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Matmen's Davidson wins silver medal at nationals u might have heard Yzlmut the Matmen youth wrestling club . But what about the women who wrestle for them? What do they think about being called Matmen? Not a lot actually if wrestling with the local club keeps getting them the kind of results that St. David's Andrea Davidson saw this weekend at the 2007 Canadian Cadet and Juvenile Wrestling Championships in Whitby, Om. Davidson, 18, who won a silver for the Celtics at the OFSAA wrestling champi- onships earlier this year, brought home another silver at the youth wrestling nation- als in the 81 kilogram weight class. Not bad for a wrestler in only her second year of organized wrestling. Even better when you consider she only has boys her own age and weight ckecs to spar with most of the time, and that the latest sparring session last week left her with an injured shoulder going into the nationals. "The night before weigh in, I was attempting a gut wrench on one of my wrestling partners and l hurt my shoulder. aggravating a previous injury." said David son. "I was really worried about that, but luckily we have a doctor on our coach- Dr. Ivan Iagas, who once was an outstanding high. school wrestler at St, k'mme’s. Is one of the coach- es involved with the Matmen, ing staff." "The night before weigh in, I was attempting a gut wrench on one of my wrestling part- ners and I hurt my shoulder... " waterto; mattress A Andrea Davidson St "avid wrestler Be Boa Vmww: Ch rowdy 5m]: Sleep well...Uve well. Factory Showroom 282 MARSLAND DRIVE. 519.747.3729 www waterioomattress ca LOCALU St. David's Sarah Runstedler tries to pin an opponent to the mat during the 2007 Canadian Cadet and Juvenile wrestling cham- pionships. sauna-mu move which has started to mold some good local high-school talent and turn them into strong competitors for the provincial and national stage. The arm quickly got the attention it needed. and pro- ceeded to do a lot of the heavy lifting at the national tournament. Davidson said she had 7270 expectations going into the national finals. with her inexperience in the sport leaving her to wonder if she would even score a point. She proceeded to beat a wrestler from Calgary and another giri she had already beaten from the OFSAA championships before beating another out- of-province competitor. That set up a Fmal match against Emma Brightwell from Guelph - the daughter of Wayne Brightwell, who used to coach with the Uni. versity of Guelph Gryphons' wrestling program. The odds weren't in Davidson's favour. Which might explain her strange reaction after she was pinned by the much more experi- enced Brighrwell. Teammate Sarah Runst- edler, a fellow St. David stu- dent who also joined the Matmen this year to improve her wrestling skills after win OWNED St. David's Andrea Davidson slams an opponent to the mat on her way to a silver medal at the national championships SPORTS Spring & foam mattresses Pillow tops & box tops Pressure reduction technology Posture zone designs Memory foam & contour pillows 60 Day comfort guarantee Natioiél’s’ 1lltreAtnnii WCSSAA gold in the 54 kg weight class this year and was at her first nationals, was blown away by Davidson's reaction, "Usually when Someone loses a match they get all upset and stomp around all angry," said Runstedler. who also earned a bronze at the CWOSSA finals for the Celtics. "When Andrea lost she popped right up with the biggest smile on her face and jumping around, "It was like she won." "Truthfully. I thought I was going to get my butt kicked," said Davidson. "l was going in expecting to see wrestlers from all (wet the country and he humbled. "l didn't think I was going to score a point, and l was hoping wt to get injured." mm that mission accom- plished, the silver medal was anicesurpdse.Anditwasthe best result of the three St. David wrestlers entered In moment Runstedlet. 16, in just her second year of competition. managed one win before being knocked out of the double elimination tourna, ment. Wade leaman. a I made 9 student who had tamed sil- ver at WIFSM in his first year of highschool competition. war moo crammed . Wednesday. April m was knocked out in two straight matches. but still appreciated the experience. Experience was the thing that all three wrestlers were looking for from the event. with aspirations to go on someday and maybe com- pete at the university level. Especially Davidson, a tttree-sport standout. who is already being recruited to “meme and play soccer at the next level at schools like the University of Western Ontario. She was especially looking forward to matching up with girls who are closer to her weight category instead of sparring against guys or the smaller Runstedler. "There's nobody even close to my weight category," said Davidson. "l practice with Sarah sometimes but we just don't get anything out of it because it's just not the "I'm a little bit smaller," laughed Runstedler, who took up the sport to follow in her dad's footsteps. Most of the time it's spar- ring with guys. That can be interesting in those awkward high-school years. but the self-confident Davidson just thinks of it as another learn, ing experience. "TruthjUlly, I thought I was going to get my butt kicked. " -- Andrea Davidson Manner: wrestler "They're it lot stronger but that's the only real difference because we're all wrestlers." she said, "The guys who I happen to wrestle with have a lot better technique than me, so it really helps me wrestling with them. "It helped at nationals because I'm used to wrestling with people who are a lot stronger than me. They can pick me up and throw me (we! their heads and slam me "Most of the girls I wrestle against can't dothat." 200717