Seven Williams Lake Wrestling Club grapplers are preparing to hit the mat this weekend at the B.C. Wrestling Provincial Championships in Abbotsford.
All seven — Zane Barr, Nathan Preston, Niko Kirner, Molly Lamb, Cierra Bellerose, Tyleen Scaiano and Braden Conrod — qualified Feb. 13 in Williams Lake at the Lake City Secondary School Columneetza Campus during the North Central Zone Championships.
“All our high school kids qualified,” said WLWC head coach Sonia Conrod. “I’m pretty excited about that.”
Barr, in the 74 kilogram division at zones, finished fourth.
Preston, at 84 kg, wrestled to a silver medal, while Kirner, in the 70 kg weight class, finished fourth.
Lamb, meanwhile, in the 69 kg girls division, battled to a silver medal. Scaiano fought to a gold medal in the 47 kg weight class.
Conrod was petitioned in and will still compete at provincials due to prior solid results this season.
“I think they’re going to do really well,” Sonia said. “Just go in there and do the best they can and have fun. Most of them are in Grade 8 and will be competing against kids up to Grade 12.”
She noted competing at a provincial championships will be a phenomenal learning experience for her young grapplers.
“They can see what they have to look forward to in the years to come,” she said. “They’ll get to see, a lot of them for the first time, how finals are setup. It’s going to be just a great experience for them to have.”
Sonia added all of the club’s elementary school wrestlers were outstanding at zones.
“They were amazing,” she said.
She also thanked WLWC coaches Braden and Travis Heitmann for helping coach throughout the day at zones.
Prior to the zone championships the WLWC competed at the Kelly Road Invitational in Prince George Jan. 9, the Western Age Class Tournament in Richmond Jan. 22-23 and the Miri Piri in Abbotsford Jan. 29.