Eden’s Golden Girl
Charlotte Bowslaugh’s first taste of international wrestling didn’t translate into less nerves on the high school wrestling mats.
“Most people would think it would make me less scared for high school matches but it definitely made me more scared. When I got back, I thought I had to win everything and it put a little pressure on me.”
The Grade 12 student at Eden overcame that pressure in a big way this week competing at the Ontario Federation of School Athletic Associations championships in Kitchener. The Brock Junior Badger won her first four matches by technical superiority and then captured gold in the 72-kilogram division by pinning Assumption’s Charisa Okeke with 1:03 left in the first round.
She was anything but overcome with emotion after winning OFSAA gold.
“It didn’t feel real. I stood and thought ‘What? Already?’ Because — not to be cocky — I didn’t expect to beat her as fast as I did. I thought it was going to be a really, really tough match because she’s a tough girl.”
Bowslaugh felt prepared for the match.
“I had never felt that ready before and I had a good feeling about the match.”
She credited that feeling to the work she has done with a sports psychologist.
“She has helped me learn how to get ready, how to prepare and not think about winning or losing. I was trying to do a lot of that.”
Going into OFSAA, she was confident but not overconfident.
“I knew I could win but I was going to be happy if I got anything better than I did last year because I was really disappointed last year.”
After winning provincial silver in Grade 10, she placed sixth at OFSAA last year.
“Last year I did OK on the first day and then the second day I went in and I froze and lost to a girl in the semifinals who I had beat five times before. It was 6-6 and she pinned me. It was the first time I had ever lost to her.”
Her opponent went on to win gold.
“She is really nice. I really like the girl and I was happy to see her win but I knew I could have done better and I knew I had worked so hard mentally and physically. I had never felt that frustrated before and I knew I had it. It was right there and I just didn’t get it.”
She feels she is a much different wrestler than last year.
“I am mentally better and physically I have gone to a lot of camps and a lot of tournaments. I went to Pan Ams, I went to Team Canada trials and all of those were really good experiences.”
At cadet Pan Ams in the Dominican Republic, she lost all three of her matches but two of them were close and winnable.
“I wrestled the best I ever wrestled and I kept up with them. They were my first international matches and I wasn’t disappointed.”
The 17-year-old Niagara-on-the-Lake resident is likely off to university this fall and, if so, her probable destination will be either Brock or McMaster.
“It will probably be which team I like working with more. I have to do more practices at Brock and at Mac and see where I fit in more.”
Long term, Bowslaugh is trying not to get too far ahead of herself.
“I think the Olympics would be super cool but I will see where it takes me. I had that goal (Olympics) for awhile but thinking that could overwhelm me so I decided to take a step back and think, first OFSAA and maybe something else and then something else. I have to work my way up.”
Next up on her agenda is a break.
“I haven’t really taken a break since Grade 10 so I am going to take a month off, maybe a little bit more. Then I might go to Canada Games trials in May and Canada Games in August if I make it.”
Taking a break is something Bowslaugh knows is necessary.
“I need to want to wrestle again. It’s not that I don’t want to wrestle but I need really miss it so I can go back and love it again.”
She is passionate about the sport.
“I like seeing my progress and looking back on old matches and seeing how much better I’ve gotten. I like to see how much I have grown and how much my teammates have grown. My teammates help me a lot with making it fun.”
Other top six OFSAA showings by females from Niagara included: Lakeshore Catholic’s Lily Taras who was fourth at 44 kilograms; Centennial’s Bianco Romano who was fourth at 51 kilograms; Blessed Trinity’s Chelsea Hayne who was fifth at 89 kilograms; Stamford’s Layla Higgs who was fifth at 115-plus kilograms; and, Blessed Trinity’s Melina Pomroy who was sixth at 83 kilograms.
