With only two years of wrestling competitions under his belt, Plamondon amateur wrestler Konan Egoroff has earned a spot at the National Wrestling Championships in Essex, Ontario.
Egoroff has seen several wins over the past two years, helping him get on the provincial wrestling team.
A gold medal win at the Alberta Open in Edson on March 19 saw Egoroff tackle some tough competition, but the wrestler was confident in his skills and wanted a win.
“Seeing the competition prior to the match, I knew I could do well,” said the student.
Due to some personal reasons, the local wrestler is still undecided if he will join the Team Alberta wrestling team for the April 7 competition, but is thankful for the chance to compete and has been getting ready for the competition just in case.
Travelling to Edmonton weekly, the 16-year old has been practicing with more experienced wrestlers with the Edmonton Wrestling Club. After school three times a week, Egoroff has also been training with the Ecole Plamondon wrestling coach Rob Ennest to get as much practice in as possible.
The teen has plans to go to the Western Summer Games scheduled for Kamloops, British Columbia this summer and is looking forward to the event. Egoroff says wrestling is more than just a sport.
“Not only is it a good workout and helps you stay fit but it helps you focus,” he said, adding that wrestling has helped him in school and outside the classroom. “Once you’ve wrestled, everything else in life is easy.”
Coach Ennest says Egoroff’s wrestling skills have drastically improved since he first started two years ago.
“He’s made such amazing progress despite limitations to the program,” said the wrestling coach, explaining that the club has been running on a temporary basis, but should be up and running in the next few weeks. The club has also been waiting for the professional wrestling mat that will replace the small blue mats Egoroff has been practicing on.
The wrestling club will be the only one in the Northern Lights School Division and Ennest says there are already students interested in the sport thanks to Egoroff.
“Konan has developed his leadership skills since he started wrestling and kids look up to him because of his success in wrestling. It’s great,” he said.
