Cynthia Lam, Staff Writer
Featured image courtesy of York Lions
After roughing out a tough season, the York Lions recently made their way to Sault Ste. Marie to compete at the Ontario University Athletics Wrestling Championships held at Algoma University, where they had a honourable weekend. For Alexandria Town and Tyler Tate-Austin, the weekend proved to be successful as they both brought home bronze medals.
“For many of us, OUA is the final and most important tournament of the season,” says Town. “In order to be at peak performance, our coaches modified our training so that we were physically prepared. In the weeks leading up to OUAs our practices were high in intensity. When we train at a high volume we’re more likely to get injured.”
Town gave it her all and took home her second medal in the OUA finals, having won silver last year. This year, she managed to grab bronze in the 55 kilogram category after putting up a hard fight. “Within my pool, I lost a match to the winner of the tournament. The rest of my matches I won pretty easily.”
In the men’s 120 kilogram category, rookie Tate-Austin brought home a bronze medal after defeating teammate Ali Koca for the third-place finish spot. The Lions men’s team finished sixth in the standings.
Many of the other Lions teams came very close to medals, with some coming in fourth, fifth, and sixth place.
“We [have] to be mindful of our weight. All wrestlers weigh in the day before the tournament so we eat and drink very little the night before and the day of weigh-ins. We also sit in the sauna for a bit to sweat off any last few pounds. We all cut weight very well this year,” says Town.
Although not all of the Lions won a medal in their category, they all celebrated a big victory and a very successful season. “The team aspect is so important,” Town says. “We have an excellent team dynamic, keeping each other motivated and supported the entire time.”
The season may be over for the rest of the team, but Town and Tate-Austin will both be heading to the Canadian Interuniversity Sport Championships this weekend to battle it out one more time.
“Thanks to my coaches and training partners, over the past few weeks I’ve made some minor adjustments that should make a big difference in my performance this weekend,” says Town.
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