The weekend of November 3rd to the 5th was a busy one. Quebec athletes from Concordia University, the Montreal YMHA and Vanier College sent athletes to compete at the McMaster Invitational and the trials for the 2018 Commonwealth Games, being held later on this year in Gold Coast, Australia.
Veronica Keefe goes for the pin against Olivia Di Bacco
Veronica Keefe with the win
On Friday November 3rd, competing for spots on the Commonwealth Team, Vincent De Marinis, Alex Moore, Jordan Steen and Veronica Keefe, all competing for the Montreal YMHA were Quebec's representatives. All our Quebec athletes faced some stiff competition from across Canada as many high level athletes competed for that coveted spot on the team. Veronica Keefe wrestling at 68 kgs would beat Olivia Di Bacco of the Brock Wrestling Club before losing 6-0 to Danielle Lappage of the Calgary Dinos in the finals. Veronica becomes the first alternate for the Commonwealth Women's Team.
Alex Moore with the win
Jordan Steen
On the Men's side, the Montreal YMHA led the way with all three Quebec athletes qualifying for the team. At 65 kgs, Vincent De Marinis went through a gauntlet of opponents before beating Michael Asselstine of the Golden Bears Wrestling Club by a 2-2 decision to qualify his place for the team. Alex Moore would dominate his opposition en-route to a comfortable win via Technical Fall (10-0) over Ahmed Shamiya of Hamilton. The last athlete to qualify for Quebec was Jordan Steen, wrestling at his new weight of 97 kgs. Jordan would beat his opponent Nishan Randhawa from the Burnaby Mountain Wrestling Club by a comfortable margin of 8-2. With all three male athletes qualifying for the Commonwealth Games, Montreal YMHA would have the most representatives of any club accross Canada. Congratulations to our Quebec athletes for their hard fought victories!
Vincent De Marinis vs. Dillon Williams
Vincent De Marinis reacts with joy after winning his final match
For the complete results from the Commonwealth Trials, click here.
At the McMaster Invitational, Quebec was well represented with over twenty athletes from Concordia University, the Montreal YMHA and Vanier College competing at the second tournament on the university schedule. Wrestling for Concordia, Jade Dufour won Gold at 51 kgs while Frederique Choquette won Silver at 130 kgs. Rounding out the results for Concordia, Amanda Savard took Bronze at 67 kgs.
Frederique Choquette
From the Montreal YMHA, Gabriel Choueke (61k gs), Linda Morais (63 kgs), Guseyn Ruslanzada (72 kgs) and Kyle Price (82 kgs) all won Gold in their respective divisions while Genevieve Lamarche took a Silver medal att 72 kgs. Finishing off with Bronze Medals were Trevor Banks (57 kgs), Raheem Rahamatulla (68 kgs) and Jeremy Poirier (97 kgs).
Trevor Banks
Finally from Vanier College, Aron Orszack (76 kgs) and Aly Barghout (130 kgs) won Gold medals while Alexia Sherland placed second at 67 kgs. Dylan Mclean would finish the tournament off by winning a Bronze medal at 61 kgs.
Jeremy Poirier
The Montreal YMHA took the team title in both the Mens division and the Combined Team Title thanks to the strong performances of our Quebec athletes. For the complete results from the McMaster Invitational, click on the following links:
In a non-related wrestling event, George St-Pierre who calls Montreal his home and trains with the Montreal YMHA beat Michael Bisping on Saturday November 4th to win the UFC Middleweight Championship.
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