The Dinos wrestling team will look to defend its women's championship team title against the rival Simon Fraser University Clan at the Canadian Interuniversity Sport nationals this weekend in Calgary.

The team qualified seven out of eight women and four men for this weekend's meet.

Energy poured from the home crowd stands of the Jack Simpson Gym last weekend during the Canadian Interuniversity Sport wrestling championships. Energy seeped through the locker room speeches and on to the mat. Energy burst through the faces of each contestant, but ultimately it was the harnessing of that energy by six University of Calgary women wrestlers that allowed them to claim as many individual gold medals and the CIS women's team title.

A rookie's season can be long, filled with mistakes, spent on the bench and getting hazed by veterans. The season can also be a time to grow, learn from mistakes and prove you belong. The University of Calgary Dinos women's hockey team were blessed with an assortment of talented rookies this year, complementing the array of veterans returning from last season. Rookies such as Melissa Zubick, Sinead Tracy, Danielle Braaten, Tanya Morgan, Erin Davidson, Megan Frohaug and Nikki Love all contributed to the success of the Dinos thus far.

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.”

The University of Calgary will play host to the 2008 and 2009 Canadian Interuniversity Sport men's and women's wrestling championships. This is the first time since 1995 that Calgary has played host to the event, and the first time ever that it will play host to the women's portion, which didn't become recognized as a CIS sport until 1999.

CIS wrestling showcases amateur stars and feeds directly to the national team.

The steel cage and mud-wrestling championship dates have yet to be announced.

Talent

The beautiful Brock University campus played host to the Canadian Interuniversity Sport Wrestling Championship Mar. 3-4. Since the ability to walk, and the ability to talk make you eligible to go to Brock, many Dinos wrestlers qualified. However, these low standards made contenders from Brock as tough as nails.

How was the west won? In the case of wrestling, the supremacy of the Simon Fraser University Clan won the west. The Dinos traveled to Vancouver, where the Clan hosted the Canada West Wrestling Championship. Though the Clan mopped up, the Dinos had some solid results.

It has been a busy month for the wrestling team as they continued their quest to conquer the forbidding island that is Canada West. The women have been tearing up their competition while the men are staying competitive in a tough field.

Warriors come and go, and this transition is most obvious in university sports. The Dinos wrestling team is certainly not immune to this rule, and this year produces a pair of distinguished graduates--Damon Booth and Krista "Killer" Wells. Both have made a name for themselves on the wrestling mat of glory.