The Badgers men's wrestling team started the new year with an overall first-place finish at its home tournament.  

Ian Beddis Gymnasium was the site for the annual Brock Open which took place in 2025 on Saturday, Jan. 11. 

With an impressive 69 points, the Badgers placed first overall. The next-best finisher was the Brock Wrestling Club who had 27 points. MWC NTC had 22 points for third while the second-best university team was the Western Mustangs (20 points) who placed fourth overall. 

As a group, the Badgers men appeared on the podium eight times, with three gold-medal results being the highlight. 

Continuing his impressive showing in the fall of 2024, Yazdan Farokhizad won his fourth gold medal of the university season. Farokhizad won four matches on the day in the 90-kilogram division and only gave up points in the final, which he won by technical fall 12-2 over Zaur Arsagov of the Concordia Stingers. 

Callum Knox also continued the momentum he gained from the first half of the 2024-25 campaign, earning his third first-place finish. He bested all challengers in the 100kg event, including a 14-3 technical win in the final over Kyle Price (Algoma Thunderbirds).  

After an 11-3 decision victory in the quarterfinals over Blayne Helou of the McMaster Marauders, Garette Saunders would not surrender another point en route to gold in the 61kg event. This marks the second first-place finish of the season for Saunders. 

Three Badgers placed second at the event, with both Gabriel Blanchette and Cole Coghill earning their first podium finishes of the year.  
 
Blanchette won three matches in the 68kg weight category before falling to Brock Wrestling Club member Carlos Vargos by technical fall 10-0.  
 
In his Brock debut, Coghill showed a lot of promise, winning two matches by technical fall 10-0 and one by fall in the 76kg event. He would go on to drop the final to Connor Church (MWC NTC) by technical fall 11-0. 

Hamzah Al-Qayse won his semifinal match in the 72kg event by fall in just 23 seconds over Jacob Fritz of the Toronto Varsity Blues. In the final, he suffered a 12-2 technical fall loss to Sehaipal Sidhu of BMWC. 

In his Badgers' debut, Zakir Ibrahimkheil earned a bronze medal after rebounding from a 13-2 defeat to Treye Trotman of Western in the semifinals. He bested Jacob Abbott (Team Impact WC) by technical fall 12-1 in the bronze medal contest. 

Up next, the Badgers head to the Guelph Open on Sunday, Jan. 19 at the Guelph Gryphons Athletic Centre.