OFSAA silver for Bowslaugh
Eden’s Charlotte Bowslaugh was the perfect candidate to try wrestling this year.
The Grade 10 student at Eden had dabbled in muay thai, kickboxing, boxing and jiu jitsu previously and combat sports and wrestling were part of her family background. Her father, Tim Bowslaugh, was a successful wrestler at Lakeport and her aunt, Fraser Bowslaugh, also wrestled and represented Canada internationally in judo.
Despite that background, her father’s suggestion to try wrestling last fall was met with reluctance.
“I didn’t want to join at all. I really didn’t want to. He didn’t make me do it but he told me that I would be so good at it,” the 15-year-old Niagara-on-the-Lake resident said.
Initially, it was anything but a wrestling match made in heaven.
“The first 10 times I did it I was nervous and I didn’t love it but I stuck to it and now I really like it.”
That love of the sport kicked in about two or three weeks after she started training.
“I liked the team aspect of it at first and then I started actually liking wrestling.”
Success quickly followed. She won a gold medal at the Ontario Winter Games, placed first in the 64-kilogram division at the Southern Ontario Secondary Schools Association championships and she recently returned from the Ontario Federation of School Athletic Associations championships with a silver medal in her possession.
“I really didn’t know what to expect,” she said of her first OFSAA appearance. “I had no idea where we were going, what it was going to be like other than seeing the pictures from previous years.”
It was an eye-opener.
“I was really surprised with how big it was. There was 10 mats and it was in a hockey rink. It was huge and I was really, really nervous at first,” she said. “When we weighed in and stuff, it was scary and then you got walked down before your match. It was nothing like any of the other tournaments I was in. Next year when I go, it will be a lot better and easier.”
Bowslaugh started OFSAA with a bye and then she reeled off four straight victories before losing in the gold medal match.
Zuban Gatta, an Eden teammate and a 2023 OFSAA champion, told her he was certain she was going to medal before the event started but she thought there was no way that was going to happen.
“At the end of the second day, I was thinking it was possible but I still didn’t really believe it until the last couple of matches.”
The final was a rough one for Bowslaugh.
“I got thrown and pinned but it was OK. I had lost to her before and I didn’t really expect to win. It was OK and I was proud of myself. I did better than the first time I wrestled her.”
She was thrilled when the silver medal was placed around her neck.
“It was a big deal. It was crazy. I did not expect it.”
Her first OFSAA medal is motivation for next season.
“I am hoping to get gold. I am going to take 12B so I still have three more years to. Gold in one year would be nice.”
In her first year, she feels she made some good strides in the sport on and off the mat.
“At the beginning of the year, I was super shy and I wouldn’t talk to anyone but at the end I was more open and I was more open to try new things, especially wrestling moves,” Bowslaugh said.
She is looking forward to the next steps in her wrestling career.
“I want to practise more and work out more.”
She trained with Eden and the Brock Junior Badgers almost every day this past season and credits coach Ryan Weicker for her season.
“He is so supportive and he is there every day.”
