UFV men’s wrestling team wins gold at Golden Bear Open
The University of the Fraser Valley wrestling program achieved amajor milestone on Saturday, as the Cascades men’s teamfinished atop the aggregate standings at the Golden Bear Open inEdmonton.
It’s the first tournament championship for the fledglingUFV squad, which is in its first season of Canada West competitionand was participating in just its second official conferencemeet.
The Cascades men won in decisive fashion, combining for 49points to outdistance the host University of Alberta Golden Bears(32 points), Winnipeg Wesmen (31), Calgary Dinos (29), ReginaCougars (27) and Saskatchewan Huskies (26).
“It’s amazing,” enthused Raj Virdi, whoco-coaches the Cascades with Arjan Bhullar. “We didn’teven have our full lineup, and we were able to be the best team inCanada West this weekend. It’s something that’stremendous, and myself and Arjan and the team have worked reallyhard to get to where we’ve gotten so far. Throughout thetournament, everyone wrestled really well.”
The Cascades saw three individuals climb to the top step of thepodium – Aso Palani (61 kg), Jasmit Phulka (82 kg) andManheet Kalhon (120 kg). According to Virdi, gold medals fromPalani and Phulka were hardly a surprise – Phulka finishedatop his division for the third time this season, with priorvictories at the Calgary Dinos Invitational and the SFUInternational.
Kalhon, on the other hand, managed a significant upset in theheavyweight class, beating Kyle Nguyen of the Winnipeg Wesmen 7-5in the final. Nguyen won the silver medal at CIS nationals lastseason.
“Manny wrestled really well,” Virdi said. “Itcame down to the last 30 seconds, and he pulled off a really goodvictory.”
Other UFV wrestlers to earn points included Chanmit Phulka, whomade it to the 100 kg final before falling 10-6 to Spencer Watkinsof the Okotoks Wrestling Club; Dave Sharma, who managed a bronze at57 kg in his first tourney back after recovering from a dislocatedelbow; Brad Hildenbrandt, who won bronze in the 90 kg class; andAman Kaler, who was fifth at 65 kg.
On the women’s side, the Cascades had one wrestler inaction – Julianna Bouwers, in the 51 kg division. She lost inthe quarter-finals to eventual silver medalist Hayley Thomas of theAlberta Pandas.
On the horizon for the UFV wrestling program is its first CanadaWest home meet – the Cascade Classic, which will be held Feb.1 at the Envision Athletic Centre.
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