Taylor’s bumpy road to wrestling success

Brock Wrestling Club member Hannah Taylor has been on a bit of a rollercoaster ride.

“It has been up and down and I have lost to some people I have never lost to in the past,” the 20-year-old native of Prince Edward Island said. “Not taking anything away from what they have done and that they are not good enough to beat me, but it shouldn’t have happened.

“I need to be on top of my game.”

But the reigning Brock University athlete of the week, thanks to her 4-0 record and victory in the 59-kilogram division at the Guelph Open, feels the ups and downs are making her a better wrestler.

“Since I am a first-year senior this year, I have a lot of room to grow and I’m not going to be wrestling all the younger people I usually wrestle.”

Her victory at the Guelph Open represents her biggest domestic accomplishment of the season.

“It was definitely a big win for me (in the final) because I had previously lost to the girl (Julia Steffler of Western) twice this year,” Taylor said. “I have been wrestling her since I was 14 years old.”

Steffler had never beaten Taylor prior to this season and the losses were an eye opener for the Brock University student.

“It showed me that I have a couple of flaws in my game,” she said. “I always rely on being so good at defending throws and this year I kind of stepped away from training that because I was thought I was so good at them.

“It was kind of a humbling that she threw me twice.”

It was a lesson well learned.

“I corrected a few things and I beat her this (past) weekend.”

Her next progression as a wrestler is to become more well-rounded.

“The thing I like about all the senior wrestlers in the room is that they are good in all positions,” she said. “Rather than thinking about certain moves, they’re movement oriented rather than move oriented.

“Learning how to adapt in that way will be a huge step for me and that will help me a lot domestically and internationally.”

On the international front, Taylor placed fifth in her weight class at the world junior championships in Slovakia in September. She lost the bronze-medal match by a single point.

“That too was an eye opener knowing I don’t have good enough offensive takedowns that I can use as a go to,” she said. “I have a lot of things that I am good at, but I am not a master of one move that I was able to execute on the world stage.”

She had conflicting emotions about coming within one point of a world championships medal.

“How close I came really pushes me, knowing I am at that level, but it also hurts my heart knowing I lost a medal at the world championships and it was my fourth time there.”

Brock head coach Marty Calder feels her pain.

“She was one takedown away from winning a medal and I thought she was the better athlete.”

Next up for Taylor is trying to three-peat at the upcoming Ontario University Athletics wrestling championships Feb. 1 and 2 at the University of Guelph. She would then like to follow that up with her second straight Canadian university (U Sports) title.

“I obviously want to win those and that will help me to have a better performance at the senior nationals,” she said. “It is my first year of senior so it is a year for growth and development but I do feel I can compete.”

Looming ahead in December are the Olympic trials in St. Catharines.

“I am kind of a young gun but, honestly, the girls currently ahead of me in the rankings I have beaten before so it’s not unrealistic to think that,” Taylor said. “And I know my coaches have a lot of faith in me and think I can get there and win the Olympic trials.”

It’s more a matter of her believing that and then executing.

“It’s just so hard because I am so young and I’m always thinking that there’s 2024 and I brush it off.”

But at the same time, wrestling is a brutal sport and injuries can stall or permanently derail a promising career. Sometimes, a shot a wrestler gets at a younger age might be her one big opportunity.

“Knowing that it is a four-year cycle, anything can happen and I’ve seen people get a knee or an ankle injury and that sets them back so long,” Taylor said. “You never know if you will get another chance so 2020 I will definitely be there fighting my hardest and trying my best.

She knows she had lots of room to grow and improve as a wrestler.

“She is completely committed to her development and I feel that she is on the cusp of making that next step,” Calder said. “She is so young and she’s competitive at the senior level.”

Calder has seen Taylor become more cerebral as a wrestler and that has sometimes been to her detriment.

“We have to find that good balance because she is sometimes too cerebral and that takes away from her athleticism.”

Calder loves Taylor’s attitude and demeanour.

“She’s a wonderful athlete and a wonderful person to coach,” he said. “There are great things in the future for her.”