The following text may have been generated by Optical Character Recognition, with varying degrees of accuracy. Reader beware!

Wolves one game short The Waterloo Mayor Midget Wolves won silver at the Ontario charrponships In Trent on Sunday, But this year it was their turn to be surprised as the Toronto Marlies came back from an 8-2 round-robin loss to the Wolves to beat them 3-1 inthefinah; The Wolves were one of the favourites going into the tour- namenl. despite being the youngest club at the champi- onships held inTtenton. t's one thing to still he Iaclive and vibrant when you're 70 years old. It's another thing to do so at a highly competitive level like Waterloo's Buddy John» ston. Born James Buddy John- Mon, he's been everyhody's buddy since coming In the area from Urangeville in 1965, Johnston came lo town to serve as a director of the Kitchener Rangers hockey club. and has since made his name in local lacrosw and snooker circles. When the Rangers wt-n' hulking for a draw In fill an amply Memorial Auditorium in the tsummer. he Iu'lped I ast War the Walerlun Major Midget Wolves ere thc biggest surprise at the Ontario champiorships Arid they proved that last yearwasnoNkegoing4-2 in Johnston still everybody's 'Buddy' BYBonVRBAML‘ Br Bthlmwu 9rrinicl_rystt) Lhrimeft'8ep round-robin play to Net up a semifinal matchup against {hull Ste. Marie. While the Wolves relished their underdog status against the Soo, it was the Mathis that went into the iinais as the sur- prise team after dropping their tirst three round-robin gamae But the older and more physically imposing Marlies were on a roll after that. including an upset triple-mier- time win over heavily favoured Gloucesterin the semifinals When local snooker play- on; were looking to raise the profile of the game, Johnston helped found the Annual Memorial Fromm Invitation- al Snooker loumamenl. now in its sixth year. That event brought some oft mama's hest snooker play- ers to the area. including Cliff qhorhurn, Jimmy Wych and Kirk Slow-n3 And while he started the tnumamom to help promote the game. he admits he had a pcrsonal stake in the ramps- tition. That's hvrausc hc's still a compr'tiiive snooker play-Tr at Tl), winning a gold medal at the t994 Srninr Game; and t'nmpming al last wm-kvnd's TheWolves had lost In the Son 4-1 in round-robin play. hm bounced back to beat them 3-2 to earn their second cotTwcutive trip Ity the linabc found the k-W lunior B Braves lacrosse team. Test Drive Elmira! 2004 trtitiextioe, Fee Deferred Wolves head Coach Randy liarhach said the breaks just went the Marlies' way in the linals with the Wolves missing numerous glorious scoring changes, including a missed penalty shot by John 1unney. Scott Voisin finally got the Wolves on the board in the third, but it was too little too laterorthedefendingi:hampc "We just came up a little penalties we shouldnt have, and we had our chances we Continued on page 24 He spent a few tough months in rehabilitation. but was able tn play snooker again. The Marlim carried that momentum into the finals. building a 3-0 lead on some tushtelyWoMs" penalties Buddy said he likes the challenge. And there have been a Int of challenges for fohnston since he lost his right leg above the knee in a serious car accident in 1972. He has since gum‘ on to compete at the Summer Games and min-r computi- tinns as a golfer in addition In a srtooker player, Ontario Seniors Champi- onship at Frederick Mall Bil- liards in Kitchener. He said it's tough to find a game at the level of competi- tion hek used to, so he decid- ed to help bring that type of competition to the area. ' SPORTS "Snmélims-s I 'itrttggle “we took through it," said Johnston, especially if he has to spend any length of time standing on his prosthetic leg "But I do it bexauselenjoy it. "The year I won the gold medal [1994). Ihad to play IS games and I could barely walk home." The love of the sport start- ed on his family farm 45 years ago. And although his father didn't think his snooker play- ing would amount In much, it's part of what kept Johnston vibrant and active over the "My dad hated it because I lived on a farm. hut I would never do any farming," laught'd Johnston. "I Spent too mtwh time in the poo] mom. “But I think ipl the radillar orgasms. I iltst love Ihv spun." en Waterloo':, Erin W;charrm was first numinalcd for last year's K-W Athlete of the Year Award. slw didrit even get the chance to vnjny the expert yum. the WWi right in the middle of preparing for her first big international figure skaling cxorttpetititrn in t yoatia. So when she learned she wals nominated for the award again last wcck. shc prmnimd herself that this year will be dir fervr1t. Fspeially since it"s a wutlir- million of all thc support she's getting fiom mo Int-a] mnumr (my. and an indication of lwr ruminued guru‘s-s as a skater. "To have that support behind you. whethvr you're a solo athlete or pan of a team, is important." said Schenvr, who won bronze at the Canadian Junior figure skating champi- onships this year. "It's great m he mcognirxxl for all the hard work you put in." And Schema is putting a lot of hard work these days in making a name for herself in the skating community. The Mi-year-old has built on the success she had last year, and prover! she belong with ' da's elite skaters No more so than this year when she went into the finals of the junior championship G 0 I. F C i. ll " 669-1652 " Eldale Rd. Elmira www.clmiragolfclub.com ELMIRA Br MVW. f I!!!)nu'le " Volleyball standout Sarah Pavan. left and figure skater Erin Scherrer, right, are two of the sin Athlete of the Year nominees with a severe cut to her foot showwhal I'vegutf" after an accident in practice. Scherrer was one of six ad "Getting stitches two hours before you skate your short program at Nationals is not a time to be injured." said Scher- rer. "It was scary. but the whole time they were stitching me up I said. 'Not skating isn't an optiorL' "But it was tougher to deal with mentally -._ but I lust let my body do the work instead ofmy mind" "lt definitely brought up my confidence level." said Scherrer. "I expect to go out every time and Md she med about her- self as a competitor through the pm Buddy Johnston lines up a shot at the Ontario Seniors tournament, Scherrer was one of six ath- letes nominated for this year's Athlete oftheyear award. Other nominees included: Wale-duo's Megan Poss. a member of Canada's National Junior Sym chronized swim team; Sarah Rwan, a member of the Water- loo Tigers Volleyball program and the mp voIleytxgl tea-nit at the University of Nebraska; boxer lason Douglas;speed skater Amanda Overland: and downhill skier Kelly Vander- The award ceremony will be held April 26 at the Kitchen- er Memorial Auditorium, with proceeds going to support t2ampMtdaim] i! Just 10 minutes north of Waterloo m, as