Westlock will be well represented at the provincial high school wrestling tournament this weekend.
Haley Heffel, Paige Lemmen and Heather Galliford will be in Calgary for the March 7-8 tournament after posting strong performances at the Rural Provincial meet Feb. 21-22 in Hinton.
Heffel led the way, winning gold in the girls’ 61-kilogram division. Lemmen took silver in the girls’ 47-kg event, while Galliford took fourth in the girls’ 61-kg division.
The girls’ performances were so strong the school came in second overall in the girls’ team competition, said coach Meaghan McKenzie. If Lemmen’s 47-kg division had had a few more wrestlers, her silver medal would have counted for more points, possibly even enough to vault R.F. Staples into first place, she added.
Brett Walters was the fourth Westlock wrestler to attend the Hinton meet; he did not place high enough to earn a provincial berth.
For McKenzie, the tournament saw the wrestlers continue the improvements they’ve made since Day One, improvements that were apparent even in the short time since the last meet at the University of Alberta in early February.
“Since the last tournament, I saw a lot of really good improvement and dedication to working on areas of weakness or improving their strengths,” she said.
McKenzie said her goals for Calgary are modest, but her hopes are high.
“It would be really nice to bring home a couple of medals,” she said.
Her biggest wish is for Heffel to do well; because of her age, this is the last provincial high school tournament she will be competing in.
“I hope she has some challenging rounds,” McKenzie said.
The Hinton meet included more drama and excitement for R.F. Staples than just qualifying three athletes for the provincial meet.
In the 61-kg event, where both wrestlers finished in the top four, the results could have been much different had the draw been put together differently for Heffel and Galliford.
“Unfortunately, they went up against each other in the first round, which was difficult,” McKenzie said. “But, at the same time, they’ve been training together so they know what to expect from the other person.”
Outside of the actual competition, she said she was happy with how the wrestlers interacted and got along with their fellow competitors.
Since wrestling is a sport of individuals above all, it’s more conducive to camaraderie between opponents than team sports. Nowhere was this more apparent than with Walters, McKenzie said.
After each match, Walters would go up to his opponent and talk about the match.
“By the end of the day he was sitting with this group of people he had met and it was nice to see that,” she said.
