The Badgers earned a second-place finish on home soil as they hosted the 2025 Wrestling Canada Lutte U SPORTS Invitational Championships.
The national competition took place over two days at Canada Games Park from Friday, Feb. 28 to Saturday, March 1 and featured 17 schools from across the country.
In a tightly-contested battle for first, the Alberta Golden Bears took the gold with 68 points while the Badgers had 63. The Western Mustangs placed third with 52.
"Winning is easy, and losing is much more difficult," said men's head coach Marty Calder. "Our men competed with a ton of passion but today was not our day. I can promise that our group will use this experience to make themselves better both on and off the mat, just like winners do."
Yazdan Farokhizad capped off an undefeated weekend with a win in the gold medal match of the 90-kilogram weight class against Thomas Rousseau of Alberta, avenging a silver-medal finish a year ago. He defeated Rousseau by technical fall 10-0 in quick order.
In his final collegiate national championship, Garette Saunders placed second after a hard-fought battle with Alec Montoya of the Alberta Golden Bears that went the way of Montoya by technical fall 16-6.
Zakir Ibrahimkheil (57kg) and Cole Coghill (76kg) made strong national debuts, placing second in their respective divisions.
Both Callum Knox (100kg) and Roger Li (125kg) took home silver medals, each dropping only one match during the weekend.
Gabriel Blanchette earned a bronze medal for the Badgers after a 13-0 technical fall win over Gianluca Fortino of the McMaster Marauders.
In the third-place match in the 82kg event, Johannes Budgey dropped a 15-4 technical fall match to Lukas Geske of the Western Mustangs to place fourth.
MEN'S MAJOR AWARD WINNERS AT THE 2025 WRESTLING CANADA LUTTE U SPORTS INVITATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIPS
Outstanding Wrestler of the Year – Taran Goring (Alberta)
Rookie of the Year – Casey Harkley (Guelph)
R.W. Pugh Fair Play Award – Tyler Saruwatari (Lethbridge)
Community Service Award – Drake Buechler (Saskatchewan)
Coach of the Year – Owen Dawkins (Alberta)
MEN'S STANDINGS AT THE 2025 WRESTLING CANADA LUTTE U SPORTS INVITATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIPS
1. Alberta, 68
2. Brock, 63
3. Western, 52
4. Guelph, 36
5. Calgary, 36
6. Saskatchewan, 34
7. McMaster, 25
8. TMU, 18
9. Lakehead, 15
10. UNB, 11
11. Toronto, 9
12. Concordia, 6
13. Carleton, 5
14. York, 5
15. Algoma, 3
16. Lethbridge, 3
17. Queen's, 1
MEN'S MEDALLISTS AT THE 2025 WRESTLING CANADA LUTTE U SPORTS INVITATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIPS
Bronze – Fred Calingay (Calgary)
Bronze – Blayne Helou (McMaster)
65kg
Gold – Gavin Eldridge (Western)
Silver – Dechlan Papadopoulos (TMU)
Bronze – Daniel Hernandez-Mendoza (Alberta)
68kg
Gold – Casey Harkley (Guelph)
Silver – Isaac Le Morvan (Alberta)
72kg
Gold – Adam LaFroy (Lakehead)
Silver – Brennan Laplante-Brady (Guelph)
Bronze – Devan Larkin (Alberta)
76kg
Gold – Nick Hooper (Calgary)
Silver – Cole Coghill (Brock)
Bronze – Luken Lawson (McMaster)
82kg
Gold – Aidan Stevenson (Alberta)
Silver – Judah Arthurs (Saskatchewan)
Bronze – Lukas Geske (Western)
Bronze – Matthew Yong (Saskatchewan)
100kg
Gold – Taran Goring (Alberta)
Bronze – Jack Pye (Calgary)
125kg
Gold - Mark Summers (Western)
Bronze – Mitch Schenchinger (Guelph)
