OTTAWA— Wrestling Canada Lutte is pleased to announce the 17 athletes, coaches and team staff that will represent Canada at the 2022 Cadet (U17) Pan-American Championships, June 24-26 in Buenos Aires, Argentina.

“Our National U17 Team will be competing the first time internationally in quite some time.  This will be the majority of the athletes first time representing their country and, based on their national performances, we are optimistic moving onto the Pan American stage,” said Chris Woodcroft, WCL High Performance Director. “This is a critical step in evaluating where we are, developmentally, coming out of the pandemic and we anticipate many of the athletes will have strong performances and vie for spots on the U17 World Team.”

The team was selected based on results at the 2022 Canadian Wrestling Trials in Edmonton. On the women’s side, all seven of the team members were victorious in their weight class. As for the men, nine of the ten competitors took home the gold in their division.

Even with the layoff, expectations will be high for the team as they not only look to find the Pan-Am podium, but also earn a spot on the World Championship team. The World Championships will take place July 25-31 in Rome, Italy.

The women’s side will see Paige Veloso, from Calgary and The ROC WC, compete in the 65kg weight class. Veloso not only won gold at the Trials but also was named the tournament’s Most Outstanding Wrestler for cadet women. She repeated that performance at the Canadian Wrestling Championships, June 9-12 in Tsuut’ina Nation, Alberta. Veloso was once again named Most Outstanding Wrestler after winning the U17 65kg weight class.

As for the men, their side will feature Nathan Rainville, from Marieville, Quebec and Patriotes de Saint-Césaire, who was the Most Outstanding Wrestler for cadet men at the Trials, winning the 65kg weight class. Much like Veloso, Rainville repeated the feat at the Championships, winning the Most Outstanding Wrestler award for the U19 boys, after going up a weight class and winning at 71kg. Rainville is also a five-time Canada east champion and will look to add an international title at the Pan-Ams. He will compete at 65kg.

2022 Cadet Pan-American Championships Team

Accompanying the team are the coaching staff and team officials. The group includes: Gurjot Kooner, Frank Mensah, Breanne Graham, Carl Rainville, Dominique Choquette, Laura Steffler and Tim Nanassy. Stephanie Robertson-Owen will also represent Canada as an official.

For complete tournament information, visit the tournament website at: https://uww.org/event/pan-american-championships-13.