Day 1 from the 2018 U-17, U-19 Nationals

Friday April 13th marked the beginning of the U-17-U19 Nationals formerly known as the Cadet-Juvenile Nationals. Unlike the Junior-Senior Nationals, the event is divided by Boys and Girls with the Cadets and Juveniles competing on the same day rather than be seperated by age groups. Quebec fielded a strong group of athletes on the first days as the CLIC, KSS, Massey Vanier, the Montreal YMHA and les Patriotes de St-Cesaire all sent athletes to the competition.

What a great looking venue!

Nolan O'Rourke and Marius Samson

From CLIC wrestling in the U-19 Division, Christopher Merlo would win all his matches in the Round Robin at 45 kgs to win the Gold Medal while Tehatokent McComber (KSS) would place 6th in the 110 kgs U-19 Division.

Christopher Merlo: National Champion!

Jason Luneau looks to turn

Wrestling for the Montreal YMHA n the U-19 Division, Jason-Guy Luneau (55 kgs) would come up short in his bid for Bronze while at 60 kgs, Nicolae Gandrabura would win his Bronze Medal final via Technical Fall (10-0). Rounding up the results for the Montreal YHMA, Natael Lebrun-Cantin (65 kgs) and Samuel Rainville (71 kgs) would wrestle in tow of the toughest divisions at the tournament and would both finish 5th. Finally, competing for the Island Wrestling Academy of PEI under the guidance of the Montreal YHMA, Nolan O'Rourke would win Gold at 60 kgs U-17.

Marius Samson with the takedown

Mathis Rainville with top position

Finally wrestling for the Patriotes de St-Cesaire in the U-17 Division, Olivier Paré placd 4th at 48 kgs while Marius Samson took Bronze at 60 kgs. At 65 kgs, Stone Lewis won Gold and the Outstanding Wrestler Award for his near flawless performance en-route to multiple shutout wins for the tournament. At 80 kgs, Mathis Rainville would lose in the Gold Medal final and win Silver to round out the results for the Patriotes de St-Cesaire.

Mathis Rainville wins Silver

Nicolae Grandrabura with the Bronze Medal

In addition to this, the Patriotes de St-Cesaire would finish second overall as club in the U-17 age group to round out their strong individual performances.