A handful of wrestlers will be making their way to provincials in Edmonton this weekend thanks to their qualifying at rurals in mid-February in High River.
Among the qualifiers is second-year wrestler and spark plug Emily Burk wrestling in the 90-kilogram division.
“Emily placed second at provincials last year, so she’s hoping to be number one this year. That’s her goal,” said Duncan Campbell, co-coach of the W.R. Myers Rebels wrestling team.
“Emily is pretty quiet, but when she gets into the ring she’s not so quiet. She gets her game face on. She’s strong and she’s a hard worker. In her weight class, she is probably one of the strongest wrestlers, and that surprises a lot of the other wrestlers. We’re a small rural school and they don’t expect something like that from us.”
It is Sonja Waeckerlin as a first-year wrestler also making the trip to Edmonton at 61 kilograms.
“She’s taken a lot from her farming heritage because she knows what hard work is all about. She’s a pretty good athlete too and is a quick learner,” said campbell. “She finished fifth (at rurals) and was the last person to make it, but she still made it. Anything can happen now.”
Among the boys it is Lucas Scribner (62 kilograms) and Dylan McMurdo (98 kilograms) making their way to provincials this weekend.
“Lucas is a junior and this year has been a really good year for him where he’s just exploded. He’s taken his weight class by storm a little bit. When you get to Grade 11, a lot of the time it’s a break out year for wrestlers,” said Campbell. “Dylan is a really calm guy who doesn’t get excited about anything. He just keeps going where he weathers the storm well, he’s getting better all the time
It’s a solid showing for the W.R. Myers wrestling program with nearly half of its members qualifying for provincials, drawing members from Vauxhall as well. “We had a lot of new wrestlers, so when it came to time for this tournaments it gets pretty serious, so they didn’t feel comfortable coming to some of these bigger tournaments. They went to other tournaments we went to like Lethbridge and Medicine Hat,” said Campbell. “It’s nice ot see our number rebound. We had a few Grade 12 boys who graduated an another girl moved away. It was nice to see some new guys come out and try wrestling. It’s an alternative sport who want to try something different.”
Among the coaches that helped the team this year was Grade 12 Josh Vanspronsen who unfortunately could not do any live competition this year.
“He was our best wrestler, but he got a concussion during football season and he was still feeling symptoms. But he’s been a big help this year. He has a lot to pass on and it’s a good way to have fun with what he knows and be part of the team,” said Campbell.