CALGARY – It was a near perfect start to the 2025-26 season for the University of Calgary Dinos wrestling team this weekend, hosting a pair of competitions and dominating along the way.
Calgary – the reigning back-to-back Canada West Champions on the women's side – won nine women's bouts in Friday's meet before racking up 28 wins in women's matches on Saturday.
Meanwhile, the Dinos men won 10 matches on Friday before tallying another 22 individual wins during Saturday's busy tournament.
On Friday,
Connor Bren,
Brantley Saar and
Kaden De Castro all pinned their opponents, with Saar finishing his match in a tidy 1:20.
Dominic Dubeau,
Morgan Hill and
Arad Sheibani also picked up their first wins in the Scarlet & Gold on Friday on the men's side.
A pair of rookies saw that success carry over into Saturday, as De Castro finished with the silver medal in the 65kg weight class, while Hill was runner-up at 57kg.
On the women's side,
Ankita Singh,
Danyka LaBelle,
Elizabeth Latulippe,
Clara Smithanik and
Maya Johnston all won via pin, with LaBelle finishing things off in a mere 48 seconds.
Johnston followed that performance up with a win in the 53kg weight class on Saturday, opening with a pin before a tech fall win and an 8-2 decision in the gold-medal match.
Megan Walters brought home the top spot in Saturday's action at the 59kg class following three straight wins of her own. At the 65kg class,
Eve Maxwell-Nikiforuk won all three matches in her round robin to edge out Latulippe as the two Dinos took the top two spots.
Meanwhile, Smithanik continued to shine in her debut weekend, winning the 72kg class following a tech fall over Aaliyah Hartfielder of Alberta in the championship match. Fellow rookie
Paige Kirkness also had a strong opening performance, placing runner-up at 50kg after securing pins in her two opening bouts.
The Dinos are back in action Nov. 28-29 with a trip to Saskatchewan.
DINOS INVITATIONAL RESULTS
WOMEN
1. Calgary - 54 points
2. Saskatchewan - 41 points
3. Alberta - 41 points
4. Lethbridge - 7 points
MEN
1. Saskatchewan - 33 points
2. Calgary - 30 points
3. Douglas College - 22 points
4. Alberta - 22 points
5. Lethbridge - 1 point
-UC-
