Abbotsford’s Jasmit Phulka is one step closer to fulfilling his Olympic dreams.
Phulka finished first in the 74 kilograms division at the 2020 Canada Olympic Team Trials in Niagara Falls, Ont. held from Dec. 5 to 7.
He opened the event with a 10-4 win over Connor McNeice of the Calgary Dinos, then defeated Hamilton’s Trystan Kato 10-0 and took down Brock University’s Ty Bridgewater 11-2 in the semifinal to advance to the division finals.
Phulka then swept Brock’s Tyler Rowe 2-0 (6-2 and 6-5) to earn the division title.
He outscored his opponents 43-13 in the five matches. Phulka now must either earn a top-two finish at the Pan-Am qualifiers in March or win a subsequent qualification tournament for which details have not yet been released.
RELATED: Abbotsford’s Phulka chasing Olympic dream
Phulka is the only wrestler from Abbotsford to make the Canadian team.
Abbotsford’s Nishawn Randhawa advanced to the finals in the men’s 97 kg division but lost in the final. Surrey’s Amar Dhesi won the men’s 125 kg category.
Phulka and Desi are the lone B.C. athletes to qualify in Canada.
There are a total of 16 spots available in his division at the 2020 Tokyo Summer Olympic Games, and six spots have been selected through the past World Championships events.
There are still 10 spots up for grabs, and Phulka must excel at one of the aforementioned tournaments to book his ticket to Tokyo.
The 2020 Tokyo Summer Olympic Games run from July 24 to Aug. 9.