SASKATOON – The University of Calgary Dinos women's wrestling team won its eighth Canada West championship Saturday afternoon, edging the University of Alberta by four points to bring home the banner.

On the men's side, Calgary finished a distant third behind conference champion Regina and runner-up Saskatchewan.

The Dinos qualified seven of eight possible women's wrestlers for the CIS Championships Feb. 25-26 at Lakehead University in Thunder Bay, while four Dinos men will also make the trip east for nationals.

Calgary did manage to grab both Canada West outstanding wrestler awards. Fifth-year senior Gen Haley won her fifth straight conference title after moving up from 51 kg to 53 kg on the women's side, while Brian Hutton took on all comers to capture the men's 68 kg weight class.

The Dinos added one more award winner when Spenser Burk earned the men's rookie of the year award. Burk finished second in the 65 kg class.

Wrestling in the Education Gym on the University of Saskatchewan campus, the Cougar men waltzed away with the men's title, picking up 38 points, while Saskatchewan finished in second with 31 points. Calgary claimed the third spot with 22 points and the Alberta Golden Bears finished with 17.

Women's Recap
Alberta had just one gold medalist in Sabrina Kelly (67kg) but earned the bulk of their points from the five silver medals and two bronze medals won at the championship.

Saskatchewan took two gold medals from the championship including Natasha Kramble (51kg) and Kathleen Kent (59kg). Koren Pitkethly (55kg) and Melanie Haanen (82kg) added silver for the Huskies and captain Lindsay Olver (48kg) won a bronze medal. Trisha Elliott (48kg), Savannah Toth (63kg) and Shelby Moran (72kg) were the only medal winners for the Cougars. Elliott brought home gold, while Toth and Moran added bronze. 

Men's Recap
Regina had five competitors finish with a gold medal – sweeping the first four weight classes. Gilbert Musonza (54kg), Steve Schneider (57kg), Kirk Ackerman (61kg), Cory Hosburgh (65kg) and Connor Malloy (76kg) all won gold for the Cougars. The Cougars added five more medals at the championship – three silver and two bronze.

The Huskies finished with three gold medals including 2009 CIS Rookie of the Year Ryan Myrfield (72kg), Landon Squires (90kg) and Daniel Olver (82kg). The gold medal was the Olver's fifth straight. Saskatchewan finished with six more medals – three silver and three bronze. Five of the Huskie medal winners were rookies.

Calgary's Brian Hutton (68kg) and Dan Nwaerondu (130kg) rounded out the gold medalists, while Vaughn Gandy (54kg) and Spenser Burk (65kg) rounded out the Dino medalist each winning silver. Alberta had six bronze medalists on the weekend. The Golden Bears best results came from Coleman Brinker (72kg), who won a silver medal.

Award Winners
WOMEN
Coach of Year – Owen Dawkins, Alberta
Outstanding Wrestler – Gen Haley (55kg), Calgary
Rookie of Year - Trisha Elliott (48kg), Regina
Student-Athlete – Lindsay Olver (48kg), Saskatchewan

MEN
Coach of Year – Leo McGee, Regina
Outstanding Wrestler – Brian Hutton (68kg), Calgary
Rookie of Year - Spenser Burk (65kg), Calgary
Student-Athlete – Daniel Olver (82kg), Saskatchewan

Saskatchewan's married wrestlers Lindsay and Daniel Olver won the Student-Athlete Community Awards. It is the second time in his career that Olver has won the award. Lindsay, the captain of the Huskie women's team, has competed in five straight Canada West championships, qualifying for the CIS Championship in 2008 and 2011. She won a Junior National gold medal in 2007. She has been an Academic All-Canadian throughout her career while studying in Psychology. Lindsay has represented wrestling on the Huskie Athletic Council throughout her career and this year helped organize Huskie Reading Tales, an elementary school reading program, as well as Christmas hampers for families in need. Her husband Daniel has won five straight conference gold medals, as well as represented Canada on the Junior National Team and at the FISU World Championships. Daniel volunteers in the Safe Walk program at the UofS and he represents his sport on the Huskie Athletic Council. He helped organize Huskie Reading Tales and Christmas hampers. He has raised funds for Camp Easter Seals, as well as worked with autistic children.

