Feb. 3 Brock roundup: Grote, Pitt, Wilford named athletes of the week

Women’s wrestler Skylar Grote, and men’s wrestler Ignatius Pitt and men’s fencer Logan Wilford were named the Brock University athletes of the week for the week ending Feb. 2.

Grote, a third-year business student from Newton, N.J., claimed a gold medal at the Ontario University Athletics Wrestling Championships in Guelph Saturday. Grote overcame Paige Baynham of Western in the women’s 67-kilogram weight class by tech fall (11-0). Grote also defeated Eliana Mendoza (Guelph) during pool play.

Pitt, a fifth-year business student from Pickering, won a gold medal at the OUA Wrestling Championships in Guelph on Saturday. Pitt defeated Brad MaGarrey of McMaster by a 12-5 decision in the men’s 90-kilogram gold-medal match. Pitt won by 10-0 tech fall over Caleb Goodfellow (Toronto), defeated Gurpartap Virk (York) by pin fall and Ryan Barney (Lakehead) by pin fall.

Wilford, a fifth-year epee fencer from Ajax who is studying concurrent education (intermediate senior), won a silver medal in the men’s individual epee final during the OUA Men’s Fencing Championships at Brock Saturday. At the conclusion of the event on Sunday, Wilford was awarded the George Tully Trophy, presented to the male fencer most proficient in skill, style and sportsmanship as judged by a panel of judges.

Wrestling

For a fifth straight year on the men’s side and a sixth consecutive year on the women’s side, the Brock Badgers took home the team titles at the Ontario University Athletics Wrestling Championships, with Brock wrestlers claiming 10 of the 19 gold medals handed out on the day at the University of Guelph. 

“We’re proud of the effort our kids have put in day-in and day-out, and the progress they’ve made over the course of the season,” Brock head coach Marty Calder said. “I thought we wrestled really well during the day, despite struggling a bit at night, but we faced some great competition here tonight. 

“We’ve got some work to do ahead of U SPORTS, but we’re excited for the opportunity to wrestle at our home gym for a national championship.”

The 2019-20 season will officially conclude Feb. 21-22 in St. Catharines as Brock serves as hosts of the U SPORTS Wrestling Championships. All individuals reaching the podium at the OUA championships automatically qualify for nationals.

While Brock ran away with team titles on both the men’s and women’s sides, the rest of the OUA was well-represented in the conference’s major award winners. 

Major Award Winners – 2020 OUA Wrestling Championships

Outstanding Male Wrestler: Ben Zahra (McMaster).

Outstanding Female Wrestler: Madison Parks (Western).

Men’s Rookie of the Year: Mike Zale (Lakehead).

Women’s Rookie of the Year: Brea Rogers (York Lions).

Men’s Coach of the Year:  Ahmed Shamiya (McMaster).

Women’s Coach of the Year:  Scott Proctor (Western).

Male Student Athlete Community Service Award: Harrish Satheswaran (York Lions).

Female Student Athlete Community Service Award:  Jennifer Nwamadi (Western Mustangs).

Women’s Team Standings

1. Brock Badgers (63 points).

2. Western Mustangs (51 points).

3. Lakehead Thunderwolves (43 points).

4. Guelph Gryphons (38 points).

5. McMaster Marauders (21 points).

6. York Lions (19 points).

7. Toronto Varsity Blues (12 points).

8. Queen’s Gaels (11 points).

9. Algoma Thunderbirds (9 points).

10. Ryerson Rams (0 points).

Men’s Team Standings

1. Brock Badgers (95 points).

2. McMaster Marauders (66 points).

3. Guelph Gryphons (63 points).

4. Lakehead Thunderwolves (58 points).

5. Western Mustangs (41 points).

6. Algoma Thunderbirds (29 points).

7. Ryerson Rams (20 points).

8. York Lions (18 points).

9. Toronto Varsity Blues (17 points).

10. Queen’s Gaels (15 points).

Men’s Medalists at 2020 OUA Championships:

Men’s 54 KG

Gold: Broderick Collison, Algoma Thunderbirds.

Silver: Hasan Ercan, Lakehead Thunderwolves.

Bronze: Josh Rimando, Guelph Gryphons.

Men’s 57 KG

Gold: Kyle Robinson, Guelph Gryphons.

Silver: Garette Saunders, Brock Badgers.

Bronze: Francesco Fortino, McMaster.

Men’s 61 KG

Gold: Marco Palermo, Lakehead Thunderwolves.

Silver: Joe Martin, Brock Badgers.

Bronze: Xavier Gaines, Guelph Gryphons.

Men’s 65 KG

Gold: Ligrit Sadiku, Brock Badgers.

