DSBN Academy student wins silver at nationals
A year and a half ago, Jessica York was introduced to the spot of wrestling when Brock Junior Badgers coach Kekoo Gatt came to the District School Board of Niagara Academy to put on a clinic.
It was love at first sight for the 15-year-old St. Thorold resident.
“I really like how physically demanding it was,” the Grade 10 student said.
There were, however, ups and downs along the road when she began to get her feet wet in the sport.
“When I first started getting into tournaments, it was really stressful and I lost my motivation a couple of times,” she said. “But I always get back up and keep training hard to get better.”
She certainly did get better and recently she brought home a silver medal in the 57-kilogram division from the cadet (under-17) national championships in Fredericton. N.B.
York, who won the Zone 4 title but was ineligible to go further in high school wrestling because of a paperwork snafu, wasn’t expecting to land on the podium during her first appearance at the national championships.
“I was hoping for top six and I wasn’t thinking top three at all,” she said. “I feel not knowing who I would be going against was a lot of motivation because you don’t know how good they are.
“You just wrestle your best.”
York made an impressive run to the final by pinning her first two opponents in the first round. That advanced her to the final against Diana Arsagova of Team Impact. Arsagova, also from Ontario, won the match 10-0 by technical superiority.
“After my final match, I was really emotional because I was under a lot of pressure and I had never made it to finals in anything,” she said. “I was really nervous, but once I stepped on the podium I realized that I had made it this far and that I should be proud.
“I shouldn’t be wanting first.”
Her first appearance at nationals was a great learning experience for York.
“I need to clear my head when I go into matches and stop thinking about everything,” she said. “You need to focus, get in the zone and just wrestle your best.”
Her national silver medal and her love of the sport is motivating her to continue to work hard.
“I love that it is all on you,” she said. “Yes, you have a team for support but once you step on that mat, it is all on you. You can’t rely on anyone else to fix your mistakes.”
