Wednesday December 17th 2025

Only a few days left before I leave on Christmas break. For many it’s a time to celebrate the holidays with friends and family. While I will be doing this, I’ll also be resting and recuperating. This last year has been a whirlwind of things for me in the wrestling world and to say that I’m exhausted is an understatement. The website has taken up a lot of my free time as my professional life which includes both teaching and coaching, has made up the rest. This rest is both needed and well deserved.

As per usual, at this time of year, I like to reflect on what the year in wrestling has been like, both on a personal level and in the province. Most people may have some similar experiences and some very different. I guess it all depends on your point of view. With that being said, let’s get into it.

The calendar year in 2025 saw Quebec’s wrestling membership grow. The GMAA numbers increased to the point where at the finals, we had four mats in operation at Howard S. Billings High school, with fourteen schools in attendance. For my second year as Chairperson of the league, this was encouraging as we always want to see growth. Provincials, also early in the year saw the same four mats being used for one of the largest provincial championships since the 1990s. Having been there for both the peak and decline in Wrestling at the high school level, it was gratifying to see this small resurgence in our sport. Many of our athletes come from high school and having more kids compete at this level is never a bad thing.

The Quebec Provincial Championships was a huge event

With a small break, out athletes competed in tournaments at home and abroad, with tournaments like the Festival des Patriotes and the Mohawk Valley International. This was all done in preparation for the National Championships and Team trials for the various age groups. At the various National Championships and trials, Quebec acquitted themselves well at those tournaments with athletes coming back with medals at all levels and from different clubs. The highlight out of all these results was Laurence Beauregard qualifying her place at WW 59 kg, a Non-Olympic weight, for a chance to compete at the 2025 World Championships held in Zagreb, Croatia. Laurence would seize this opportunity, by winning a Bronze Medal in a dominant fashion with a win over her final opponent by pin. I remember when I first met Laurence as she was competing out of Beurling Academy against my school. Who knew that from such humble beginnings, she would become the world beater that she is? Yet another example of the importance of our high school league in developing our sport.

From GMAA athlete to World Medalist (Pictured with her former High School Coach, Ms. Jamajii)

With all that happening, the Quebec team trials for the upcoming Canada Summer games were set to be held at the Montreal Urban Games at the Quartier des Spectacles in downtown Montreal. While that never happened, as some clubs voted against it for various reasons, I believe that this was a missed opportunity. After all, to have that level of exposure at such a public event could have been good for our sport. Hopefully, this opportunity comes up again.

Team Quebec went on to do some great things in St-Johns

The trials were nevertheless held at a familiar site, the École Secondaire P.G Ostiguy. In the end, Quebec fielded a full Girls and Boys Team, something they’ve never done, further highlighting the growth we’ve seen in recent years. Those two teams would go on to have some spectacular finishes as the Quebec Boys Team would once again return to the podium with a Bronze Medal finish while the Girls would register their best finish ever, placing 5th. In addition to this, many of our Quebec athletes competed for individual medals, bringing up our total medal tally to six in total. Sadly, due to the Air Canada strike, I wasn’t able to make it out there to fulfill my duties as a member of the support staff. However, a very neat consolation prize would be in the works as I would be selected to accompany our Quebec athletes to the U23 World Championships in Novi Sad, Serbia.

Out of all the things that happened that year, this would have to rank as one of my all time highs so far in my coaching career goes.  My participation at this event marks the attainment of another goal that I set out for myself when I first started coaching and the experiences, both good and bad will live on with me for many years to come. This is something I would hope to repeat in the future.

(Photo property of UWW)

(Photo property of UWW)

The end of the year would also see the beginning of the GMAA High School league. This year, the league would split into three divisions (Off-Island, Western and Central) in order to accommodate the increase in the number of participant schools. With fifteen schools now participating, and possibly a sixteenth on the way, the sport of wrestling is on the rise. This being my third year as Chairman will be meaningful one, as I look to improve and grow in the position. One day I hope to be as well respected as the previous Chairman, Rob Moore, who held that spot for nearly two decades.

The final events for our Quebec athletes consisted of tournaments for our younger athletes in Ontario and Puerto Rico, with our older and senior athletes competing on the Varsity circuit, with most of their competitions being in Ontario. Local tournaments would feature the Concordia Invitational as well as the Quebec Open, which would also be largest it’s been for quite some time. Last, but not least, the Bishop Ryan Invitational as well as the Matmen Classic would round out the year, with a slew of Quebec athletes competing in those events.

The Quebec Open, held for the first time at PCHS, was huge this year.

So suffice it to say, wrestling has been on the rise this year. With numbers larger than they have been for a long time, the future for our sport looks bright and will hopefully this will continue in the upcoming year. With that being said, bring on 2026!

Matmen was crazy this year, as per usual