A group of teenage athletes representing Yorkton Regional High School (YRHS) captured gold and silver medals at a recent tournament, capping off months of hard work and training.
Riley Richards, Kurt Hoffman, and Jordan Stewart seized glory at the Saskatchewan High Schools Athletic Association鈥檚 (SHSAA) 2018 Provincial Wrestling Championships. The two-day tournament was held Mar. 9-10 at Mount Royal Collegiate in Saskatoon.
鈥淭hey were doing really well all year,鈥� said wrestling coach Austin Hovrisko. 鈥淚t isn鈥檛 really until provincials that you get the real test.鈥�
Richards and Stewart competed in the male 90 kg division while Hoffman threw his hat into the male 100 kg weight class.
鈥淭hey wrestled really well,鈥� Hovrisko said. 鈥淚鈥檓 really impressed with them.鈥�
Hoffman captured gold in his division, overcoming pre-competition jitters.
鈥淚 was a bit nervous off the start,鈥� he said. 鈥淭he more I got into the tournament, the more I was confident with how I was going to do.鈥�
Richards and Stewart scored gold and silver medals, respectively, in their weight class.
鈥淚t felt really good getting a victory under my belt,鈥� Richards said.
鈥淚 felt my matches were really good,鈥� Stewart said. 鈥淲e gave it our all.
鈥淐an鈥檛 ask for much more than that.鈥�
Fellow teammate Katelynne Hoffman also competed in the tournament, ranking fifth in the female 80 kg division.
Hovrisko complimented the wrestlers鈥� 鈥渕ental maturity鈥� during the competition.
鈥淭hey see themselves as the alpha males out there, which is pretty critical,鈥� he said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 a combative sport [that鈥檚] really hard on the nerves.
鈥淭hey were in a good space and it showed.鈥�
Hovrisko and the wrestlers also credited their recent weightlifting training as key to their victories (as seen in last week鈥檚 鈥淣ewbie weightlifters score multiple medals鈥� story).
鈥淭he weightlifting helped quite a bit,鈥� Hovrisko said. 鈥淸It was] the best thing we could have done.鈥�
鈥淚 was much faster, a lot more powerful,鈥� Hoffman said. 鈥淚f I didn鈥檛 do Olympic weightlifting, I would have struggled to do the tournament.鈥�
The team is scheduled to participate in Sakatchewan Amateur Wrestling Association鈥檚 Juvenile Provincial Championships on Apr. 1 in Regina.
Hovrisko plans to hone the wrestlers skills going forward.
鈥淲e鈥檙e going to start branching to see what each individual wrestler [prefers],鈥� he said. 鈥淭ake them to the next level.鈥�
