ST. PAUL – The mat creaked beneath the weight of the young wrestlers as they grappled with each other, each one hoping to emerge victorious in the annual wrestling tournament held at St.Paul ACFA/Conseil scolaire centre-est gym on May 3.
The tournament was the 11th annual wrestling tournament, but the first held since the COVID-19 pandemic, bringing together 170 Grade 3 to 6 students from five participating schools, said Troy Gratton, the tournament’s organizer.
Schools that participated included Plamondon École Beauséjour, École Voyageur from Cold Lake, École des Beaux-Lacs from Bonnyville, St. Catherine in Lac La Biche, and École du Sommet in St. Paul. The schools are all part of the local francophone school division, Conseil scolaire centre-est.
Despite some last-minute dropouts and a few chaotic moments, Gratton was pleased with how the event turned out. "We had a great day,” he said. “It was a little chaotic to start the day in the sense that there were your typical last-minute dropouts and so many energetic students ready to rumble.”
The tournament was divided into weight categories, with a consideration for the developmental ages of the students. Also, instead of using traditional weight categories, animal names and hockey team names were used.
After a day of competition, École des Beaux-Lacs from Bonnyville emerged as the overall winner, earning a banner for their school. “I use a few stats to determine the winner. It’s not a perfect science, but it informs me as to which school had the best overall success,” said Gratton.
Gratton thanked all those who participated, including referees from Alberta Wrestling who officiated the matches, as well as CRT Contracting who donated hot dogs and drinks to the athletes.
Men's results
In the “Flames” category, Sutton Kumpula from St. Catherine took first place.
The “Blackhawks” category saw David Vadnais from École Voyageur in first place.
For the “Flyers,” Kiptyn Klasses from École des Beaux-Lacs placed first in the category.
Meanwhile, Oscar Fersovitch from Beaux-Lacs placed first in the “Jets” category.
Bohdan Frechette from Beaux-Lacs took the first position in the “Avalanche” category.
Bentley Kalinsky also from Beaux-Lacs took first place in the “Penguins” category.
The “Knights” category’s first place was claimed by Chase Brosseau from Beaux-Lacs.
Doktor Smith from Beauséjour won the “Predators” category.
Maverick Stark with Sommet won first in the “Nordiques” category.
Jasiah Isaac from Voyageur won first in the “Capitals” category.
Joey Robitaille also from Voyageur placed first in the “Bruins” category.
Cian Choquet from Beaux-Lacs won the “Canucks” category.
Conner Koss from Sommet placed first in the “Oilers” category.
Spencer Kirkup from Voyageur won in the “Maple Leafs” category.
Emmett Brosseau from Beaux-Lacs ranked first for the “Senators” category.
Riley Richard from Beauséjour emerged first for the “Blues” category.
Christopher Cormier from Voyageur took the top position in the “Kings” category.
Female results
In the “Cougars” category, Autumn Clarke from École des Beaux-Lacs took first place.
The “Lions” category saw Tessa Smyl from École des Beaux-Lacs in first place.
For the “Loups,” Kaylee Melnyk from École Beauséjour placed first in the category.
Rose Getz from École Voyageur placed first in the “Zèbres” category.
Alexandra Champagne from École des Beaux-Lacs took the first position in the “Grizzlies” category.
Natalie Hunter from École Voyageur took first place in the “Cheetahs” category.
The “Bobcats” category’s was claimed by Elena Braun also from École Voyageur.
Vanessa Vasseur from École des Beaux-Lacs won the “Dauphins” category.
Sophie Choquet with École des Beaux-Lacs won first in the “Faucons” category.
Mara Malika from École Voyageur won first in the “Requins” category.
Brielle Smyl from École des Beaux-Lacs placed first in the “Aigles” category.
Genevieve Croone from École Beauséjour won the “Singes” category.
Jessilyn Richard also from École Beauséjour placed first in the “Tigres” category.
Lauren Wurzer from École des Beaux-Lacs won in the “Orignale” category.
