THUNDER BAY, Ont. – By the slimmest of margins, the University of Calgary Dinos women's wrestling team is returning home with a U SPORTS team silver medal.

The women's competition at the 2026 WCL U SPORTS Invitational Championships became a three-team race Saturday, with the Alberta Pandas, Brock Badgers and Calgary combining to send 14 wrestlers into gold-medal bouts.

The team title was decided in the final match at 83 kilograms. Alberta's Vianne Rouleau pinned Saskatchewan's Myah Phillips to secure gold in the final moments of their bout and lifted the Pandas to the championship.

Alberta finished with 74 points, just one ahead of Calgary. The Pandas earned two individual gold medals from Rouleau and Victoria Stefanov (50 kg).

"We knew we were in the hunt for a team title, but it didn't work out this time," said Dinos head coach Mitch Ostberg. "They fought very hard and gave everything they had. Any given match, Friday or Saturday, if we'd won instead of lost, would have been the difference. It was a very close competition.

"Full credit to the Pandas program. They put a bunch of people in the final and had strong scoring in the middle with a lot of placers."

Seven Dinos reached the podium Saturday. Gabriela Cross (56 kg) and Annika Fines (62 kg) repeated as national gold medallists. Mackenzie Cayer, Maya Johnston and Elizabeth Latulippe earned silver medals, while Angelina Ellis-Toddington and Clara Smithanik claimed bronze.

After the competition, Fines was named U SPORTS Most Outstanding Women's Wrestler of the Year. She dominated her Day 1 matches, pinning three opponents and added a 10-0 technical fall victory. In the gold-medal bout, Fines wrestled through the full match and earned a 5-2 decision when time expired.

For Cross, a fifth-year athlete, the victory caps a decorated university career that includes three Canada West team titles, three national individual gold medals and U SPORTS Top 8 Academic All-Canadian honours in 2024-25.

"She has been a performance leader, no doubt," Ostberg said. "She's also been that sparkplug and intensity you need in the training room. She's a bit of the yardstick. New athletes come in and quickly learn how tough university wrestling is when they wrestle her in practice."

The Dinos men's team placed sixth overall. Mark Schwichtenberg, a Canada West champion, was Calgary's top finisher with a fourth-place result at 76 kilograms.

Calgary graduates four current or former U SPORTS medallists this season, but much like a year ago, the program appears well-positioned to remain a contender on the national stage.

"The strength of our program is the effort of the athletes," Ostberg said. "We're trying to build a team champion for Calgary, and I think the next generation is ready to go."
 
Women's Team Results

POS	TEAM	POINTS
1	Alberta	74
2	Calgary	73
3	Brock	68
4	McMaster	50
5	Saskatchewan	41
6	Western	39
7	Guelph	29
8	Lakehead	23
9	Algoma	18
10	Lethbridge	15
11	Concordia	14
12	Carleton	10
13	Queen's	9
14	Toronto	6
15	UNB	5

Men's Team Results

POS	TEAM	POINTS
1	Brock	86
2	McMaster	64
3	Saskatchewan	49
4	Alberta	46
4	Western	46
6	Guelph	40
6	Calgary	40
8	Toronto	23
9	Algoma	20
10	Lakehead	18
11	York	15
12	TMU	8
13	UNB	8
14	Lethbridge	7
15	Concordia	5
16	Carleton	1

Female Outstanding Wrestler of the Year - Annika Fines (Calgary)
Male Outstanding Wrestler of the Year- Lukas Geske (Western)
Female Rookie of the Year - Victoria Stefanov (Alberta)
Male Rookie of the Year  - Chanjot Kang (McMaster)
Female Team Coach of the Year - Owen Dawkins (Alberta)
Male Team Coach of the Year - Marty Calder (Brock)
Female Community Service Award - Iman Zebian (Western)
Male Community Service Award - Donovan Neudorf (Saskatchewan)
Female Fair Play Award - Haley Florell (Lakehead)
Male Fair Play Award - Samuel Awonuga (York)
 

PLACE	NAME	TEAM
50kg
1	Victoria Stefanov	Alberta
2	Emma Chartres	Brock
3	Cyenna Trotman	Western
53kg
1	Serena Di Benedetto	McMaster
2	Maya Johnston	Calgary
3	Sierra Mullin	Saskatchewan
56kg
1	Gabriela Cross	Calgary
2	Francesca Lo Greco	Brock
3	Natasha Ekundayo	Alberta
59kg
1	Macy Malysiak	McMaster
2	Elizabeth Latulippe	Calgary
3	Olivia Mathezer	Brock
62kg
1	Annika Fines	Calgary
2	Mia Friesen	Brock
3	Olivia Lichti	McMaster
65kg
1	Jonelle Clarke	Western
2	Mackenzie Cayer	Calgary
3	Jolie Brisco	Concordia
68kg
1	Vanessa Keefe	Brock
2	Maria Sawiak	Alberta
3	Angelina Ellis-Toddington	Calgary
72kg
1	Cassie Corbett	Brock
2	Aaliyah Hartfelder	Alberta
3	Clara Smithanik	Calgary
76kg
1	Natalie Vecchio	McMaster
2	Haley Florell	Lakehead
3	Jennifer Nwamadi	Western
83kg
1	Vianne Rouleau	Alberta
2	Myah Philips	Saskatchewan
3	Alexia Sherland	Concordia
PLACE	NAME	TEAM
57kg
1	Javier Tonita-Charriez	Brock
2	Brandon Carrillo	Algoma
3	Ben Reid	Alberta
61kg
1	Blayne Helou	McMaster
2	Aiden O'Neill	Brock
3	Yuel	Kebrom
65kg
1	Mason Mastroianni	Brock
2	Donovan Neudorf	Saskatchewan
3	Gianluca Fortino	McMaster
68kg
1	Casey Harkley	Guelph
2	Gabe Blanchette	Brock
3	Dechlan Papadopoulos	TMU
72kg
1	Tyler Barry	Guelph
2	Chayton Valleau	Western
3	Takis Sembaleras	Saskatchewan
76kg
1	Luken Lawson	McMaster
2	Josiah Mayers-Noel	Toronto
3	Eli Fines	Alberta
82kg
1	Lukas Geske	Western
2	Aidan Stevenson	Alberta
3	Austin Brabant	Brock
90kg
1	Yazdan Farokhizad	Brock
2	Thomas Rousseau	Alberta
3	Koen Poirier	UNB
100kg
1	Omogbai Asekohme	McMaster
2	Callum Knox	Brock
3	Matthew Yong	Saskatchewan
125kg
1	Chanjot Kang	McMaster
2	Roger Li	Brock
3	Bjorn Nelson	Alberta

-UC-