News Page

Skopelianos wins Gold at the National

Junior Wrestling Championships

Calgary , Alberta, CANADA, March 21, 2004 .........

The best Junior wrestlers from across Canada battled it out for three days in the Calgary's Jack Simpson's Gymnasium at the 2004 Canadian Junior Freestyle(male/female) Wrestling Championships and Junior Greco-Roman (males). The championships ended on Sunday, March 21, 2004.

Laura SKOPELIANOS a member of London-Western Wrestling Club, wrestling at 48 kg was the lone gold medal winner for London club. Laura who is a also a first year student at the University of Western Ontario and a silver medallist from 2004 Ontario University Championships wrestled her patented defensive - offense style, capitalizing on her opponent’s mistakes. In winning the final bout, Laura changed her tactics and ended the match with a high-risk throw, which secured her the gold medal.

Laura's first match was against Amber McCRYSTAL of Cattown Wrestling Club (Regina) whom she disposed of with a pin while ahead on points (9-3) . Her next match against Alyssa KRAHAN of Saskatoon went the full six minutes of regulation time with the score tied 1-1. In the overtime wrestling period, Laura beat her opponent by a score of 4-1.

Laura's final match for the gold medal was against Kerra CANDIA of Burnaby Mountain Wrestling Club ( Vancouver) . In this match, Laura found herself behind on points, 2-1. The officials directed a standing clinch position as there was not the minimum score of three points achieved during regulation time. Skopelianos, in a come-from-behind effort, threw her opponent from the clinch position for three points to win by a 4-2 score and collect her championship title.

Coach Josip Mrkoci was ecstatic with Laura's win and remarked " It was Laura's time to win, she risked everything on a throw and won. If she had not thrown successfully, her opponent most likely would have won." Coach Mrkoci went on saying " by winning the 48 kg class Laura has also qualified to represent Canada at the Junior Pan-Am Championships this year in Venezuela".

London-Western Wrestling Club's, Gillian McCALLUM wrestling at 63 kg placed 4th in her weight division. Gillian won two matches and lost two matches. Her last match for bronze medal was a very close one; she, unfortunately, ran out of time and lost. Another member of London-Western Wrestling Club that finished in the medal standings was Ian PATTON wrestling at 120 kg. Ian won a bronze medal in Junior Greco-Roman wrestling style. Both Gillian and Ian are also first year students at the University of Western Ontario.

London- Western Wrestling Club placed 6 th. as a club out of 20 clubs competing in women's division. Besides the top points finishers other wrestlers contributed to the club's success at these Junior Nationals. They were, Lesley McCALLUM ( 59 kg),Shannon SMART (59 kg), Jess FITZGERALD (67 kg) .

Peter Michienzi acted in capacity of honorary manager and Josip Mrkoci capably handled the coaching chores. Together the M&M team did a good job.

------------------------------------------------------

2004 Canadian Junior Wrestling Championships - Final Results

Team Standings - Female
Équipe resultants - Femme

1. Burnaby Mountain W.C. - 59 pts
2. Strathcona (Edmonton) - 20 pts
3. Brock W.C. (St. Catharines) - 18 pts
4. Saskatoon W.C. - 18 pts
5. U of Calgary W.C. - 15 pts
6. London - Western - 13 pts
7. Cattown (Regina) - 13 pts
8. Club de lutte acadia bathurst - 10 pts
8. Hamilton W.C. - 10 pts
8. Bison (Winnipeg) W.C. - 10 pts

Provincial Standings - Female
1. British Columbia - 52 pts
2. Ontario - 39 pts
3. Alberta - 35 pts
4. Saskatchewan - 28 pts
5. New Brunswick - 10 pts
6. Manitoba - 10 pts
7. Newfoundland & Labrador - 1 pt

Individual Standings

44 KG (3)
1. Ashley McKilligan - Burnaby Mountain W.C.
2. Alyssa Unwin - Sudbury W.C.
3. Katie Masse - Windsor W.C.

48 KG (9)
1. Laura Skopelianos - London-Western
2. Kerra Candia - Burnaby Mountain W.C.
3. Stephanie Szmiett - Brock W.C.
4. Alyssa Krahn - Saskatoon W.C.
5. Jody Hounjet - Saskatoon W.C.
6. Amber McCrystal - Cattown

51 KG (8)
1. Miranda Dick - Burnaby Mountain W.C.
2. Lisa Morin - Cattown
3. Alanna King - Brock W.C.
4. Jessica Bondy - Brock W.C.
5. Liz Martindale - Brock W.C.
6. Randa Markos - Windsor W.C.

