It’s been a long road back to the mats for Haley Heffel.
The 65-kilogram Westlock-born wrestler has been eyeing a spot on the Canadian Olympic wrestling team for years, but her climb up the competitive ladder suffered a bit of a setback over the last two years after a series of injuries have kept her out of the ring.
“It’s definitely been challenging, I re-injured my knee just a little while ago,” she said. “It’s very tough on the body, but I really do have the drive.”
All that is a memory now.
Heffel has been named to Team Canada for the Fédération Internationale du Sport Universitaire (FISU) in Brazil, where the best university-level grapplers in the world will hit the mats Sept. 4-8.
For Heffel, the chance to compete again is the real prize. A late-cut from Team Canada for the Senior Pan-American Games earlier this summer, she has been working herself to the bone.
“I didn’t quite have the qualifications for the Pan American Games because I hadn’t wrestled in an international tournament yet,” she said.
“So for this they took the placing from the national rankings and I won my weight class. It was a slight surprise that I’m going to this thing, so my training increased by 120 per cent. I’m on the mat five times a week and making sure my cardiovascular endurance is going to be good for the tournament.”
A student of the sport since Grade 6, Heffel grew up in Westlock and attended R.F. Staples School until Grade 11. She then moved to Edmonton to pursue a life in wrestling and has been fighting towards her goal ever since.
What drew her to the sport was the competitiveness and the self-reliance required to succeed, she said.
“When it’s you and your opponent on the mat, it comes down to you and your decisions that determines the outcome of a match,” she said. “When you lose, only you can figure out how to get better. You get to see how you grow and how you work through your mountains and valleys. It has helped me grow as a person.”
After her return to the ring, it’s back to recovery. Heffel still has some surgery on her knee she needs to get through and recover from before she’s back to 100 per cent. In the meantime, she’s relying on her determination and grit to get her through her battles.
She’s still got her eye on the Olympics, though she’s set her sights back a bit.
“The goal was for 2020, but that’s coming up really quick and I don’t feel I have the experience I need because I took two years off for anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction,” she said. “So I think 2024 is more realistic now.”
But first things first. Now that she’s able to compete internationally again, Heffel said the goal is to stay healthy and get as much time in the ring as she can muster.
“I’m really excited for this. I’m eager to show everybody what I can do, whether it’s Canada or the world.”
