The Lake City Falcons wrestling team is back on the mat for the 2018/19 season.
Coach Ian Pare, who co-coaches the team alongside Tyler Scaiano, said the team will be hosting registration and an information session on Thursday, Nov. 22 beginning at 5 p.m. at the Lake City Secondary School Columneetza Campus for any interested grappler and their parents.
“It’s open to elementary (Grade 3 and up) to Grade 12 athletes,” Ian said, noting for the past two weeks the team has been running wrestling sessions with the school’s physical education classes as part of the school’s curriculum.
The team will train out of the school’s Columneetza Campus, and has tournaments scheduled so far for Prince George, Vanderhoof and a pair in the Lower Mainland.
Boasting three national champions in Tyleen Scaiano, Klay-Lynn Pare and Kai Pare, Ian said he’s excited for the upcoming season and building on the team’s already-established national success.
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“Our team is probably one of the top-ranked teams in the province, our core group is coming back — most of them were elementary wrestling, and now we’ve got a couple kids moving up into the high school program which is really exciting because they’ve been wrestling at a high school level for three or four years now.
“Our core group of athletes is really cool because we’re spread across the age ranges, and we’ve got quite a few kids who are going to be able to help out.”
Coaches at the registration session Thursday will be available to answer any questions from parents, and Ian encourages anyone interested in trying out the sport to attend.
“It’s a great winter sport,” he said. “Even if people aren’t willing to go to all the tournaments it’s a good, core-based program.”
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The Falcons’ first tournament will be in Prince George Nov. 30 and Dec. 1 for their icebreaker tournament.
“We’re going to have a strong program this year,” Ian said.
“We did a session last week at the school and I bet over the lunch break we had 100 kids on the mat. Our team is already strong, but I want to show up [to meets] and be kicking the door down.”
For more information contact the LCSS Columneetza Campus at 259-392-4158.
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