OTTAWA – Wrestling Canada Lutte (WCL) is pleased to announce the wrestlers, coaches and team staff that will represent Canada at the 2022 Cadet (U17) World Championships, July 25-31 in Rome, Italy.

“WCL is excited to witness the next generation of Canadian wrestlers that will compete at the World U17 Championships in Rome, Italy,” said Chris Woodcroft, WCL High Performance Director. “We are sending five athletes who have excelled on both the national and Pan-American (Pan-Am) stage and have earned the right to represent themselves, their families, personal clubs and our country at the world level. We anticipate strong performances by all athletes and are confident, regardless of the results, this will motivate them to continue training and competing at the junior and senior levels.”

The five wrestlers were selected based on their performance at the 2022 Canadian Wrestling Trials, May 26-29 in Edmonton, combined with results at the 2022 Pan-Am Championships, June 24-26 in Buenos Aires, Argentina.

At the Pan-Ams, the standout performance went to Abbotsford B.C.’s Rupinder Johal. Johal, from Guru Gobind Singh Wrestling Club, was dominant in her 73kg weight class and came home with the gold medal. It was the first international competition for Johal but now that she has found success at that level, she will be looking for more at the World Championships.

The other female on the team is Port Moody, B.C.’s Ella Finding. Finding, from Coast Wrestling Academy, earned a bronze at the Pan-Ams and will be aiming for another medal at the Worlds. Finding will compete at 57kg.

On the men’s side, the team features Marieville, Quebec’s Nathan Rainville. Rainville who trains out of Patriotes de St-Césare wrestling club, took silver at the Pan-Ams. Rainville also had a strong performance, not surrendering a point until the gold medal match. He will look to avenge that loss when he competes at 65kg at the Worlds.

Abbotsford’s Tejvir Dhinsa, also from Guru Gobind Singh Wrestling Club, will compete at 71kg. Dhinsa took bronze at the Pan-Ams after his only loss was to the eventual gold medalist. With a dominant win in the bronze medal match, he too will be poised prove himself on the world stage.

Rounding out the men’s team is Surrey, B.C.’s Arjun Nagra. Nagra, from Coast Wrestling Academy, had qualified for the Pan-Ams with an impressive performance at the Canadian Wrestling Trials, but missed the competition due to travel disruptions. Still, the WCL NextGen coaches believe he has earned the privilege to represent Canada at the Worlds based on his dominant domestic performance.

2022 Cadet World Championship Team

Joining the athletes are the team staff and officials. The group includes coaches Frank Mensah, Breanne Graham, Carl Rainville; medical/therapist Tim Nanassy; and referees Abbas Mohammadian, Marcia Chiasson and Lenis Thokle.

For complete tournament information, including livestreaming during the competition, visit: https://uww.org/event/world-championships-58