On Friday December 8th The Loyalists set out to compete at one of the toughest tournaments to date,Bishop Ryan. We saw competition from Quebec and Nunavut!

Our boys had a quick learning curve as this was much stiffer competition than the rookie tournament wrestled earlier in the week. Muna Assams was commended by coaching staff on his discipline and attention to his craft, leading himself to a bronze medal.

In his first match Muna showed great reactions and an awesome shot to pin. In his second match, although he tied up strong and was applying pressure to his opponent, he fell victim to his opponent’s leg attack and found himself on the underside of a pin. This is not a position he is familiar with being in. He was able to fight hard on the bottom keeping his shoulders off the mat but ultimately his opponent would lock in the pin with only 5 seconds left in the first round. After the match, his opponent came over to tell us that Muna is just as tough as his Team Canada training partner.

In his third match Muna faced the gentlemen from Montreal. Muna played a perfect defensive game, not allowing his opponent to capitalize on solid leg shots. Muna was able to do great sprawling and go behind to score points. Once he was ahead, he was able to maintain his lead with smart wrestling.

In the finals, his opponent was determined to attack, but Muna was just not going to let that happen. He put forth great defensive positioning as well as great countering allowing him to score. The referee was encouraging Muna to shoot more and take risks, but Muna recognized his lead in points and made a wise choice to stick to the game plan. In the end, Muna won the Bronze medal and much respect from his peers, coaches, and fellow athletes.

Stephan Paterson lost by points 10-0 in his first match, taking shots from too far out. In his second match Stephan met a wrestler from Montreal. His opponent was aggressive with shooting and Stephan quickly learned that he needs to work on his defensive game. A crossface would have saved the day, lessons were learned and practice will reflect this as he looks to regroup going forward.

Emmanuel Kopatsis loss by pin in round 2 of his first match. After giving up a few points early on in the second match, he was down 6-1 and was able to fight off a pin attempt. They were stood back up and Emmanuel came back fighting. He quickly took the lead with a great high crotch and then tight gut wrench, followed by a power half nelson. He was able to secure his victory by pinfall from his half nelson.

In the third match Emmanuel wrestled against a far more technical wrestler. Although he was determined, he was just out matched. Tech fall, 11-0

Pedran Jenkins ended up being pinned in his first match and had a bye in his second match. He faced a member of Team Impact in his third match. His opponent appeared to have brought his A game, Pedran tried his best to defend the attacks. He got caught in a viscous double chicken wing that he was unable to escape and was pinned in the first round.

All wrestlers performed well and gained experience while facing some very tough competition.