By Amanda Hu
As the season nears a close, the Dinos wrestling team is gearing up for the Canada West championships in Saskatoon Feb. 16-17.
The women’s team is a top contender going into the competition, currently ranked first in Canadian Interuniversity Sport standings, while the men stand at fifth. Coach Mitch Ostberg is hopeful about the outcome of CW.
“The women’s team is quite strong,” said Ostberg. “The men are still building, but are also very competitive.”
This year’s roster is headed up by Justine Bouchard, globally fifth-ranked in the 63 kilogram weight class, Leah Callahan, the 2006 Canada West rookie of the year and double-threat Mark DeWit, who also plays for the Dinos football team.
The Dinos face some stiff competition in this year’s CW, most notably from the University of Regina Cougars, who trail the Dinos at second in CIS rankings.
To help train for CW, the Dinos hosted the Nordhagan Junior Classic, drawing female athletes ages 17-20 from Korea, Switzerland, Austria and the United States to compete at the Red Gym Feb. 3.
“Nordhagan was great preparation for the women,” said Ostberg.