SP File Photo / Viola Yanik admits to being nervous about her upcoming Olympic berth bid
News Page
Athens on the line for Yanik
City wrestler to vie for Olympic spot
Cory Wolfe
The StarPhoenix , December 10, 2003
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SP File Photo / Viola Yanik admits to being nervous about her upcoming Olympic berth bid |
With a berth to next summer's Olympic Games on the line this weekend, Saskatoon wrestler Viola Yanik is anxious.
Really anxious.
"I'm a frantic, panicky worrier which comes down to pacing (back and forth) right at the end -- but it goes a lot beyond pacing," said Yanik, her voice quivering at the thought.
Yanik established herself on the international stage with a bronze performance at September's world championships. Yet, she is trying to win a couple of mind games -- against herself -- before landing in Edmonton for this weekend's Olympic qualifier.
"I always question myself and my abilities," said Yanik. "That's probably my biggest obstacle. It always has been and it probably always will be. That's just something I've gotta work on."
The 21-year-old police officer is the top seed in her 63-kilogram division this weekend. The winner earns a trip to Athens where women's wrestling will be included on the Olympic program for the first time.
The very grapplers who will try to unseat Yanik during this weekend's Canadian trials have her to thank for the opportunity. She secured the Olympic berth for Canada with a bronze showing during her first world championship appearance at Madison Square Garden in New York City.
Now she has to defend her claim to the Games in Greece.
"I'm glad to have qualified Canada for the Olympics from that result, but it doesn't guarantee me anything for the future," said Yanik. "It's a great accomplishment for me, but it doesn't guarantee me a trip to the Olympics or anything else."
Preliminary competition begins Friday. Yanik won't get into the fray until Saturday. Whoever emerges from the challenger series will meet Yanik in a best-of-three final.
"There's a good group of six, seven or eight wrestlers who are all very good and at a similar level," said Yanik, a member of the Saskatoon Wrestling Club.
Yanik's coach, Todd Hinds from the University of Saskatchewan, will also be in Edmonton this weekend. He is an assistant coach with the national team.
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12/3/03
Burnaby - Two world placers. Two Canadian champions. Two women from the same high school. But only one Olympic berth is up for grabs when both Emily Richardson and Shannon Samler try to qualify for the Canadian Olympic Team at the Olympic Trials beginning December 12 in Edmonton.
Simon Fraser University's Richardson and SFU grad Samler, both of North Vancouver via Carson Graham secondary school, will be fighting for one Olympic berth at 63-kilograms later this month. With just four weight classes when women's wrestling makes its debut at the 2004 Olympics in Athens, Greece, many Canadian champions have had to move up or down a weight class in order to qualify.
Neither Richardson, who turns 22 on December 6, nor Samler, 24, are ranked wrestlers at 63-kilograms. Richardson won her Canadian national title at 59-kilograms and placed 7th at the same weight at the 2003 world championships. She will move up to 63-kilograms in an attempt to make the Olympic Games.
"Unfortunately 59-kilograms is not one of the weights chosen for these Olympics," said Clan coach Mike Jones. "Emily has beaten all the competition at 55-kilograms but this is too light a weight for her to cut down to so she will have to challenge at 63-kg. She has a chance but she'll have to beat her teammate to do it -- it'll be close."
Samler, the first student-athlete ever recruited to the Clan women's wrestling program, now competes for the Burnaby Mountain Wrestling Club while attending medical school at UBC. Samler won her Canadian title last year at 67-kilograms and was fourth at that weight at the 2003 world championships. She has had to cut weight to wrestle at 63-kilograms.
What makes Richardson's and Samler's quest for an Olympic berth unusual is that they face each other everyday in practice. "Some days I'll win and other days she'll get the better of me but it's always close," said Richardson. "The hard part is that in order to win you have to score three-points and sometimes neither of us can do that in practice."
Richardson and Samler will face equally difficult challenges from Viola Yanik of the University of Saskatchewan, third at the 2003 world championships at 63-kilograms, and Tara Hedican of the University of Guelph, a former world junior champ at this weight. Yanik will enter the Trials as the No. 1 ranked wrestler in the weight class.
The Olympic weight classes for women are 48-, 55-, 63- and 72-kg. Canada has already qualified for the Olympics at 63-kilograms so whoever wins this weight class at the Canadian Trials will be headed to Athens.
One of the other match-ups will feature two athletes from the same high school in Hazelton, BC. Carol Huynh, completing her final semester of a psychology degree at SFU, will be up against Lyndsay Belisle of the Burnaby Mountain Club. Both wrestlers will be competing for the 48-kilogram berth. With a 121-26 record with the Clan, Huynh has more wins than any other wrestler in the history of the program. At the Olympic Trials, though, Huynh will be seeded third while Belisle will be ranked No. 1.
"Lyndsay is a little older and more experienced so she would be favoured," said Jones. "But either way it will be a close match."
Jen Ryz, who graduated from the University of Calgary before becoming social worker in the Lower Mainland, will also be attending the Trials from Burnaby Mountain Wrestling Club. She will be the No. 1 ranked wrestler at 55-kilograms. Burnaby Mountain and Douglas College Coach Dave McKay is Canada's Olympic wrestling coach.
