Sunday January 15th, 2023
It’s been a while since I’ve written one of these. After all, since 2019, there hasn’t been that much to speak of since the wrestling season of 2020 was cut short and 2021 was almost non-existant. Therefore, with 2022 coming to a close, I think that it’s important to reflect on the season that has passed and be thankful that we had wrestling events to compete in. Results were also pretty good as the teams in Quebec wrestling begin the slow process of rebuilding. It’s with that in mind that I want to just touch upon a few significant things that happened in 2022 for wrestling in Quebec.
The 2021-22 GMAA/RSEQ Championships
With virtually no regular season to speak of, the 2022 GMAA/RSEQ city championships were nevertheless held. Hosted once again to great effect by PG. Ostiguy high school, many of the high school teams came out to compete in a modified high school championships in which PG. Ostiguy once again emerged as the winner of the league in both the boys and girls divisions.
To even have a championships under such extenuating circumstances was nothing short of exceptional, and to have it be a success was even more of a feat.
The Canadian Team Trials
A first-time event, all the trials for the Canadian Teams were held at one location in Edmonton Alberta. Cadets, Juniors, U23s and the Seniors all converged on the University of Alberta. Quebec sent many athletes to qualify and many emerged victorious, booking their places on their respective National Teams.
The U17-U19 Canadian National Championships
While having the U17-U19 Nationals was a huge bonus, the numbers around the country have yet to recover as the number of athletes was much lower than it has ever been. Regardless of this, the U17-U19 was still a challenging event that had many Quebec athletes participated in. In this event, Quebec showed their class as many medals and Top 6 finishes were captured at the event.
The venue was still quite nice
The Pan-Am Championships
The Pan-Am Championships featured many athletes from all age groups as Quebec sent many athletes to the Continental Championships. The Cadet Pan-Am Championships featured only one representative from Quebec, Nathan Rainville of the Patriotes of St-Cesaire. Nevertheless, Nathan pulled out a dominant performance as he finished off with a Silver Medal without losing any points until his Gold Medal match.
For the Juniors, the event also featured another Quebec athlete, Connor Church. Connor would be competing in his first Pan-Am Championships, where he would finish off with a Bronze Medal.
Finally in the Senior division, Quebec would have four athletes compete in all three categories; Freestyle, Greco-Roman and Women Wrestling. All athletes would perform well, with each one of them placing in the Top 5 or higher.
The 2022 Commonwealth Games
The 2022 Commonwealth Games was the largest of its kind in the history of the event, with more sports held than ever before. Quebec was well represented at this event as well, with both athletes taking home medals in their respective divisions.
Linda Morais took home a Silver Medal against a quality opponent
The 2022 Canada Summer Games
The 2022 Canada Summer Games was rollercoaster of ups and downs. The team faced many challenges from the onset, resulting in some athletes not being able to compete. Nevertheless, Quebec fielded a strong team on both the boys and the girls side and many individual and team accomplishments were made. All in all, Quebec should be happy with its accomplishments during this difficult games.
Quebec athletes acquitted themselves well in Niagara
The 2022 Senior World Championships
The 2022 Senior World Championships would feature five Quebec athletes. The World Championships is always tough, as on any given day there may be an athlete who will have a phenomenal tournament and win it all. The quality of the athletes that Quebec sent was quite high, with many of them facing off against former World and Olympic Champions. In the end, Linda Morais would take home a Bronze Medal at 68 kgs.
Tamyra Mariama STOCK MENSAH (USA) SILVER Ami ISHII (JPN) BRONZ Irina RINGACI (MDA), Linda MORAIS (CAN)
The U23 World Championships
Two Quebec athletes would make their way to Pontevedra Spain to wrestle at the tournament. Jason Luneau and Virginie Gascon would be Quebec’s representatives at this event and both would wrestle very well, with Virginie finishing off in 5th position.
The 25th Copa Sparta
Making a return to the tournament scene for Quebec, athletes in all age groups and from many clubs made their way to San Juan for a tournament and training camp. The tournament provided a plethora of competition levels, making it ideal to send a variety of athletes. In the end, Quebec wrestlers had some good results and a good time.
Members of the Quebec team pose for a photo
The 22-23 GMAA/RSEQ Season
The GMAA/RSEQ started their first proper season since the 2019-20 season. This effectively marks the return of the high school wrestling league to the province and there is cause for optimism.
The league started off with twelve schools registered. This marks a first time for many things in a long while. Number one, the league has passed its total number of ten schools, making it bigger than it has been in previous twenty years. Second, for the first time since the turn of the century, the league now has two conferences as there were enough schools to divide the league into to make it competitive and easier for schools to travel. All in all, here’s hoping for a good season.
While they’re many things going with Quebec wrestling, it got to a point that it would be almost impossible to list them all. This is a good thing and hopefully a sign of things to come.