The Badgers’ men’s and women’s wrestling teams were among the winners at Brock Sports’ annual awards gala.
After one of the most successful seasons in Badgers’ history recently concluded, with 17 Badgers winning major awards, eight coaches receiving Coach of the Year honours, 26 Brock athletes being named All-Canadians and 81 earning provincial all-star selections, it was time to honour these amazingly talented teams and athletes at the awards gala.
Hosted at the Americana Conference Resort Spa and Waterpark in Niagara Falls, 650 student-athletes, coaches and staff attended the event, with increased anticipation on which teams would be the recipients of both the Male and Female Team of the Year awards.
While all Brock’s teams had extraordinary seasons in their own regard, the Badgers’ men’s and women’s wrestling teams were crowned the Male and Female Team of the Year for the second consecutive season in a row.
As the pinnacle of university wrestling in the country, both the men’s and women’s squads captured provincial and national titles, the only Brock teams to strike gold on the national stage this season.
The men’s team won their ninth straight U SPORTS championship and 22nd overall, now sitting with 14 more than Concordia, who has the second-most national titles. They also tallied their 25th provincial banner, winning their eighth OUA Championships in a row, to add to the ever-growing Badgers’ wrestling trophy case.
On the women’s side, coach Dave Collie – who won the Coach of the Year award at the gala alongside TJ Manastersky – guided his team to their 11th national championship and their ninth straight provincial title, making it 22 OUA banners overall.
Individually, the Badgers won eight gold medals, six silvers and two bronzes at the U SPORTS national championships in Guelph, while capturing 13 golds, five silvers and two bronzes at the OUA Championships in Sault Ste. Marie.
Winning the gold medals at nationals were Francesca Lo Greco (50 kg), Mia Friesen (56 kg), Brianna Fraser (83 kg), Garette Saunders (61 kg), Nicolae Gandrabura (65 kg), Bobby Narwal (72 kg), Callum Knox (100 kg) and Roger Li (125 kg).
Lo Greco won the U SPORTS Female Rookie of the Year award after defeating Abby Wolff, the Canada West Rookie of the Year, 10-2 to place first, as she wasn’t the only Brock wrestler to achieve national honours.
Fraser joined Lo Greco as a U SPORTS honouree, being selected as a U SPORTS First-Team All-Canadian after she beat Saskatchewan’s Myah Phillips by fall over.
Saunders also earned a U SPORTS First-Team All-Canadian selection after his win over Toronto’s Francesco Fortino. The Community Recreation major will also serve as an alternate on Canada’s wrestling team at this summer’s Paris 2024 Summer Olympics, becoming the seventh Olympian who competed in the Badgers’ men’s wrestling program and the first since Brock alum Saeed Azarbayjani featured for Canada at the 2008 Beijing Olympics.
Both the men’s and women’s wrestling teams will look to continue their historic success and win more titles in 2025 and beyond.
The entire 2023-24 men’s team includes: Gabriel Blanchette, Johannes Budgey, Rahaman Dawson, Yazdan Farokhizad, Nicolae Gandrabura, Zubin Gatta, Ethan Graves, Alamin Ibrahim, Callum Knox, Ryan Lane, LeVar Lashington-Francis, Roger Li, Bryn Loewen, Mason Mastroianni, Bobby Narwal, Luisonleonardo Preci, Garette Saunders, Gabriel Sementilli, Cho Sherpa and Steven Taras.
The entire 2023-24 women’s team includes: Samantha Adams, Brooklyn Brown, Cassie Corbett, Kirztyn De Torres, Brianna Fraser, Mia Friesen, Rachel Hall, Ella Jakobi, Vanessa Keefe, Kennedy LaBute, Claudia Landry, Francesca Lo Greco, Bronwyn MacGregor, Michaela Rankin, Apinayaa Sivapalan and Jessica Tillmanns.
For more information on the Badgers’ wrestling team, head to gobadgers.ca.