Silver: Hassan Al-Hayawi, Western Mustangs.

Bronze: Mike Zale, Guelph Gryphons.

Men’s 68 KG

Gold: Cruiz Manning ,Brock Badgers.

Silver: Connor Quinton, McMaster Marauders.

Bronze: Bryce Davis, Algoma Thunderbirds.

Men’s 72 KG

Gold: Alexander Chaves, Guelph Gryphons.

Silver: Bobby Narwal, Brock Badgers.

Bronze: Trystan Kato, McMaster Marauders.

Men’s 76 KG

Gold: Ben Zahra, McMaster Marauders.

Silver: Ty Bridgwater, Brock Badgers.

Bronze: Pierre Arabadjian, Guelph Gryphons.

Men’s 82 KG

Gold: Ameen Aghamirian, McMaster Marauders.

Silver: Tejvir Boal, Brock Badgers.

Bronze: Brayden Ambo, Western Mustangs.

Men’s 90 KG

Gold: Ignatius Pitt, Brock Badgers.

Silver: Brad MaGarrey, McMaster Marauders.

Bronze: Sarabnoor Lally, Ryerson Rams.

Men’s 100 KG 

Gold: Clayton Pye, Brock Badgers.

Silver: Job Reinhart, Guelph Gryphons.

Bronze: John Campbell, Lakehead Thunderwolves.

Men’s 120 KG

Gold: Richard Deschatelets, Brock Badgers.

Silver: Kyle Jordon, Ryerson Rams.

Bronze: Anthony Parker, Western Mustangs.

WOMEN

Women’s 48 KG

Gold: Samantha Romano, Brock Badgers.

Silver: Jessica Hong, Lakehead Thunderwolves.

Bronze: Hannah VanderSlagt, Western Mustangs.

Women’s 51 KG

Gold: Madison Parks, Western Mustangs.

Silver: Bailey Agard, York Lions.

Bronze: Emily Duchesne, Algoma Thunderbirds.

Women’s 55 KG

Gold: Hannah Little Guelph, Gryphons.

Silver: Daina Morris-Armstrong, Brock Badgers.

Bronze: Riley Tubaro, Lakehead Thunderwolves.

Women’s 59 KG

Gold: Julie Steffler, Brock Badgers.

Silver: Brea Rogers, York Lions.

Bronze: Jayden Sparks, Guelph Gryphons.

Women’s 63 KG

Gold: Hannah Taylor, Brock Badgers.

Silver: Madison Clayton, Lakehead Thunderwolves.

Bronze: Simi Jayeoba, McMaster Marauders.

Women’s 67 KG

Gold: Skylar Grote, Brock Badgers.

Silver: Paige Baynham, Western Mustangs.

Bronze: Joelle VanderSlagt, McMaster Marauders.

Women’s 72 KG

Gold: Jennifer Nwamadi, Western Mustangs.

Silver: Rachel Zack, Toronto Varsity Blues.

Bronze: Klara Patel, Lakehead Thunderwolves.

Women’s 82 KG

Gold: Shauna, Kuebeck Brock Badgers.

Silver: Jasmine Tessier, Guelph Gryphons.

Bronze: Kara Nixon, Lakehead Thunderwolves.

Fencing

The Toronto Varsity Blues held off the RMC Paladins to hoist their fifth consecutive provincial banner as the 2020 OUA Men’s Fencing Championships wrapped up Sunday at Brock.

The Varsity Blues finished with 337 points, ahead of the RMC Paladins (272) and bronze medalist Queen’s (180).

Brock’s Logan Wilford was awarded the George Tully Trophy, presented to the male fencer most proficient in skill, style and sportsmanship as judged by a panel of judges, while Patricia Howes of RMC earned OUA Coach of the Year honours.

In individual competition, No. 1 seed Gareth Marks of Waterloo captured the Charles Walters Trophy as individual foil champion by defeating Ethan Haines of Ryerson 15-10 in the final. Malcolm McLeod of the Brock Badgers held on to defeat Toronto’s David Chen-Li 15-13 to win bronze for a second consecutive year.

In the individual men’s sabre final, No. 2 seed Garrett Whelan of the RMC Paladins outlasted No. 1 Alex Sun of Queen’s 15-12 to win the Schwende Trophy. Brock’s Aaron Olmstead claimed bronze by upending RMC’s Hugo Clements 15-8.

Ben Mucsi of Toronto won the Desjarlais Trophy in the individual epee final. Mucsi overcame an ankle injury to beat Brock’s Logan Wilford 15-12. 

