Sartor debuts with OFSAA silver
Blessed Trinity’s Brynn Sartor went into wrestling with high expectations.
“I showed up thinking I was going to be so good at it but it is very complicated because you need to know all the moves. It’s a lot to learn,” said Sartor, who plays travel hockey with the Stoney Creek Sabres and travel lacrosse with the St. Catharines Athletics and the Toronto Rock Rock Stars.
It didn’t take long for the Grade 9 student to get acclimated to the sport.
“I was better by the first tournament but we trained a lot before then at practice.”
The 14-year-old Grimsby resident won the Southern Ontario Secondary Schools Association championship and two other tournaments heading into Ontario Federation of School Athletic Associations and she capped her season by winning a provincial silver medal in the 57.5-kilogram division.
The silver medal far exceeded her OFSAA expectations.
“My goal was to win one match but after you win one match, your confidence goes up.”
She ended up winning four matches to make the final, but she ran into a tough opponent in the gold medal match.
“I got smoked. She was in Grade 12 and she was really strong.”
The sadness of defeat was quickly replaced by joy when the silver medal around neck.
“I was hyped.”
She used a simple formula to succeed at OFSAA.
“I tried to stay confident and Miss (Megan) Schweitzer was such a big inspiration because she is so successful.”
Schweitzer, the head coach at Blessed Trinity, was the reason why Sartor decided to join wrestling this year.
“I heard about how good of a coach she was and how great she is at wrestling.”
She has quickly fallen in love with the sport.
“You have to use your mind a lot and think. I used to get angry and that is what I would use to wrestle but I found that doesn’t work. What works is staying calm and knowing the moves and what to do in certain situations. If you do one wrong move, you could get pinned.”
Training for wrestling, hockey and lacrosse has been a juggling act but it was doable for Sartor.
“I have a schedule. In the summer, it is not too busy with hockey and in the winter it is not too busy with lacrosse. I am quitting hockey after this year because it is just too much,” she said, “I was supposed to just focus on lacrosse but now that wrestling was so successful this year I want to do more wrestling more.”
She is hoping to wrestle at Blessed Trinity and with the Brock Junior Badgers next fall and the silver medal is inspiring her to take the sport to another level.
“My goal is to make it to OFSAA, for sure, and I would like to do better than I did this year.”
After competing at OFSAA wrestling, Sartor joined the Blessed Trinity girls hockey team at the OFSAA hockey tournament. Unfortunately she could only be a spectator.
“I tore my hamstring in the final match,” she explained.
Schweitzer is excited for Sartor’s future.
“For a Grade 9 coming in, she wrestled so well. She is mentally tough and she can put it together on the mat,” she said. “Technically, she has a lot to learn but she is so determined. For grit, she’s got it.”
