Hawks hit the mat at wrestling meet in Moose Jaw

By Medicine Hat News on February 12, 2020.

Medicine Hat’s Hawks wrestling club was in Moose Jaw this past weekend gaining valuable experience for the rest of their respective seasons.

If they can keep doing what they did at the South Saskatchewan Wrestling Championships, there should be plenty more medals to come.

Head coach Darren Klein reported that the way the event was set up, many competitors got to wrestle in multiple divisions. Consequently, Mikayla Eirich earned a gold, a silver and a bronze medal – and she wasn’t the only one to double or even triple up on medals.

Logan Wells earned two silvers and a bronze, Aiden MacKinnon won a gold and a silver, William MacDougall had two gold and Aiden Callen claimed two silver. Klein noted many of the athletes the Hat contingent faced were provincial or national champions themselves.

Raymond Ngo and Alicia Dominguez each earned silver medals, while bronzes went to Bailie McNaughton, Innes Bustamente and Sam Bjarson to wrap up Saturday’s senior competitions. The Hat High athletes are all gearing up for Alberta rural championships in Lethbridge at the end of the month, then provincials in Calgary in March if they do well enough at rurals.

“I believe that what we gain from the experience sets us up for the ASAA provincials,” wrote Klein in an email to the News. “Working on the finer points in the next couple of weeks should enable us to do extremely well! What we were able to do in Moose Jaw leaves us extremely excited for the possibilities of becoming provincial champions!”

As for the younger wrestlers, their turn came Sunday in Moose Jaw. Autumn Robinson and Truman Hallawell each earned second-place finishes, while Nolan Durtch, Tucker Worth, Marcus Coombs and Baran Rodriguez had third-place results.

A contingent of seven local-area wrestlers is headed to Airdrie this week for the Alberta Winter Games.