OTTAWA — Wrestling Canada Lutte (WCL) is proud to announce the athletes, coaches and support staff that will represent Canada at the inaugural 2024 U23 Pan-American (Pan-Am) Championships, June 21-22 in Rionegro, Colombia.

“Wrestling Canada Lutte is sending a strong contingent of athletes to compete at the first U23 Pan-American Wrestling Championships. The team is composed of our best next generation of high-performance athletes and boasts a few of our National Senior Champions,” said Chris Woodcroft, WCL High Performance Director. “This international experience will prove to be a valuable steppingstone for the World U23 Championships held later this fall.  Wrestling Canada Lutte is confident that our athletes are well prepared to take on the best in the Pan-Am region.”

The team will feature many athletes who have represented Canada internationally in the past as well as some who will make their debut on the international stage.

One name to watch on the women’s side will be Swift Current, Saskatchewan’s Aleah Nickel. Nickel will compete at 68kg after winning the weight class at WCL’s recent Canadian U23 Wrestling Championships & Sr. World Team Trials (non-Olympic weights). At that event, Nickel also went up in weight and captured the Senior 72kg weight class.

Representing Canada at both the senior and U23 age group is nothing new for Nickel, as last year she competed at both World Championships. Nickel’s international resume includes a gold medal at the 2023 Francophone Games, bronze at 2023 Senior Pan-American Championships, silver 2022 Grand Prix of Spain and silver at the 2018 Cadet Pan-American Championships.

As for the men, another athlete who has also already competed at the senior level, is London’s Treye Trotman. Trotman competed at last year’s Senior World Championships as an 18-year-old. He has previously captured a bronze medal at the 2023 U20 Pan-American Championships, bronze at the 2022 U20 Pan-American Championships and silver at the 2019 Cadets Pan-American Championships. This will be his first U23 event and he will compete at 57kg.

2024 U23 Pan-American Championships Team

Accompanying the team are the coaching staff and team officials. The group includes coaches Owen Dawkins, Frank Mensah and Ahmed Shamiya; team leader Kale Whitton; and athletic therapist Tim Nanassy. Lenis Thokle and John Krahn will represent Canada as officials.

For complete tournament information, visit the tournament website: https://uww.org/event/u23-pan-american-championships/news