EDMONTON – A trio of University of Calgary Dinos will contend for gold after a strong showing on Day 1 of the 2023 Friends of the World Cup of Wrestling Society U SPORTS Wrestling Championship, presented by the Westin Edmonton.
Gabriela Cross (56kg),
Eve Maxwell-Nikiforuk (59kg), and
Brantley Saar (72kg) have each earned spots in their weight classes' gold medal bouts on Saturday. Both Cross and Maxwell-Nikiforuk captured Canada West gold two weeks ago, while Saar is looking to upgrade his conference silver for gold at nationals.
The Dinos will also be competing for medals in the bronze medal matches. On the women's side,
Ellise Daynes (76kg),
Maya Johnston (50kg),
Grace Lew (53kg), and
Miki Rowbottom (63kg) each won two of their three bouts, along with men's rookie
Shane Richards (68kg).
The host Alberta Pandas and defending champion Brock University Badger men took firm control of the team standings on Day 1. The Alberta women jumped ahead of the women's standings, as they finished Friday with a guaranteed 57 points, 14 points clear of both the Badgers and Dinos.
Looking for an eighth-straight U SPORTS banner, the Brock men have all but locked up another championship trophy. The Badgers finished Day 1 with 59 guaranteed points, 12 clear of their only challenger, the McMaster Marauders (47). Half of the men's 10 weight classes will feature at least one Badger in tomorrow's gold medal match, with the defending champions' depth and talent clearly evident in Edmonton.
Day 2 of the 2023 U SPORTS Wrestling Championship will get underway at 11:00 a.m. MT with the 5th and 7th place matches, followed by the bronze medal matches at 1:00 p.m., and the championship finals at 3:00 p.m. MT.
TEAM STANDINGS
Men
| 1 |
Brock |
59 |
| 2 |
McMaster |
47 |
| 3 |
Alberta |
42 |
| 4 |
Saskatchewan |
41 |
| 5 |
Western |
34 |
| 6 |
Calgary |
32 |
| 7 |
Concordia |
31 |
| 8 |
Lakehead |
23 |
| 9 |
TMU |
8 |
| 10 |
Guelph |
7 |
| 11 |
Algoma |
5 |
| 12 |
UNB |
5 |
| 13 |
York |
4 |
| 14 |
Queens |
1 |
| 15 |
Toronto |
1 |
Women
| 1 |
Brock |
59 |
| 2 |
McMaster |
47 |
| 3 |
Alberta |
42 |
| 4 |
Saskatchewan |
41 |
| 5 |
Western |
34 |
| 6 |
Calgary |
32 |
| 7 |
Concordia |
31 |
| 8 |
Lakehead |
23 |
| 9 |
TMU |
8 |
| 10 |
Guelph |
7 |
| 11 |
Algoma |
5 |
| 12 |
UNB |
5 |
| 13 |
York |
4 |
| 14 |
Queens |
1 |
| 15 |
Toronto |
1 |
MEDAL MATCHUPS
Men's Finals
57 kg – Talon Hird (Alberta) vs Treye Trotman (Western)
61 kg – Alec Montoya (Alberta) vs Drake Buechler (Saskatchewan)
65 kg – Daniel Hernandez-Mendoza (Alberta) vs Hassan Al-Hayawi (Western)
68 kg – Cole Sanderson (Saskatchewan) vs Carlos Vargas (Brock)
72 kg – Brantly Saar (Calgary) vs Bobby Narwal (Brock)
76 kg – Connor Church (Concordia) vs Max Budgey (Brock)
82 kg – Jordan Wylie (Brock) vs Lukas Geske (Western)
90 kg – Alex Moore (Concordia) vs Howard Moffat (McMaster)
100 kg – Omogbai Asekohme (McMaster) vs Jeremy Poirier (Concordia)
125 kg – Roger Li (Brock) vs Karanveer Mahil (McMaster)
Women's Finals
50 kg - Taylor McPherson (Alberta) vs Sierra Mullin (Saskatchewan)
53 kg - SueAnne Harms (Saskatchewan) vs Serena Di Bennedetto (McMaster)
56 kg -
Gabriela Cross (Calgary) vs Mia Friesen (Brock)
59 kg - Eve Maxwell (Calgary) vs Amy Bellavia (McMaster)
63 kg - Aleah Nickel (Alberta) vs Laurence Beauregard (Concordia)
67 kg - Katie Mulkay (Alberta) vs Amanda Savard (Concordia)
72 kg - Andrea Franko (Alberta) vs Alexia Sherland (Concordia)
76 kg - Vianne Rouleau (Alberta) vs Shauna Kuebeck (Brock)
82 kg - Myah Phillips (Saskatchewan) vs Brianna Fraser (Brock)
