The cold winter weather last week in Abbotsford didn’t deter the 250 wrestlers who heated up the mat at the 14th annual Miri Piri Wrestling Championship on Saturday.
Grapplers from Grades 1 to 12 battled it out inside the Ag-Rec Building all day long, with a number of Abbotsford talents excelling.
Notable local gold medal winners in the seniors boys division included: Rick Hansen’s Humraj Sandhar (63 kilograms), MEI’s Jeevanjot Gill (74 kg) and Abbotsford Traditional’s Gagan Grewal (70 kg).
Abbotsford first place finishers in the girls division were: W.J. Mouat’s Mikaela Trolland (70 kg) and Robert Bateman’s Rupinder Johal (76 kg).
Local junior boys division winners included: Mouat’s Jora Dhadda (66 kg), Mouat’s Brendon Tiberghein (70 kg), W.A. Fraser’s Jackson Taylor (63 kg), Mouat’s Himmet Kang (51 kg), Abbotsford Senior’s Hurjot Sahota (48 kg),
Local winners in the schoolboy division were: Clayburn’s Jovan Johal (49 kg), Abbotsford Traditional’s Michael Grewal (56 kg) and CG Howe’s Jagroop Dhinsa (60 kg).
Those earning a silver medal included: Mouat’s Jorawar Dhinsa (90 kg - senior boys), Mouat’s Arshdeep Namar (78 kg - senior boys), Abbotsford Traditional’s Juuraj Lidder (63 kg - senior boys), Mouat’s Sachin Sharma (54 kg - senior boys), Mouat’s Charisma Trolland (61 kg - girls), Mouat’s Neha Piche (47 kg - girls), Mouat’s Chanpreet Nijjar (70 kg - junior boys), Abbotsford Traditional’s Jeevan Ilapogu (78 kg - junior boys), CG Howe’s Tejvir Dhinsa (57 kg - junior boys), CG Howe’s Manraj Randhawa (70 kg - schoolboy) and MEI’s Gurpatap Ghuman (60 kg - schoolboy).
The Mouat Hawks also earned the top team title, with Surrey’s Tamanawis Secondary finishing second.
In other local wrestling news, the annual Western Canada Age Class Championships runs at UFV’s Envision Athletic Centre on Friday and Saturday. The event features some of the best young wrestlers from the region and is the major fundraising activity for the Mid Valley Athletic Club, which helps to fund UFV Cascades wrestlers.
Also occurring this weekend at UFV is the annual Cascades Classic, which opens at 10 a.m. on Sunday. The event welcomes top wrestlers from several programs in Canada West. It’s an important stop on the road to the U Sports nationals later this year.
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