55 KG (13)
1. Laura McDougall - U of Calgary W.C. (Outstanding Wrestler)
2. Crystal Santos - Burnaby Mountain W.C.
3. Leah White - Burnaby Mountain W.C.
4. Jillian Gallays - Saskatoon W.C.
5. Leah Pare - Burnaby Mountain W.C.
6. Ginnette Tremblay - L'essor

59 KG (12)
1. Justine Bouchard - Strathcona
2. Jazzie Barker - King of the Mat
3. Jeradline Chan - Burnaby Mountain W.C.
4. Holly Battig - Grand Prarire W.C.
5. Tasha Eady - Renfrew
6. Lindsay MacDonald - Brock W.C.

63 KG (7)
1. Amanda Gerhardt - Burnaby Mountain W.C.
2. Jody Dykstra - Brock W.C.
3. Amy Dyck - Saskatoon W.C.
4. Gillian McCallum - London-Western
5. Maren Marks - Bison W.C.
6. Kim Noakes - Matmen

67 KG (10)
1. Stephanie Howoran - Hamilton W.C.
2. Stacie Anaka - Burnaby Mountain W.C.
3. Theresa Bakker - Bison W.C.
4. Katrina Pitawnakwat - Guelph W.C.
5. Stephanie Buchan - U of Calgary W.C.
6. Kerri-Ann Evely - Memorial

72 KG (9)
1. Rachelle Pinet - Club de lutte acadia bathurst
2. Hayley McLeary - Burnaby Mountain W.C.
3. Beth Thompson - Wolverine W.C.
4. Elisa Howes - U of Calgary W.C.
5. Colby Palphy - Burnaby Mountain W.C.
6. Emily McCague - Thunderwolves

78 KG (7)
1. Kristy Sargant - Strathcona
2. Ellen Fritz - Saskatoon W.C.
3. Carissa Holinaty - Cattown
4. Roxanne Adair - Bison W.C.
5. Dani Gurski - Saskatoon W.C.
6. Kristina Wolfe - Burnaby Mountain W.C.

--------------------------------------------------------

Wrestling teaches value of hard work

Linda Hersey
Sports People 3/16/04

"It's more like icing on the cake for us when we get to go to the national level," says wrestling coach Kevin Scully of Rexton.

A phys. ed. teacher at the Eleanor W. Graham Middle School in Richibucto, wrestling is a sport that continues to grow in popularity there.

"It's a recreational type of program that expanded over the years," says Scully. "We started it mostly as sort of a school team builder, and the kids started to get quite good at it. Then we started wrestling provincially, and in the last four or five years we've gone to Canada East Youth Wrestling Festival (St. John's, Nfld.) and we've done well. We finished in the top three every time we've gone, and we've won twice with the girls team."

Making sure that the students stay connected academically is top priority, and the opportunity to visit other schools and compete is a privilege. Also stressed are important life skills such as proper behaviour and acceptable social activity. They learn the value of hard work, and the benefits of a committed effort. He enjoys seeing his athletes do well and give it everything they have in a match regardless of the outcome.

"That's not important for me," acknowledges Scully. "It's just to see that they realize they've been successful, regardless of where they finish. As long as they've done their best in practice and worked hard. It's also the teamwork part of it. It's a big social thing I guess with me more than anything."

What he finds most challenging is a situation that sometimes arises during competition. Each competitor is placed into a particular weight category, and often teammates find themselves in the finals - wrestling each other! This is understandably difficult for him to see, because at this point he can't really coach either of his athletes to win against their own teammate. Emotions often run high in this type of situation, especially when opponents are friends.

A family man (wife Nancy, son Neil, 9, and daughter Kristen, 8), he describes himself as outdoorsy, and likes to "canoe some white water." As well, he enjoys "playing a little bit of guitar on my own." He stresses with a smile that it's just for fun and relaxation.

That was also his approach with any sport he undertook. He played junior and AAA juvenile hockey, wrestled in university for three years and "did a little bit of ball." Kevin Scully will be the first to tell you that he wasn't the best - but most importantly he loved what he did, and he shares that enthusiasm now as a wrestling coach.

"I'm more jack of all trades and master of none," he says. "I'm kind of the grinder type of personality, I'm not the finesse person at all. Every person has their place, and I think that's good for the kids to see as well that I'm not the greatest athlete in the world - but I do love the sport, and I love the kids."