Three female wrestlers from Elphinstone Secondary School capped off their season on a high note recently with strong performances at the provincial championships in Penticton.
Cougars Alycia Schwindt, Alex Ratcliff and Alysha Monk represented Elphi, with Alysha winning a silver medal, Alex a bronze medal and, as a team, finishing fifth overall.
"I was really pleased with their focus, preparation and performance," said Elphi coach Clint Fox. "They obviously peaked at the right time of the season and put in some excellent results at the provincials."
All three wrestlers are in Grade 10 and have been wrestling for several years. Fox said they have been strong on the North Shore and at several meets at Simon Fraser University, but this was the best showing of all their careers at the provincial level.
"They're a strong group. I always feel that strong training partners makes for strong results," he said. "It's always nice to have the support from your teammates when you are competing in a hard sport like wrestling."
The venue in Penticton added to the excitement level for the wrestlers and made the experience even more memorable.
"We wrestled in the hockey arena, and I think it seats about 8,000 people. It was set up with eight mats on the ice arena and they used the score clock to keep track of what matches were where," Fox said. "The seating was phenomenal. It was by far the best venue we have ever had for the B.C.s."
Alysha had a bye in her first match and then won two straight to get to the final.
"To get the silver medal and make the finals was a cool experience," she said. "I was at provincials last year, but this year it was much better. The match in the final was not close. The other girl was a Grade 12 natural judo champion. Hopefully I can do better next year."
Alycia wrestled in four matches, and although she didn't pick up a medal, she was happy with how the team did as a group.
"Next year I want to medal for sure," she said.
Alex, who is the senior wrestler among the group, was at her third provincials.
"Elphi has never finished that high as a team, and especially the girls placing that high was very cool," she said. "This year, overall, I think we improved a lot. You don't realize it until you are there and wrestling, you say 'wow, we've done pretty good'."
Fox said what impressed him the most was the maturity shown by all three girls: "We talked earlier at the beginning of the season on how their mental focus and preparation had to be strong. They all had a plan at provincials and implemented that plan. I was pleased to see the growth, maturity and discipline that all of them showed."
