Elphinstone grapplers continued to impress with 11 top 10 finishes at the North Shore wrestling championships in North Vancouver recently.
Leading the way for the Cougars were Ty Dempster and Brianna Kittson, who both won their weight classes.
Ty, a senior in his final year of competition, was strong throughout.
Grade 9 student Brianna wrestled in an open class against competitors from grades 8 to 12.
"Brianna is tough. She wrestled quite well," said Elphi coach Clint Fox.
Senior (grades 10 to 12) wrestler Rob Van Norman finished third in his weight class.
"Rob wrestled a very smart match that put him into third place. He managed to throw his opponent with five seconds left," Fox said. "He really worked hard to set up the move. I was pleased how he performed and how quickly he thought on his feet to set up the move and win the match."
Riley Dempster also had a good day, finishing second as well in the juvenile age class (grades 7 to 9).
Senior wrestler Mike Rines found himself competing in a tough weight division. Mike won two of his three matches and ended up with identical win/loss records with two other opponents. Based on points, Mike finished in third spot.
"The ironic thing for Mike was that he actually beat the guy who won the gold," Fox said. "Mike wrestled probably one of his best matches ever on Friday. He was very controlled and it was a real credit to how hard he's worked over the past few years."
Grade 10 student Julian Cantarutti wrestled well and could have managed a much higher placing than third, but came up against a tough competitor in his final encounter.
"This kid came out of the woodwork. We had never seen him before. After the match, I started talking to him, and he said he held a black belt in judo," Fox said. "It was interesting to see the two different disciplines come together like that. Julian and I have since talked and we've come up with a strategy, so the next time, he can hopefully be successful."
Connor Richey and Stuart Richey, both wrestling in the juvenile weight class, finished third.
"Each of them only had one loss. They just keep showing more and more poise and confidence each time they hit the mat," Fox said.
Selina Byers finished fourth in the Grade 8 open class.
Other juvenile wrestlers included Andrew Turner, who finished fifth, and Grade 8 Landon Johnson, who finished sixth.Grade 12 Madison Cooke, who is in his first year of wrestling, also performed quite well.
"He was just was so close to winning his matches," said Fox. "It's a real credit to him how he went out and competed. He wasn't out of place and I think he's learned a lot in his single season. I just wish he would have come out earlier, because he's got a lot of skills."
Grade 8 student Krista Crawford, also in her first year of wrestling, had a good showing, according to Fox.
"She just continues to show improvement, has a fantastic attitude and shows a willingness to learn and advance her skills," Fox said. "Overall, I'm pretty happy with our whole team. I never doubt the kids' effort on the mat. They use what we've implemented in practice in competition, and they don't disappoint."
Next up for Elphi is the zone championships today (Friday) where the top five in each weight class advance to the provincial championships later in the month in Surrey.
"Our team is quite young, so it's going to be a challenge," Fox said. "It's a good opportunity to take them to a meet of this magnitude so they all can experience it. Then next year, they'll be more prepared for it."
