Confident wrestler enters U SPORTS championship
Brock’s Shauna Kuebeck enters this weekend’s U SPORTS wrestling championships at Brock University riding a wave of confidence.
Before winning Ontario University Athletics gold in the 82-kilogram division in February, the 23-year-old Greenbank (north of Whitby) native placed third at the Canadian Olympic wresting trials in Niagara Falls in December.
“I have a bad habit of under-performing when it counts the most,” she said. “I know I am a really good wrestler because I know I can wrestle these people here (in the Brock wrestling room) and then I get to the big stage and sometimes I find myself choking.”
All that changed at the Olympic trials.
“It was great for me to get to the big stage, finally take the next step and prove to Wrestling Canada that I am as good as my coaches think I am,” she said. “I performed and the only people that were better than me on that podium were a world gold medalist and an Olympic gold medalist.”
Olympic champion Erica Wiebe won the trials and 72-kilogram 2018 world champion Justina Di Stasio placed second. Kuebeck lost her opening match to Wiebe and then rallied to place third.
“She (Wiebe) was much more technical than me but she wasn’t beating me up strength-wise and that gave me so much confidence,” Kuebeck said.
She then wrestled Taylor Follensbee in the backside semifinals and scored late to place third.
“Marty (head coach Calder) was yelling me that I had to score and I was so calm and so confident and I knew I could score,” she said. “I work hard in this room (Brock wrestling room) with so many fantastic people and I knew I could score if I had to.”
It was a big moment for Kuebeck.
“I have been overlooked a lot because I haven’t performed to the best of my abilities. It has been years of my coaches telling me that I had to take that next step,” she said. “After I beat Taylor and got third, Marty took me aside and told me that I had finally taken that next step. It was ‘Finally, Thank God.’ That was huge for me.”
It came at a perfect time in her wrestling career.
“It was my first tournament back after surgery and, after I hurt it last year, I wasn’t sure if I was going to be able to wrestle any more, if I was always going to be wrestling in pain and if I wouldn’t be able to reach my full potential.”
The fourth year kinesiology student is competing in her third U SPORTS championships. In her first year, she placed third at 72 kilograms and in her third year she was third at 82 kilograms.
Like a number of other Brock wrestlers, Kuebeck is wrestling up a weight class at the U SPORTS championships
“It’s for the team and I want the team to win,” she said,
She is a lot more comfortable doing it this year compared to 2019.
“Last year, I was really anxious about it because I had an injured knee and the weight class is a lot different. I only weight 76 kilos and when those girls land on you, it is an extra 20 pounds coming down.
“I am so much more confident in the weight class this year and I know that the weight doesn’t mean anything because I am stronger.”
That newfound confidence comes from a number of factors.
“I have done 82 kilograms for all the university competitions, I am another year older and I had surgery in the summer and my knee is a lot better. And I have been hitting the weights harder and I know they are not going to outmuscle me out there.”
For Kuebeck, size doesn’t matter.
“Knowing that I am going to be smaller by a few kilos makes me confident that I am more technical and faster so the idea is not to get stuck underneath.”
She feels it is an advantage to compete at home.
“I like to perform for my people,” she said. “My family is coming, my friends will be there, my teammates will be there and I like to show up for the people who support me.
Brock will be looking for its ninth straight women’s team title but it won’t be easy.
“The girls race is really a three-team race between Calgary, Saskatoon and us, with Concordia nipping at the heels too. They are just hurting for total number of entries but they have some real good quality,” Brock coach Dave Collie said.
The championships start Friday at the Bob Davis Gymnasium. On Saturday, the bronze-medal matches will start at noon and the gold-medal matches will be contested at 2 p.m.
Tickets for the event are available at brocku.universitytickets.com
