Sophia Smerek snags silver
Blessed Trinity’s Sophia Smerek had no complaints about her performance at the recent Ontario Federation of School Athletic Associations wrestling championships.
“OFSAA went lovely,” the Grade 12 Blessed Trinity student said, with a laugh. “I cannot lie. It went better than expected.”
The 17-year-old Grassie resident ended up winning a silver medal in the 77-kilogram division.
“I was not expecting that going in,” she said. “It is not that I had low expectations but I just go into tournaments vey neutral. I don’t want to disappoint myself and I know what I want to do on the mat. If I accomplish that, nothing else really matters at the end of the day.”
The Southern Ontario Secondary Schools Association champion succeeded at the provincial high school championships by thinking her way through her matches.
“I just kept seeing what I could get in the match. It was ‘OK., I can see an opening here and one there.’ When I find myself stuck in a position, I knew what to do.”
After losing the gold medal match by a decision, it was still a big moment when the silver medal was placed around her neck.
“I was just really proud to be there. As I said, I wasn’t expecting to do that well but all the training paid off.”
She credits her training under Blessed Trinity coach Megan Schweitzer for her successes. Smerek started wrestling in Grade 9 because of her coach.
“I love the sport because of her. She is very passionate,” she said. “It is her drive and her personality. She makes you want to do better and do more.”
Smerek joined the Brock Junior Badgers travel wrestling program this year so she could go to nationals. The provincial bronze medalist at 80 kilograms recently placed fourth at the nationals in Vancouver, B.C.
It was her second trip to the OFSAA championships. In Grade 9, she won two matches and lost two matches. That experience helped her in 2023.
“Yes, because the corral is the most scariest thing on the planet. The corral is when they call numbers for matches and you kind of sit there and they make you wait. You are on the mat and waiting with your opponent beside you,” she said. “It makes you anxious but since I had experienced that before I knew what to expect.”
Smerek feels her wrestling has developed a lot this year.
“It was mostly the thinking part and calming my nerves. That is very important along with controlling my breathing. I am asthmatic,” she said. “I did not have an asthma attack this year and I could not say the same thing in Grade 9. I think it is because my endurance has built up a bit.”
Winning OFSAA has motivated her to take wrestling even more seriously.
“Either I am going to go to Brock or continue my education at Guelph. Hoping I can make on of those teams,” she said. “I have to train more.”
She has applied to study physical education at Brock and landscape architecture at Guelph.
Schweitzer will miss having her at Blessed Trinity.
“I have such amazing kids on the team this year and they feel like my own kids,” she said. “You want to put as much effort in as they do. I have had Cassie (Corbett) and Sophia since they were in Grade 9.”
Schweitzer describes Smerek as hard-training powerhouse.
“She has very bright future, especially in wrestling and rugby.”
