Richard and Ty fly high

Richard DesChatelets Jr., shown in this file shot, won a gold medal at the Canadian junior nationals along with Brock Wrestling Club teammate Ty Bridgwater.

Richard ended up king of the junior nationals.

Along with teammate Ty Bridgwater (74 kilograms), Niagara Falls native Richard DesChatelets returned from the Canadian junior wrestling championships with a gold medal around his neck.

Plenty of emotions were going through the A.N. Myer product’s head when the ref lifted his arm to signify his victory in the 97-kilogram division.

“It wasn’t one thing in particular,” the second-year Brock student said. “I felt a lot of joy and tremendously happy.”

It was anything but a cakewalk for this year’s 120-kilogram Ontario University Athletics champion and USports silver medalist.

His first match was almost his undoing.

“We ended up going into a scramble with one of us on our back to the other,” he said. “It went a couple times more than it should have before I managed to finally end up on top and pin him.”

He won his final on points, but it wasn’t easy.

“I was more mentally and physically prepared to win this year than my opponent,” he said. “That helped me to stay focused during the entire match and I was able to do what I wanted to do in order to win.

“It was closer than the score appeared.”

After a disappointing performance at last year’s nationals where he was hindered by a high ankle sprain, DesChatelets left nothing to chance this time around.

“I kind of went into thinking it was my last shot at winning juniors and I have trained so hard for it,” he said. “I went into it with a positive attitude, thinking win or lose it didn’t matter as long as I was able to go out there and wrestle.

“Every match I tried to think I am going to go out, have fun, enjoy it and see what happens.”

That attitude produce a performance at nationals that Brock head coach Marty Calder described as friggin awesome.

“I feel like this was a good stepping stone tournament and I am more capable than what I have shown so far,” DesChatelets said. “I haven’t reached my peak yet and I just took the first step in understanding the sport better.

“I know what I need to do to progress and become better.”

DesChatelets followed up his junior gold with a bronze at the senior nationals.

“I almost didn’t believe it,” he said. “I knew I was doing well but I didn’t know how well I was doing.”

The impressive showing has given him a tremendous confidence boost.

“My short-term goal is to be the best I can be every day and at every practice,” he said. “Long term, I want to be the best I can and, if it’s possible, be the best by 2020. My goal would be to go to the Olympics that year.”

TY BRIDGWATER

Brock Wrestling Club member Ty Bridgwater went into the junior nationals as the wrestler to beat.

The 19-year-old Cambridge native was the defending 74-kilogram champion and the athlete other wrestlers were hunting down.

The two-time defending OUA champion and USports gold and silver medalist would much rather be the hunter.

“I like being the underdog because I don’t like stress,” he said. “When you go in not being expected to win, you have a lot less stress on you.

“It’s not like it matters if you lose because nobody expects you to win.”

The second-year recreation and leisure student at Brock has gotten better at being the hunted, but prefers the latter.

“I don’t know what it was, but one day I just started being more relaxed,” he said. “I put a lot more perspective into what was going on and we had a lot of talks about the perspective of what a wrestling match is compared to what is going on in the world.”

That realization helped.

“It doesn’t matter how ultimately I do in the tournament because life is still going to go,” he said. “If I wrestle my best, what’s going to happen is going to happen.”

It’s an approach he believes is applicable in every part of a person’s life.

“If you do the right things at the right times, then the world is going to move around that and hopefully it works out for you.”

Bridgwater had smooth sailing to his second national title, winning all three of his matches by technical superiority (official stopped match with wrestler ahead by 10 or more points).

“It was relief, for sure,” he said. “You know you are finally going to get a break for a couple of weeks and you can get away from the mental tax you out on yourself and the preparation.”

Brock’s wrestlers went right from the university season to preparing for the nationals and it’s a joy when they are finally given some time off.

“You’re done and it feels good,” Bridgwater said. “You know you are not going to have to make yourself feel how you did for awhile.”

When interviewed mid-week, Bridgwater talked about his break from wrestling.

“I eat a lot and drink beer,” he said. “It’s whatever I can do to make myself feel good.”

It’s also a time to heal a collection of aches and bruises.

“Your body does get beat up, especially in this room with all these great guys who are always pushing you,” he said. “Everyone has their bumps and bruises and you hope you can take your time and recover from them afterwards.

“In the end, you are always going to be a little hurt in this sport.”

At last year’s junior worlds, Bridgwater lost to the eventual silver medalist in his first match and then was defeated by the eventual bronze medalist in his second match.

“You are always aiming for more and last year was a real learning curve being there and experiencing what it was like,” he said. “Walking out to the mats and seeing that your are at the world championships is a real shock your first time.

“I was definitely one of those people who didn’t feel that it was real.”

His short-term goals are to do well at his upcoming tournaments and keep training hard.

“Long term, I want to finish my schooling and get a decent job,” he said. “My ultimate goal is to be a wrestling coach but those are few and far between.”

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