SOSSA boys wrestling: Gatta golden again
Zubin Gatta had high hopes for his high school wrestling career after winning an Ontario Federation of School Athletic Associations’ gold medal at 38 kilograms in his Grade 9 year at Eden.
“Megan Schweitzer, the coach here (Blessed Trinity), she won all four years of OFSAA so that was my hope, but then COVID shut things down for two years,” the 17-year-old Niagara-on-the-Lake resident said. “It would be nice if I could win this year.”
Gatta took the first step towards that goal Friday at the Southern Ontario Secondary Schools Association championships at Blessed Trinity when he won the 57.5-kilogram.
The Brock Wrestling Club member recently won his sixth provincial championship but OFSAA gold hasn’t lost its lustre.
“It has always been a big deal since I watched all my siblings wrestle at OFSAA. I have been watching OFSAA since I was really small and it has always been important.”
Since winning team gold and individual bronze at last summer’s Canada Summer Games in Niagara, Gatta has been a busy man.
“I have been training with the Brock University team. It’s weights almost every day and wrestling hard. We have been going through a lot of small technical stuff that I did wrong at the Canada Games and a lot of mental stuff too.”
He feel all the hard work is paying off. Gotta has a 20-0 record against high school competition this season and recently won the provincial final by a 10-3 decision.
“It was against a kid who it was 7-7 against the last time that I wrestled him. It was close but I am getting better.”
That improvement has come in a number of areas.
“A lot of it is toughness. Wrestling in the Brock room, I have become a lot tougher and I have grown up a lot in that room.”
Gatta has already been accepted into the business program at Brock and can’t wait to get started on his post secondary wrestling career.
“I am really excited. It will be another four years of doing what I love doing and hopefully I will get a lot better.”
He feels Brock is the perfect place to have that happen.
“I have been in that room since I was little and it has always felt like home. Training at Brock over the past year and a half, I think I have had the biggest increase in my skill in the 10 years that I have been wrestling.”
Blessed Trinity captured the boys team title with 165 points. Rounding out the top five teams were West Niagara (113), Saint-Jean-de-Brebeuf (91), Orchard Park (66), A.N. Myer (60) and E.L. Crossley (60).
Following are the top three finishers at SOSSA. The top two move on to OFSAA.
BOYS DIVISIONS
38 kilograms: 1. Kiran Ramburn, West Niagara.
47.5 kilograms: 1. Sami Islam, BT.
51 kilograms: 1. Ezekiel Ivri, Myer; 2. Lincoln Cormier, Brebeuf.
54 kilograms: 1. Matteo Romano, Centennial; Daniel Taras, Lakeshore; 3. Brennan MacKey, Brebeuf.
57.5 kilograms: 1. Zubin Gatta, Eden; 2. Kieran Bohuslawski, Orchard Park; 3. Keaden Phan, Simcoe.
61 kilograms: 1. Tyler Schaefer, West Niagara; 2. Cash LaCombe, BT; 3. Corbin Wong, BT.
64 kilograms: 1. Ryder Beauregard, Brebeuf; 2. Maxc Hildreth, West Niagara; 3. Eric Grenier, Brebeuf.
67.5 kilograms: 1. Heath Ozog, Crossley; 2. Jack Duff, BT; 3. Jordan Peacock, Stamford.
72 kilograms: 1. Eathan Dobbie, Orchard Park, 2. Reed Ozog, Crossley; 3. Tyson Mease, BT.
77 kilograms: 1. Murray Hildreth, West Niagara; 2. Sean Northcott, West Niagara; 3. Tristan Ferencevic, Brebeuf.
83 kilograms: 1. Billy Yole, Orchard Park; 2. Seth Ozog, Crossley; 3. Muni Assams, Robert Land.
89 kilograms: 1. Ryan Custers, Thorold; 2. Christian Ryan, BT; 3. Graydon Simpson, Smithville.
95 kilograms: 1. Cameron Houten, Simcoe.
130 kilograms: 1. Zach Medford, Stamford; 2. Jordan Longpre, Myer.
