A small team did not stop the Westlock Wrestling Club from bringing home three medals from two tournaments at the Butterdome in Edmonton on Feb. 5.
The club sent 10 wrestlers, and came home with two golds and one silver, said coach Jessie Norton.
Haley Heffel won gold in the female 65 kg category, Tristan Tremblay won gold in the male 46 kg category and Austin Tremblay won silver in the male 58 kg category.
Heffel and Tristan competed in the 27th annual Paperweight Tournament, while Austin took part in the U of A Invitational event. Both tournaments ran at the same time under the Butterdome’s roof.
The small contingent was a result of several athletes being sick, Norton said, as well as a few being unable to make it.
“It’s unfortunate that some of them were sick because I would have liked to see what they could have done,” she said. “But we’ll take three medals, it’s not too bad.”
The wrestlers were kept busy with a lot of matches throughout the day, she said, adding several of those matches were quite nerve-wracking.
“They all had some pretty intense matches, so they all made me nervous at some point, but they all came through at the end,” she said.
In addition to the three medal-winners, a few others came close to medalling.
“Everyone did better than we expected,” she said. “Some had bad draws, but that happens.”
Norton said the tournaments at the Butterdome are some of the largest ones in terms of competitors, because they allow anyone and everyone to compete. She said it’s been called the “tournament that never ends” since it has often run hours longer than expected. She said she recalls the 2010 tournaments when the club didn’t leave the Butterdome until pushing 10 p.m.
The club returns to action on Feb. 11-12 in High River, for another combined junior and senior tournament.
