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Wrestlers happy with provincial results

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Zack Boesem

Three Correlieu senior secondary school wrestlers have returned from the provincial championships with experience and happy memories.

Leading the way for CSS was Eric Depenau, 17, a Grade 12 student who earned a fifth place finish in the 90 kg division.

Depenau came by the fifth place finish quite honestly with just two losses against four wins.

He lost his first bout against the wrestler who eventually took first place and he lost his penultimate bout against the wrestler who eventually took third place.

“They were better wrestlers,” Depenau admitted.

Depenau earned the trip to the provincials with a first-place finish at the tournament hosted by CSS.

Cardiovascular fitness, Depenau said, was key to his success at the local tournament that saw him hit the mats five times in just one day.

“Most people get tired before I do,” he said.

Depenau also credited wrestling with smaller teammates as an advantage.

“It’s made me a lot faster than most of the big guys.”

Although Depenau had set a goal of finishing in the top three, he was nonetheless pleased with his performance at the provincial championships, sufficiently so he is now training for the national championships scheduled for April in Windsor, Ont.

“It’s fun,” he said simply.

Correlieu was also represented by Sam Palfrey, another Grade 12 student.

Palfrey, who also acted as coach for the team, finished the competition in the top 10 and was pleased with the result, but felt he could have done better.

“I don’t think I trained enough for the championships,” he said.

“I could have trained more.

“My cardiovascular was not as good as I had hoped.”

Palfrey is nonetheless happy with the experience because he did put his best effort forward and the experience was fun.

Part of that fun, Palfrey said was a sense of accomplishment in the success of his teammates at the championships, teammates he essentially taught how to wrestle.

Being a coach and a wrestler at the provincial championships was a new experience for Palfrey and he admitted it did present challenges.

“At first it was OK when the matches were spread apart,” he said.

“But when the matches were close together and I had to go from coaching to wrestling in a few minutes, it was distracting and stressful.

“But I got used to it.”

Depenau had high praise for his teammate and coach.

“For him to coach me to make a fifth-place finish at the provincials is pretty amazing,” Depenau said.

Zack Boesem, a Grade 12 student, who wrestled in the 74 kg division, rounded out the CSS squad.

A rookie wrestler, Boesem was pleased with his top-18 performance.

“I didn’t expect to place super high, I just wanted to learn something and have fun,” he said.

What Boesem learned, was what most wrestlers learn eventually, speed is important.

“Physical speed and mental speed is important,” he said.

“If you can’t react fast enough you are going to lose.”

For his part, Robert McGregor, team coach and manager, was also pleased with the performance of his team.

“They all did well and Sam did a great job coaching, he should be proud of their [teammates] accomplishments, they are his accomplishments as well.”

McGregor hopes the success of the wrestling team this year will generate more interest next year, both from athletes and potential coaches as well.

Anyone interested in joining the wrestling team or coaching are encouraged to call McGregor at 250-992-7007.