
Guelph |
9 |
| 10 |
Toronto Metro |
9 |
| 11 |
Algoma |
6 |
| 12 |
New Brunswick |
6 |
| 13 |
York |
4 |
| 14 |
Queens |
1 |
| 15 |
Toronto |
1 |
INDIVIDUAL MEDALISTS
MEN
57 kg
1. Treye Trotman - Western
2. Talon Hird - Alberta
3. Dechlan Papadopoulous - TMU
61 kg
1. Alec Montoya - Alberta
2. Drake Buechler - Saskatchewan
3. Gianluca Fortino - McMaster
65 kg
1. Daniel Hernandez-Mendoza - Alberta
2. Hassan Al-Hayawi - Western
3.
Gabriel Blanchette - Brock
68 kg
1.
Carlos Vargas - Brock
2. Cole Sanderson - Saskatchewan
3. Luken Lawson - McMaster
72 kg
1.
Bobby Narwal - Brock
2. Brantley Saar - Calgary
3. Maxwell Meekins - Saskatchewan
76 kg
1. Connor Church - Concordia
2.
Max Budgey - Brock
3. Patrick Salvador Guzman - Western
82 kg
1. Lukas Geske - Western
2.
Jordan Wylie - Brock
3. Reid Smyth - Saskatchewan
90 kg
1. Alex Moore - Concordia
2. Howard Moffat - McMaster
3. Taran Goring - Alberta
100 kg
1. Jeremy Poirier - Concordia
2. Omogbai Asekohme - McMaster
3. Kyle Price - Algoma
125 kg
1. Karanveer Mahil - McMaster
2.
Roger Li - Brock
3. Michael Haskell - Lakehead
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