Members of the SFU women's wrestling team, the No. 1 ranked program in North America, and members of the Burnaby Mountain Wrestling Club, practice this week at the following times:
Practice Times
Wednesday, Dec. 3 - 9-10:00 am
Thursday, Dec. 4 - 9-10:00 am; and/or 4-5:00 pm
Saturday, Dec. 6 - 7:30-8:30 am
Monday, Dec. 8 - 4-5:00 pm
Tuesday, Dec. 9 - 8-9:00 am
Wednesday, Dec. 10 - 3 pm departure
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Nov 25/03
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By DANNY MARTIN, Staff Writer 12/8/03
Veronica Marshall didn't break a sweat Saturday, but she helped Eielson High School repeat as champions of the Area II North Wrestling Tournament.
Marshall, a 103-pound junior, was among five individual champions for the host Ravens, who claimed the team title with 166.5 points, just five points ahead of the Valdez Buccaneers, who repeated as runner-up.
Eielson came into the area tournament after a regular season that was hampered by illness and injuries. It even had to cancel its regular-season finale Nov. 26 against Lathrop because it had only six healthy wrestlers.
"It was tough,'' said senior Jeremy Raby, who repeated as the 275-pound area champion, "but I think everyone just knuckling down, and just grit was about all that got us through it. We're still battling injuries. ''
The area tournament was like a new season for Eielson, as 11 of its 15 entries qualified for the Class 1-2-3A state tournament.
"I think the character of this team is built in the wrestling room," said Eielson head coach Vern Dulany. "We just don't work on the X's and O's and the moves, we work on the minds.''
The top three finishers in each weight class qualified for the state competition Friday and Saturday at Anchorage Christian School.
Also earning individual titles for Eielson were Jamie Hurlburt at 215; Glen Graham at 130 and Matt Higgins, who won at 125 and received the tournament's Most Outstanding Wrestler honor.
"I've wanted this (honor) for a while,'' Higgins said. "It's great to get it.''
Eielson's other state qualifiers were three individual runners-up--Chase Morgan (119), Bryan Stewart (130) and Patrick Rogers (135)--and a trio of third-place finishers: Nick Rogers (140), Jon Slater (145) and David Jones (152).
Marshall, Eielson's only female wrestler, was the lone entrant Saturday at 103, ensuring her of a trip to the state tournament.
Dulany said that Marshall felt bad that there wasn't any competition in her weight class, but he assured her that she was a recipient of circumstances.
"I told her,'' said Dulany, "you made grades, you made weight, you came to practice and you got your physical. You can't control what the opponents do--you can only control what you do. So, you do those things and you set yourself up for success.''
He also told her, "Nobody showed up, so you're the region (area) champion.''
Valdez sophomore Kyle Anderson also went uncontested at 112, joining five other Buccaneers on the champion's podium. Valdez qualified nine for the state tournament and Buccaneers' head coach Paul Childes also received the Coach of the Year honor.
Higgins, last year's 125 runner-up, reached his final against Valdez's Jeremy Banner by pinning Cordova's Brad Kuromoto in 1 minute, 10 seconds into their first-round match and pinning Tok's Reuben Butteri at 26 seconds into their semifinal.
Higgins scored an 11-3 decision over Banner, who won at 119 in last year's area tournament.
"I was trying to keep my head and stay focused in the tournament," Higgins said. "Banner is a tough opponent and I had to take it up a notch.''
Graham missed most of the season with a broken collarbone sustained in the ACS Tournament in early November. He practiced the rest of the regular season, but it wasn't until Friday's practice that he brought a note from his doctor and his father that cleared him to wrestle in the area tournament, where he earned his first postseason title with an 8-3 decision over sophomore teammate Stewart.
"For him to step on to the mat is phenomenal,'' said Dulany, "because (early last week) I wasn't expecting him to wrestle.''
The undersized Hurlburt, a junior who started the season late because of football commitments, took an 11-3 major decision over Cordova's Jon Nichols in the 215 title match.
"I'm weighing in at 190 and wrestling at 215,'' said Hurlburt, "and that's just the greatest feeling knowing you can beat those boys who have a 25-pound advantage over you.''
Raby, aided by a double-leg takedown, needed only 59 seconds to pin Nichols' teammate Axel Jansen and earn his second straight 275 title.
"It gets you ready for next weekend,'' Raby said of repeating as champs, "because next week is a long week of practice for the state tournament.''
James Geffe, one of two individual champions and four state qualifiers for third-place team Glennallen, executed one of the most impressive takedowns of the day during his 5-4 win over Valdez's Gage Graika in the 152 final.
With 2 seconds left in the first round, the Glennallen junior underhooked Graika's arms, lifted him, twisted him and drove him into the mat, evoking responses of "Ooh, that was beautiful!'' from Eielson assistant coaches who were watching.
"I locked up and brought my hips in as hard as I could and threw him down," said Geffe, who won the match with a reversal.
Valdez senior Logan Dodd pinned Delta Junction's Curtis Fellman at 2:50 of the 171 final as he wrestled with a little discomfort. Dodd was accidentally struck in the groin by Fellman's knee in the first round.
"I took him down and he had left his knee up ... he didn't do it on purpose," Dodd said. "You've just got to ignore the pain. The adrenaline covers it.''
Tournament results and honors are listed on the Scoreboard on Page C4.