Regina men's head coach, Leo McGee, was chosen as the men's Coach of the Year, while Alberta's Owen Dawkins won the women's Coach of the Year award. McGee led Regina to their first title since the 2000-01 season. Dawkins led the Pandas to win a meet-high eight medals on the weekend.

2011 CANADA WEST WRESTLING CHAMPIONSHIPS
FINAL RESULTS

*Note: top three finishers in each weight class qualify for CIS championships.

Women
1. CALGARY (28)
2. Alberta (24)
3. Saskatchewan (21)
4. Regina (13)

48 kg
GOLD – Trisha Elliott, Regina
SILVER – Hayley Thomas, Alberta
BRONZE – Lindsay Olver, Saskatchewan
4th – Kathryn Nishimura, Calgary

51 kg
GOLD – Natasha Kramble, Saskatchewan
SILVER – Lyndsay Almeida, Alberta
BRONZE – Tessa Gallinger, Calgary

55 kg
GOLD – Gen Haley, Calgary
SILVER – Koren Pitkenthly, Saskatchewan
BRONZE – Bethany Fuzzan, Alberta
4th – Lauren Holhoyi, Regina

59 kg
GOLD – Kathleen Kent, Saskatchewan
SILVER – Marlen Figueroa, Alberta
BRONZE – Danielle Burk, Calgary
4th – Danielle Anderson, Regina

63 kg
GOLD – Jessy Seida, Calgary
SILVER – Alison Sokalski, Alberta
BRONZE – Savannah Toth, Regina
4th – Brittney Holland, Saskatchewan

67 kg
GOLD – Sabrina Kelly, Alberta
SILVER – Ruth Laing, Calgary
BRONZE – Emily Brentnell, Regina
4th – Drew Kuhn, Saskatchewan

72 kg
GOLD – Erica Wiebe, Calgary
SILVER – Molly Bouchard, Alberta
BRONZE – Shelby Moran, Regina
4th – Amy Dunn, Saskatchewan

82 kg
GOLD – Leah Callahan, Calgary
SILVER – Melanie Hannen, Saskatchewan
BRONZE – Annerieka Walmarianis, Alberta

Men
1. Regina (38)
2. Saskatchewan (31)
3. CALGARY (22)
4. Alberta (17)

54 kg
GOLD – Gilbert Musonza, Regina
SILVER – Vaughn Gandy, Calgary
BRONZE – Shane Johnson, Saskatchewan

57 kg
GOLD – Steve Schneider, Regina
SILVER – Dylan Bray, Saskatchewan
BRONZE – Jason Wass, Alberta
4th – Tona Pitt, Calgary

61 kg
GOLD – Kirk Ackerman, Regina
SILVER – Theo Dow, Saskatchewan
BRONZE – Stephen Ohene, Alberta
4th – Jory Wutzke, Calgary

65 kg
GOLD – Cory Horsburgh, Regina
SILVER – Spenser Burk, Calgary
BRONZE – Connor Hoy, Alberta

68 kg
GOLD – Brian Hutton, Calgary
SILVER – Alex Kelly, Saskatchewan
BRONZE – Mark Ballon, Regina
4th – Pawel Romanowski, Alberta

72 kg
GOLD – Ryan Myrfield, Saskatchewan
SILVER – Coleman Brinker, Alberta
BRONZE – Gaelan Malloy, Regina
4th – Michael Rines, Calgary

76 kg
GOLD – Connor Malloy, Regina
SILVER – Spencer Edwards, Saskatchewan
BRONZE – James Yurick, Alberta
4th – Adam Gordon, Calgary

82 kg
GOLD – Daniel Olver, Saskatchewan
SILVER – John Lendvoy, Regina
BRONZE – Jason Margo, Alberta
4th – Kaleb Smith, Calgary

90 kg
GOLD – Landon Squires, Saskatchewan
SILVER – Benji Martin, Regina
BRONZE – Clayton Brinker, Alberta
4th – Adam Powell, Calgary

130 kg
GOLD – Dan Nwaerondu, Calgary
SILVER – Jimmy Levesque, Regina
BRONZE – Samson Swan, Saskatchewan
4th – James Hoffman, Alberta

-UC-