The Brock Badgers men's wrestling team kicked off their national championship bid with a strong first day of competition.
Competing on home soil at Canada Games Park on Friday, Feb. 28, the Badgers have put themselves in eight medal matches at the 2025 Wrestling Canada Lutte U SPORTS Invitational Championships that are set to take place tomorrow, Saturday, March 1.
First-year wrestlers Zakir Ibrahimkheil (57kg) and Cole Coghill (76kg) shined in their debuts on the national stage, with Ibrahimkheil winning all of his matches by either technical fall or fall while Coghill took a close 11-9 decision over Toronto's Josiah Mayers-Noel to complete an undefeated first day.
Both are now set for gold medal contests as Ibrahimkheil will take on Treye Trotman of the Western Mustangs while Coghill goes up against Calgary's Nick Hooper.
Yazdan Farokhizad is back in the gold medal match after earning silver a year ago in the 90kg weight category. On Day 1, he won two matches by fall and one by technical fall in a dominant showing.
In his last national championship as a collegiate wrestler, Garette Saunders put himself back in gold medal contention as he finished his pool matches with two technical fall wins and one victory by fall. He will go up against Alec Montoya of the Alberta Golden Bears tomorrow.
Veterans Callum Knox (100kg) and Roger Li (100-125kg) also showed command on the mats on the first day as only one match between them was won by decision – the rest were earned by technical fall or fall. Both have given themselves a chance to repeat as gold medal winners in their respective weight classes.
Knox will take on Tara Goring from the Alberta Golden Bears while Li has a showdown with Mark Summers of the Western Mustangs.
Going for bronze tomorrow will be Gabriel Blanchette (68kg) and Johannes Budgey (82kg) who dropped one match each in pool play competition. Blanchette will go up against Gianluca Fortino from the McMaster Marauders while Budgey will square of with Western's Lukas Geske.
Mason Mastroianni will go for seventh tomorrow against William Mitchell of the Algoma Thunderbirds.
The action gets started tomorrow Saturday, March 1 at 9 a.m., with bronze medal contests starting at noon and gold medal matches set for 3 p.m.
LIST OF SCHEDULED MEDAL MATCHES FOR THE BROCK BADGERS
Gold Medal Matches
57kg - Zakir Ibrahimkheil (Brock) vs Treye Trotman (Western)
61kg - Garette Saunders (Brock) vs Alec Montoya (Alberta)
76kg - Cole Coghill (Brock) vs Nick Hooper (Calgary)
90kg - Yazdan Farokhizad (Brock) vs Thomas Rousseau (Alberta)
100kg - Callum Knox (Brock) vs Taran Goring (Alberta)
100-125kg - Roger Li (Brock) vs Mark Summers (Western)
Bronze Medal Matches
68kg - Gabriel Blanchette (Brock) vs Gianluca Fortino (McMaster)
82kg - Johannes Budgey (Brock) vs Lukas Geske (Western)