Final standings

Toronto, 337

RMC, 272

Queen’s, 58

Brock, 151

Western, 149

Ryerson, 132

Carleton, 112

Waterloo, 85

McMaster, 58

Trent, 15

Guelph, 7

York, 0

Major award winners

George Tully Trophy (Skill, Style & Sportsmanship): Logan Wilford, Brock.

Coach of the Year: Patricia Howes, RMC.

OUA All-Stars

Foil

Gareth Marks, Waterloo.

Ethan Haines, Ryerson.

Malcolm McLeod, Brock.

Teophile Lemay, Toronto.

Epee

Ben Musci, Toronto.

Logan Wilford, Brock.

Byoungchan Kim, RMC.

Johnathan Zimmerman, Toronto.

Sabre

Garrett Whelan, RMC.

Alex Sun, Queen’s.

Aaron Olmstead, Brock.

Gunesli Kuzey, Carleton.

Kyle Grenier, RMC.

Basketball

The basketball teams lost to the Ryerson Rams at Mattamy Athletic Centre in Toronto on Feb. 1.

The No. 8 women’s team’s four-game win streak came to an end with a 81-66 loss to No. 4 Ryerson.

Sam Keltos poured in 23 points and nabbed seven rebounds. Keltos went four-for-four at the free-throw line and shot 50 per cent from beyond the arc.

Jessica Morris and Melissa Tatti each posted 10 points. Kristin Gallant added eight rebounds.

The Badgers (14-4) are now tied atop the OUA Central with the Rams (14-4).

Meanwhile, the men’s team fell 87-55 and hold a record of 10-8.

Noah Lapierre led the Badgers with 14 points while Daniel Cayer secured a double-double with 12 points and 12 boards.

Tyler Brown posted 11 points.

Up next, the both teams visit the Laurier Golden Hawks Friday, Feb. 7 at 6 p.m. and 8 p.m.

Men’s hockey

Goaltender Mario Culina earned his first shutout as a Badger and the men’s hockey team snapped a four-game losing streak to clinch a playoff berth Friday with a 4-0 win at the Fort William Gardens in Thunder Bay.
“Huge win tonight,” Culina said. “I played good tonight and made some timely saves, but I thought the guys did a good job in front of me.”

Culina made 44 saves for the shutout.

“Outstanding game by Culina,” head coach Marty Williamson said. “We were shaky in the first period, but played really well after.” 

After a scoreless first period, Ayden MacDonald opened the scoring at 4:39 of the second. Defenceman Skylar Pacheco added a power-play marker before the end of the frame. In the third, Jared Marino scored at 1:20 while Christian Girhiny fired in an empty-net goal late in the game.

Tyler Rollo contributed two assists while Dexter Weber, Jordan Sambrook, Connor Walters and Connor Brown each added a helper.

The Badgers then dropped a 5-3 decision Saturday at in Thunder Bay.

Marino, Frankie Pucci and Girhiny scored for Brock. Girhiny, Adam Berg, Justin Brack and Jordan Maletta each added an assist.

Up next, the Badgers (13-14) return home to host the Western Mustangs in their final regular season game on Saturday at 7:15 p.m.

Women’s hockey

The women’s hockey team secured a point during a 2-1 shootout loss to the Ryerson Rams at Seymour-Hannah Arena on Feb. 1.

Brock is tied for fifth place with the Guelph Gryphons in the OUA standings.

Prior to puck drop, Carley Blomberg, a senior forward from Timmins who is studying Community Recreation, was awarded the Oonagh Hastie Bursary Award, which is given to a player who exhibits all-around sportsmanship, leadership as Oonagh demonstrated when she was an original member of the Niagara Women’s Recreational Hockey League.

The bursary was created when Oonagh, who was near and dear to the Brock women’s hockey program, unfortunately passed away from cancer.

Both goaltenders — Brock’s Jensen Murphy and Ryerson’s Rachel Seeley — each made highlight-reel saves to keep the match scoreless through the first two periods.

Junior forward Kiana Tobia netted her first goal of season to put the Badgers on the board first just two minutes into the third. Cassidy Maplethorpe and Amanda Ieradi each recorded an assist.

The Rams replied with a power-play goal to send the game into overtime, which was scoreless.

Maplethorpe, Annie Berg and Morgan Dezell were denied for Brock in the shootout.

Murphy shut the door on Nicholson, but Mia Morano found the back of the net to give Ryerson the win.

Up next, the Badgers (11-9) host the Laurier Golden Hawks (4-18) on Thursday at 7:15 p.m. 

Women’s volleyball

The No. 8 women’s volleyball team won their second straight game versus McMaster in Hamilton on Jan. 31.

