Thrice is nice for Brock's forceful wrestlers
Rob Terpstra
Issue date: 5/24/05 Section: Sports
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Last Saturday in Renfrew, Ont., Jamie Macari defeated Mikheil Japaridze in the 55kg weight class to win the Senior Nationals. For his efforts, Macari was named the Most Outstanding Male Wrestler and received an emphatic standing ovation from the venue's spectators.
Silver medallist at last year's Olympics, Tonya Verbeek, matched Macari's efforts at the Senior Nationals in the 55kg weight division, defeating university veteran Brit Laverdure from the University of Calgary. Laverdure had won the Canadian Interuniversity Sport (CIS) gold medal over Brock's Heather Sweezey in early March.
With payback for her training partner affirmed in her mind, Verbeek went out the next day and did it again. Laverdure was overmatched in the bout, losing 6-0, 1-1 to the Olympian. Verbeek will now represent Canada at La Fédération Internationale du Sport Universitaire (FISU) Games in Izmir, Turkey from Aug. 11-21. Verbeek was also named the Wrestler of the Year, concluding a successful year by anyone's standards.
"We knew Tonya should win and not have a lot of difficulty," Brock wrestling coach Richard DesChatelets said. "The preparation is not as great."
Matching Verbeek's efforts was Macari, who defeated Anthony Kulak from the University of Alberta, to claim his spot on the FISU team. The third year Brock wrestler won easily by scores of 6-0, 1-1 and 6-0 in the three round affair. Macari has now captured Ontario University Athletics (OUA) gold, CIS gold, the Senior Nationals gold and a spot on FISU's world stage this year.
"Jamie Macari, at 55 kilos, was outstanding," DesChatelets said. "He had his best performance ever and it showed that he really wanted to win. He came out in the final against Mikheil Japaridze ... and it was a brilliant performance on his part."
The third spot for Brock on the FISU team was captured by Ryan Weicker, the five time CIS champion. He defeated teammate Cleo Ncube 1-1, 6-0 and 3-1.
The remainder of the results at the Senior Nationals were positive for the team, finishing second to a strong Burnaby Mountain Wrestling Club. DesChatelets said that the club is the only one in B.C. and therefore showcases a lot more talent than any another club in the nation would.
"It's a notch up," DesChatelets said. "Basically, they commit to be strictly athletes, they are all carded athletes, they aren't rich, but they get by, they just focus on wrestling, so it's definitely a notch up from the CIS championships."
