Two Westlock-area athletes wrestled their way to the podium last weekend, both capturing gold at the 2012 Alberta Open held in Ponoka.
Jarvie’s Haley Heffel, 15, earned the top spot in her 60-kg weight category, while Clyde’s Austin Tremblay, 17, earned gold in the 63-kg category.
Both will use the tournament as a stepping-stone to the upcoming Canadian National Tournament April 12-15 in Fredericton, N.B. Tremblay will wrestle in the juvenile division, while Heffel will wrestle in the cadet division.
Jessie Norton, who coaches Heffel and until recently coached Tremblay, said she was not surprised with the victories.
“We were training until two weeks ago with him and he made the decision to move on to another club,” she said. “Regardless if he was with them or with us, I believe the outcome would have been the same.”
In addition, Tremblay earned an award for most dedicated wrestler, something Norton said reflects well for both the Westlock club and the community as a whole.
Tremblay could not be reached for comment.
For Heffel, this was the first tournament this year where she entered the lower weight category.
“I dropped because I was in the 65kg all year and I planned to wrestle in the 60kg at nationals. So this is kind of a test run for me,” she said.
The change in weight class had no effect on Heffel’s performance at provincials, as she easily secured her podium spot by a pin at the end of the first round of the gold-medal match.
“It’s testing new waters. The body size is what’s different. I don’t think it was more challenging,” she said.
The trial run at the provincial level gave Heffel room to experiment with the ‘over-under’ throw she had been working on.
“I pulled some new moves that I never thought I’d ever pull,” she said. “That was the first time I threw it in a tournament.”
Norton said Heffel was one of the more experienced wrestlers on her team this year.
“In the first round, Haley tried some new things and won by points and then got her win in a pin,” she said.
Heffel’s teammates were not as successful last weekend, as they struggled on the mat.
“For a couple of girls it was like a first time tournament for them because their injuries kept them out for most of the year. It was a tough tournament for them,” Norton said.
She added she likes to train the girls in a smaller one-on-one coaching style that she said would help them prepare for next year.
“We do a lot of one-on-one with our kids. We can do that since we have a smaller group, which is nice. I believe it helps them and it works,” she said.
Heffel said she plans to put in some extra effort to get prepared for nationals, as well.
“I will be doing more working out, like cardio to get in shape for it,” she said.
With files from Doug Neuman.
