This past weekend saw lots of action for our Quebec athletes as three tournaments and a World Class wrestling clinic were contested from Friday February 21st to Sunday February 23rd. The Patriotes Training Camp, the Festival des Patriotes, the Quebec Provincial Championships and the U-Sport National Championships all took place over the course of the weekend.
The Patriotes Wrestling Clinic
The Patriotes de St-Cesaire hosted a pre-tournament clinic with a talented group of former and current World Champions as Gia Sissaouri, Linda Morais and Olympic hopeful Jordie Steen ran the clinic for youth level wrestlers from various clubs from the Greater Montreal area and beyond. The clinic was a real treat for these younger athletes as Coach Dominique Choquette and the rest of his coaching staff provided a great atmosphere in the form of a world class trainining area and trading cards for each participant that had important information on the clinicians, that each particpant could then have signed. Fun and learning was had by all.
From the looks of the warm-up, it was a great turnout
2019 World Champion Linda Morais poses for some pictures
Coach Dominique Choquette adresses the athletes
2001 World Champion Gia Sissaouri signs an autograph for a young fan
The Festival des Patriotes
The Festival des Patriotes was held in St-Cesaire, Quebec on Saturday the 22nd. Athletes from across the province, as well as out of town came to compete in the younger age groups, ranging from the Bantam age group and lower. The tournament was well represented as a mixture of local and out of town clubs came to compete. The tournament featured many good matches from our future stars and was enjoyed immensely by the specatators.
Some action from the matches
And the “Cuteness Award” goes to this match
Clubs from Ottawa even made an appearance
For the complete results from the Festival des Patriotes, click on the following links
The Quebec Provincial Championships
The provincial championships was held the following day in St-Cesaire, Quebec. Used as a selection process to choose athletes for the U-17-U19 Canadian National Championships, the tournament is open to all Quebec athletes who are members of the FLOQ. The tournament was well attended as several weight categories featured matches between National Champions and Medalists from the previous year.
Stone Lewis (Vanier College) in red, won Gold at the U19 Nationals last year, squares off against Yann Heymug (Patriotes de St-Cesaire) who took Bronze last year at the U17 Nationals
Brayden Todd (Vanier College) was the 2019 Junior National Champion
For the complete results from the Quebec Provincial Championships, click on the following links
FLOQ Board of Directors members at the 2020 Provincial Championships in St-Cesaire, QC
(From right to left: Tony Ronci, Sylvain Luneau, Jean-Francois Daviau, Dominique Choquette)
The U-Sport National Championships
The most prestigious tournament this weekend, the U-Sport National Championships were held in St-Catherines, Ontario at Brock University on Friday and Saturday. The U-Sport Championships pits schools from around the country in a tournament to determine the top university varisty program in the country. Quebec’s only university at the championships was Concordia University, who sent a talented squad of Men and Women to the tournament. Concordia wrestlers competed hard and when it was over, the results were the following:
Men’s Individual Results
| Name | Weight | Results |
| Sam Garland | 68 kg | 5th |
| Aaron Orzack | 72 kg | Bronze Medal |
| Guseyn Ruslanzada | 76 kg | Gold Medal |
| Sam Barmish | 82 kg | Bronze Medal |
| Julien Choquette | 90 kg | 5th |
| Jeremy Poirier | 100 kg | 4th |
| Aly Barghout | 120 kg | Gold Medal |
Men’s Final Standings
| School | Place |
| Brock University | 1 |
| University of Saskatchewan | 2 |
| Concordia University | 3 |
| University of Calgary | 4 |
| University of Alberta | 5 |
| Guelph University | 6 |
| Western University | 7 |
| McMaster University | 8 |
| Lakehead University | 9 |
| University of the Fraser Valley | 10 |
| Algoma University | 11 |
| York University | 12 |
| University of Toronto | 13 |
| UNB | 14 |
| Queen’s University | 15 |
| Ryerson University | 16 |
Women’s Individual Results
| Name | Weight | Results |
| Kaleigh Prieur | 48 kg | 4th |
| Kaya Dubé-Snow | 51 kg | 5th |
| Jayd Davis | 55 kg | Gold Medal |
| Laurence Beauregard | 59 kg | Bronze Medal |
| Amanda Savard | 67 kg | Bronze Medal |
Women’s Final Standings
| School | Place |
| Brock University | 1 |
| University of Saskatchewan | 2 |
| University of Alberta | 3 |
| University of Calgary | 4 |
| Western University | 5 |
| Concordia University | 6 |
| Lakehead University | 7 |
| Guelph University | 8 |
| York University | 9 |
| McMaster University | 10 |
| University of Toronto | 11 |
| University of the Fraser Valley | 12 |
| Algoma University | 13 |
| Queen’s University | 14 |
| Ryerson University | 15 |
| UNB | 16 |
In addition to this, Guseyn Ruslanzda was named as the Outstanding Male Wrestler for the tournament, making it three striaght years that a Concordia athlete has won the award. Guseyn joins Francis Carter and Alex Moore who won it in the previous years. On the Women’s side, Jayd Davis was named as the Outstanding Rookie for the tournament as well. Concordia’s finish as the third team overall on the Men’s side was solid, despite not having a complete squad.
A huge congratluations has to go out to all our Quebec athletes this weekend. The results achieved and the participation from the large variety of clubs cannot be understated. Now, on to the Nationals!