Junior Badgers clean up at provincials
The Brock Junior Badgers wrestling team had an impressive medal haul at last weekend’s Ontario Cadet and Juvenile Championships in Brampton.
“We brought 13 wrestlers and 10 placed in the top six,” coach Heather Sweezey said. “It is probably our best result in the past eight or 10 years and we are really happy.”
Top performances were turned in by: Ayden Roperti, gold 72-kilogram cadet boys; Mia Friesen, gold 60-kilogram juvenile girls; Shahreen Gulacha, gold 40-kilogram cadet girls; Zubin Gatta, silver 38-kilogram cadet boys; Faith Mogridge, silver 64-kilogram juvenile girls; Seth Ozog, bronze 69-kilogram cadet boys; Jordan Wylie, bronze 76-kilogram juvenile boys; Brodie Gibson, fourth 65-kilogram juvenile boys; Udhay Gulacha, fifth 58-kilogram cadet boys; and, Matt Jackson, fifth 70-kilogram juvenile boys.
Sweezey, who coaches the team along with Perry Wakulich, Kevin Brown, Tyler Custers, Randy Pfimmer, Keko Gatta and Amar Gulacha, attributes the club’s success to buy-in from the athletes.
“They are putting the work in,” Sweezey said.
Athletes are training after school at Brock and at Thorold Secondary School on Mondays and Wednesdays.
The club boasts between 40 and 50 members and the athletes attend elementary and secondary school. Having so many coaches has been a tremendous benefit for the athletes.
“It’s huge,” Sweezey said. “Every coach has their own different style and kids can gravitate towards the coach that matches up with their style.”
At the provincial championships, three Brock wrestlers, Shahreen, Seth and Zubin, all wrestled up an age category.
Shahreen, who is in Grade 7 at Hillfield Strathallan College in Hamilton, won her division competing against wrestlers who are in Grade 9 and 10.
“She dominated her two matches 10-0 and 10-0 within the first period and she was a class above those girls,” Sweezey said.
Shahreen was confident she would do well against the older wrestlers. This season, she has been competing at high school meets and has won all seven events she has entered.
She attributes her success to the training provided by her father Amar Gulacha.
“In our basement, we have mats and we train a lot,” the Stoney Creek resident said. “And we go to the gym and work out.”
The Gulacha’s basement is a busy training facility. Shahreen, her brother Udhay, and four cousins all train there twice a week.
“We run 30 minutes on the treadmill, then we start drilling with some dummies, we do some live matches and then at the end we do some workouts,” Shahreen said.
She loves everything about the sport.
“It’s fun,” she said. “I like the one-on-one matches and it’s the best sport for me. You stay active the whole time and it’s very competitive.”
Shahreen admits it wasn’t love at first sight.
“When I first started, I would say I was tired and made excuses, but now as I’ve gotten older, I’m thinking that I want to make this my career and go to the Olympics.”
Among her wrestling idols are Brock Wrestling Club members Michelle Fazzari and Jessie MacDonald and Americans Jordan Burroughs and Kyle Dake.
Shahreen had already started to prepare for the national championships.
“I have been starting to wake up at 5 a.m. so I can practise in the morning at my house so I can get ready,” she said. “I need to train harder for the nationals.”
