A touch of gold

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Connor Malloy wins gold as Cougars men’s wrestling team places third at CIS

Autumn McDowell
Sports Writer

The University of Regina Cougars men’s and women’s wrestling teams competed on the big stage at the CIS championships last weekend in Thunder Bay, Ont., and the men earned themselves a place on the podium.

Heading into the weekend, Regina’s men were ranked first after taking home the top spot at the Canada West championships. Regina was looking to better their third-place, 45-point finish from last year at nationals. Although the team was able to register 49 points this year, they finished with the bronze once again, finishing behind the UBC Thunderbirds (52) and Concordia Stingers (55). Concordia had two wrestlers finish with gold medals and had a total of six wrestlers reach the podium, which allowed them to take the top team spot.

The Cougars had four wrestlers competing for gold medals on day two of the championships including Gilbert Musonza (54 kilogram), Kirk Ackerman (61 kg), Cory Horsburgh (65 kg), and Connor Malloy (76 kg).

Malloy, Ackerman, and Musonza all finished the 2010 championships with silver medals around their necks, but only one of those wrestlers was able to upgrade to gold in 2011. Malloy was finally able to capture gold after defeating Jake Jagas of the Guelph Gryphons to earn the 76 kg crown. Ackerman (lost to Vince Cormier of the New Brunswick Varsity Reds) and Musonza (lost to Western Ontario Mustangs’ Steven Takahashi) had to settle for silver once again, while Horsburgh (lost to Western Ontario’s Ilya Abelev) also took home a silver medal.

The gold medal now brings Malloy’s CIS medal total to three as he has medaled in each of his three years competing as a U of R wrestler. The third-year arts student has bettered his medal finish each year, beginning with a bronze in 2009, followed by silver in 2010 and finally reaching the top of the podium in 2011.

It was truly Malloy’s weekend as he finished off with not only the gold, but was also recognized as being the recipient of the R.W. Pugh Fair Play award. It was the only award the Cougars received.

On the women’s side, the Cougars did much worse than their fifth-place finish in 2010.     Regina was only able to register eight team points, resulting in an 11th place finish out of 12.

The Alberta Pandas took home the team title after collecting 47 points, narrowly beating the Calgary Dinos (45) and the Brock Badgers (44). Alberta was able to take home the top spot, as they had four wrestlers earn medals, yet none of them were gold. Calgary had three wrestlers reach the podium, all of which earned gold.

Trisha Elliot was the only female wrestler from Regina fighting for a medal, but was defeated by Alberta’s Haley Thomas, causing her to finish just out of the medals in fourth place.    Calgary wrestler Gen Haley made history over the weekend, as she was able to capture her fifth-straight gold medal in five years, a feat which had never been accomplished by a CIS female athlete.

The record-setting win came as Haley defeated Saskatchewan Huskies wrestler Koren Pitkethly to take home the title in the 55 kg division.

The CIS championships mark the end of the 2010-2011 wrestling season. Numerous members of the Cougars had extremely successful seasons this year and, with nearly all members returning next year, the Cougars are sure to be a strong contender.

Men’s Results


54 kg: 1. Steven Takahashi, Western; 2. Gilbert Musonza, Regina; 3. Dustin Helwig, Lakehead.
57 kg: 1. David Tremblay, Concordia; 2. Gaston Tardif, Lakehead; 3. Jason Wass, Alberta.
61 kg: 1. Vince Cormier, UNB; 2. Kirk Ackerman, Regina; 3. Stephen DeLayen, Concordia
65 kg: 1. Ilya Abelev, Western; 2. Cory Horsburgh, Regina; 3. Scott Schillar, Concordia.

68 kg: 1. Shawn Daye- Finley, UNB; 2. Mario Pereira, Concordia; 3. Brian Hutton, Calgary.


72 kg: 1. Ryan Myrfield, U Sask; 2. Ryan Blake, McMaster; 3. Ben Sayah, UNB.
76 kg: 1. Connor Malloy, Regina; 2. Jake Jagas, Guelph; 3. Dene Ringette, U of T.
82 kg: 1. Daniel Olver, U Sask; 2. Kevin MacLellan, McMaster; 3. Matt Miller, Concordia.
90 kg: 1. Korey Jarvis, Guelph; 2. Eric Feunekes, UNB; 3. ColtenWoznow, Lakehead.
90-130 kg: 1. David Zilberman, Concordia; 2. Charles Thoms, UNB; 3. John Fitzgerald, Guelph.

Women’s Results

48 kg: 1. Jade Papke, Guelph; 2. Jasmine Mian, Brock; 3. Haley Thomas, Alberta.

51 kg: 1. Diana Ford, Brock; 2. Jennifer Nguyen, Western; 3. Natasha Kramble, U Sask.

55 kg: 1. Gen Haley, Calgary; 2. Koren Pitkethly, U Sask; 3. Victoria Ralph, MUN.

59 kg: 1. Samantha Stewart, UNB; 2. Marlen Figueroa, Alberta; 3. Kathleen Ken, U Sask.
63 kg: 1. Nikita Chicoine, Concordia; 2. Larissa D'Alleva, Western; 3. Laura Steffler, Brock.

67 kg: 1. Allison Leslie, Guelph 2. Sabrina Kelly, Alberta; 3. Elizabeth William, Concordia.

72 kg: 1. Erica Wiebe, Calgary; 2. Veronia Keefe, Concordia; 3. Molly Bouchard, Alberta.

82 kg: 1. Leah Callahan, Calgary; 2. Nicole Plummer, Lakehead; 3. Alishiah Depass, Brock.

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