The Badgers lost the first set, but rallied to win 3-1 (15-25, 25-21, 25-18, 26-24).

Brock improves to 10-3; McMaster falls to 8-7.

“It was a gritty win,” head coach Steve Delaneyc said. “We got behind early in the match and we came back and won. It wasn’t pretty, but we had enough tenacity and fight at the end to pull out a victory on the road.”

Brock outside hitters Darby Taylor and Laura Condotta each scored 14 and 13 kills, respectively. Taylor also dug 15 balls followed by first-years Samantha Casey (13) and Aleiah Torres (11).

Senior middle Grace Pyatt recorded seven kills on 16 swings for a team-high .375 clip. Sara Rohr posted 33 assists while also chipping in seven digs.

Up next, the Badgers (10-3, OUA West 5-1) return to St. Catharines to prepare for their last regular season home game, versus the No. 10 Waterloo Warriors (9-4),  Friday, Feb. 7 at Bob Davis Gymnasium at 6 p.m. 

Men’s volleyball

The men’s volleyball team managed to take a set from the No. 2 McMaster Marauders in Hamilton on Jan. 31.

The Badgers lost 3-1 (19-25, 16-25, 25-20, 18-25) to the Marauders at Burridge Gymnasium.

After falling behind 2-0, the Badgers hit for .320 to win the third set.

“The third set we were consistently passing and giving us a chance to showcase our middles a bit more,” head coach Matt Ragogna said. “I thought getting Dean Globocki into the lineup was a big boost for us and Grant Reddon spread the offence and ran the game plan well.”
Globocki added six kills on 10 swings while making four digs. He hit for .500.

Logan House registered 10 kills and Reddon handed out 26 assists in setting duties. Ethan Kalef, who made a number of sharp passes, led the team with six digs followed by Reddon (five) and Nanle Yusuf (five). Yusuf also posted eight kills. Mark Naqvi tallied three service aces.

Peter Schnabel recorded four blocks and picked up four kills (.571). Naqvi and Schnabel were both a force in the middle.

Up next, the Badgers (5-8, OUA West 3-4) look to snap a three-game losing skid when they host the Waterloo Warriors (3-8) in their last regular season home game at Bob Davis Gymnasium Friday, Feb. 7 at 8 p.m. 

Super Bowl LIV a win for gender equity and diversity

When it comes to the Super Bowl, what happens before the game, in the commercials and at half-time is almost as important as who comes out on top.

Brock University Professors Julie Stevens and Michael Naraine were watching the game closely and called it an important step forward for multiple reasons.

Stevens, Associate Professor of Sport Management and Director of Brock’s Centre for Sport Capacity, believes it was the most positive Super Bowl when it comes to gender equity.

“There was a strategic and intentional inclusion of women,” she says. “There were many interesting gender-equity angles.”

Stevens says a perfect example came early on when the NFL Next 100 pre-game spot was used to promote women such as American women’s soccer player and two-time Olympic gold medalist Carli Lloyd, who also later appeared in an ad for deodorant brand Secret. There were many young girls among the youth who ran onto the field before kickoff and the presence of Chicago Bears owner Virginia McCaskey, handing the game football to an eager and enthusiastic youth.

“Outside the game, the commercials included bold statements by brands such as Tide, who included a Wonder Woman appearance, and Olay, whose ‘Make space for women’ sent a strong and positive message about supporting women in STEM,’” Stevens says.

Although she didn’t win a Super Bowl title Sunday, the presence of San Francisco 49ers assistant coach Katie Sowers — both on the sidelines and in a high-profile TV spot — was also a big step forward, says Stevens.

“Being a woman and an assistant coach in a hyper-masculine environment like the NFL means you’ve proven yourself through skill and expertise,” she says. “It means your competence as a coach is seen and respected.”

Assistant Professor of Sport Management Michael Naraine was watching the Canadian Super Bowl broadcast Sunday and said there were still compelling TV spots despite the recent ruling by the Supreme Court of Canada confirming simultaneous substitutions to show Canadian ads over American.

“We saw increased star power from Skip the Dishes and Bubly with Jon Hamm and Michael Buble,” Naraine says. “And we saw some not so-good-ads that were uninspiring and didn’t connect with the Canadian consumer looking for the wit, celebrity and shock value that is expected from Super Bowl ads.”

Naraine also pointed out the NFL’s 100 All-Time List, which wrapped up a full season of celebrating the league’s 100th season.

“The NFL has also done a great job celebrating its past and present,” he says. “The All-Time List included significant Black athletes like Jim Brown, Jerry Rice, Lawrence Taylor and others. It was also interesting to see OJ Simpson make the list — one of the most polarizing athletes of all time.