St. Catharines – After the first day of full competition at the 2015 ASICS Junior / Senior Canadian Wrestling Championships at Brock University in St. Catharines, junior champions were crowned and awards presented to outstanding junior athletes, clubs and teams for 2015.

“Wrestling Canada Lutte thanks the 2015 ASICS Canadian Championships Organizing Committee, Brock University and the Brock Badgers for being exceptional hosts so far,” says Don Ryan, President Wrestling Canada Lutte. “The outstanding competition today sets the stage for an exceptional senior portion of the Championships on Saturday.

Today’s junior competition is the primary selection event for the Junior National Teams which will represent Canada at several international events leading up to the 2015 Junior World Championships.

“Today there have been many tremendously exciting matches, showcasing a young and capable crop of athletes on the rise,” says Women’s National Coach Leigh Vierling. “I am very excited to see Braxton Stone-Papadopoulos finish her junior career with another national title at 63kg, she will be a great leader at the 2015 Junior World Championships in Brazil this summer.”

As part of the awards presentations, for the first time ever, Wrestling Canada Lutte presented the junior awards for 2015. Based on the previous season’s international results, the Junior Female Athlete of the Year was presented to Braxton Stone-Papadopoulos of Pickering. Papadopoulos won a bronze medal at the 2014 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, was fifth at the Junior Worlds and won a Gold medal at the Junior Pan Am Championships. After an outstanding 2014, the Junior Male Athlete of the Year was presented to Amar Dhesi. Dhesi, of the Burnaby Mountain Wrestling Club, capped a stellar international season with a Gold Medal at the 2014 Junior Pan Am Championships and a Junior World Championship title.

Based on ballots submitted during the competition, the Outstanding Junior Women’s and Men’s Awards were presented to: Jade Dufour of the L’Essor Wrestling Club & Sam Jagas of the Brock Wrestling Club.

Other awards presented included:

• Club Team Award Junior Women: Bears Wrestling Club of Edmonton Alberta
• Club Team Award Junior Men’s Freestyle: Burnaby Mountain Wrestling Club
• Provincial Team Award Junior Women: Team Ontario
• Provincial Team Award Junior Men’s Freestyle: Team Ontario

A complete list of results from junior preliminaries and finals can be found at the following link: http://myzonedev.com/wrestling-canada/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/2015_Junior_Championship_Results.pdf.

Saturday’s competition will see the senior athletes vying for Senior National Team positions, the opportunity to represent Canada internationally, TO2015 selection, an opportunity to represent Canada at the 2015 Senior World Championships and the Canadian Wrestling Team Trials in December in Strathcona. The Trial winners will be nominated to represent Canada through the qualification process for the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio.

The 2015 ASICS Junior /Senior Canadian Wrestling Championships is taking place at Brock University at the Ian Beddis Gym in the Walker Centre Complex, as sanctioned by Wrestling Canada Lutte. Junior and senior competition includes men’s freestyle, greco-roman and women’s wrestling. Weigh-ins started on Thursday March 19^th for junior competitors with junior preliminaries and finals and senior weigh-ins starting on March 20^th. Saturday March 21^st will bring senior preliminaries and gold medal senior matches. Saturday will also see the induction of a new athlete and builder in the Wrestling Canada Lutte Hall of Fame.

Follow the senior competition live at https://new.livestream.com/Brocktvlive.