OFSAA bronze for Lakeshore’s Taras
Daniel Taras was a crowd pleaser at the recent Ontario Federation of School Athletic Associations wrestling championships in Hamilton.
“He is one of the funnest athletes to watch compete. He is so explosive and some of his matches at OFSAA were the highlights of the tournament,” Brock Junior Badgers coach Ryan Weicker said. “Everyone was watching Daniel’s third and fourth matches. There were fireworks everywhere and he just has so much energy. He can do crazy, explosive moves and it just a pleasure to watch and coach him while he is competing.”
The Grade 12 student at Lakeshore Catholic was hoping to win a gold medal in the 54-kilogram division but still ended up with a bronze medal in his final year of high school wrestling.
“It was a great experience. I wrestled well the first day. On the second day, I lost my first match which was a little sad because I had beaten the guy before. He got me,” the 17-year-old Ridgeway resident said. “It kind of sucks because I had no chance to get first or second after I lost that match but you have to keep wrestling.”
Taras did exactly that, pinning his next opponent 1:39 into the match and then defeating Ayden Cook of St. Thomas More 19-7 by technical superiority in the bronze-medal match.
“It was still amazing and I loved it. It is what it is and it is nice to experience that kind of stuff.”
Taras improved from his fourth-place OFSAA finish of a year ago by deciding to take the sport a lot more seriously.
“I went to more practices, I have been working out more and I looked at wrestling differently. I believed in myself more than I did before.”
That was a crucial development.
“It’s believing in yourself, expecting to win every single time and believing that you are the guy to do it.”
That attitude developed over the final year of his high school wrestling career.
“I don’t know how I came upon it but I realized how important it was.”
He has loved his time wrestling at Lakeshore Catholic and with the Brock Junior Badgers.
“It is definitely the guys on the team. They are all amazing.”
The 17-year-old started wrestling in Grade 7 at the urging of his father, a former high school wrestler. He is a huge proponent of the sport.
“It’s the intensity. I love it,” said the recent winner of a silver medal at the Ontario juvenile championships.
Taras also played cornerback with the Lakeshore Catholic football team and badminton as well.
He is planning to head to Niagara College in the fall to study electrical techniques but is hoping to continue wrestling.
