Emily Burke of the W.R. Myers wrestling team found another silver lining at provincials in Edmonton over the weekend, taking the silver medal in her 90-kilogram division.
“She was a good wrestler who had wrestled for a long time,” said Duncan Campbell, coach for the W.R. Myers wrestling team of Burke’s opponent from Calgary.
“She pinned Emily with about three seconds left in the first round.
It still capped off a wrestling season in which Burke was dominant against wrestlers she faced during the season up to provincials.
“Emily was fairly dominant, but there always seems to be one that has a little more experience than the other one. Emily is a good wrestler who plays it smart waiting for the opportunity to do her thing and score points or go for the takedown at the pin,” said Campbell. “In the final, that girl she fought was a brawler. She went right after her big time. She was in a dogfight right from the start.”
Sonja Waeckerlin, Lucas Scribner and Dylan McMurdo all knocked out relatively early from medal contention for Myers in their respective weight classes, but was to be expected for rookies on the provincial stage, according to Campbell.
“But, it’s a good experience for them. You don’t expect them to win it all the first time you go there. It doesn’t happen that way very often,” said Campbell of provincials that had 347 grapplers at it. “That’s OK, that was a great learning experience for them, being inexperienced. It was one to grow on for next year. You don’t see a lot of first-year wrestlers if they make provincials go too far. It’s pretty high up at the tournament where it starts fast and hard right off the bat and stays at that level right until the end.”
Burke will now be looking to compete in the Alberta Open which goes this weekend. It is a prelude to nationals in Saskatoon during Easter. If she can muster a top-five finish at nationals, it will qualify Burke for the Summer Games in Quebec.