NCAA girls wrestling: Leela Benjamin and photo gallery
Leela Benjamin is leaving nothing to chance in her final year of high school wrestling.
“I have become more involved in practices and I’ve taken it a lot more seriously this year,” said the Grade 12 student at Denis Morris. “Last year, my goal was to get top three (at the Ontario Federation of School Athletic Associations’ championships), but now that I’ve got it, I’d like to do better.
“My goal is to beat third so first is the goal.”
Benjamin, who finished seventh at OFSAA in Grade 10, has beaten an OFSAA champion in her high school career, but she’s not overconfident.
“You still have to be cautious,” she said, during Friday’s Niagara Catholic Athletic Association meet at Blessed Trinity. “A person you have never wrestled before could be great in her first year.”
The two-time defending Zone 3/4 and Southern Ontario Secondary Schools Association heavyweight champion is a much different person on and off the mat.
“Not just in wrestling, but I think I have become more responsible when it comes to getting things done; schoolwork, going to practice on time and getting to school on time.”
She felt it was time to focus on all of the above.
“Grade 12 is a wake-up call,” she said. “It is your last year of high school and you have to get your life on track before you go to university.”
That new attitude has not gone unnoticed by the Denis Morris coaching staff.
“She had worked really hard and we are expecting some big things from her coming up to OFSAA,” DM coach Ryan Weicker said. “She is one of the most composed wrestlers we have. She is always consistent, she never seems to get nervous and she always has a smile on her face.”
Benjamin knows composure is important on the mat.
“I don’t let my emotions get the best of me and I am usually a calm person,” she said. “If I lose, I think I will get her the next time.”
She attributes that calmness to her upbringing.
“I have four brothers in the house and I have to be calm, otherwise I will lose my mind.”
Weicker feels Benjamin’s biggest progression this year has come in strengthening her base.
“She used to take a shot and fall down like a nose dive, but now she’s able to stay on her feet and keep her base strong and transition into getting takedowns instead of getting scored upon.”
Benjamin agrees with that assessment.
“I’ve been more balanced and staying straight up instead of going forward and falling as soon as someone puts a little bit of weight on me,” she said. “I have learned to keep myself more grounded.”
Benjamin has applied to university at Western, Brock and Guelph and is interested in wrestling at the post-secondary level.
“I am going to try it out when it starts and see how the year progresses for me,” she said. “If I don’t do it, I know I am going to miss it.”
All the wrestlers at the NCAA meet Friday advanced to the Zone 3 and 4 meet next Thursday at Thorold and District Secondary School.
