THUNDER BAY/CORAL HARBOUR
Judai McKitrick, 17, originally of Coral Harbour and now living in Thunder Bay, Ont., captured bronze in the 58-kg class of the Greco Division of the Canadian National Juvenile Wrestling Championship earlier this month in Saskatoon, Sask.
Judai McKitrick, right, gets ready to wrestle an opponent at an Ontario Federation of School Amateur Athletics qualifier in Guelph, Ont. - photo courtesy Bruce McKitrick |
McKitrick, a Grade 12 student at Saint Ignatius High School, joins Coral's Tony Eetuk in earning a medal at the national level.
Eetuk took silver at the 2001 national juveniles, also in the Greco Division.
Joseph Nakoolak of Coral took fifth in both Greco and freestyle at the 2001 event, adding a fourth place in Greco the following year.
McKitrick said he enjoys working hard at wrestling every day.
He said you don't get much of a break from it, and he enjoys the discipline and determination needed to get through each week.
"Wrestling is one of the longest sport seasons in that you practise every day and go from the fall to spring," said McKitrick.
"Winning and losing was never the important part for me.
"I like going to practice, just being there and trying to improve.
"To me, a loss isn't as much a setback as it is a challenge."
McKitrick said he's often lost to a wrestler, and then quietly hoped for the chance to meet them again.
He said he wrestled well against Shaimen Bhogal, who went on to take gold at the national, and their match could have gone either way.
"I would really like to wrestle him again.
"There's a bit of luck involved with wrestling because you can be better than your opponent, but, one little mistake and it can be all over.
"I could look at it like I would have had silver or gold if I'd won that match, but, then again, I had to come from behind in both rounds against my opponent (Mark Edwards) to win bronze.
"Even a national champion can underestimate a rookie, make one mistake and be stuck on his back."
McKitrick plans to continue wrestling when he attends Lakehead University (LU) this coming year.
He's been invited to wrestle with the university team during the summer so he can keep training.
"I really wanted to wrestle with LU and now I've been asked to join the team.
"Most of the goals I set in wrestling are for improvement; to make less mistakes than before.
"There's also conditioning and the mental aspects of the sport, especially not quitting when you're really, really tired.
"You have to keep wrestling as hard as you would if you weren't that tired."
Judai's dad, Bruce, said it was a great feeling to have his son earn a national medal.
He said the family returns to Coral every summer, and it's nice to know how much the community cheers for his boys (Daniel excels at hockey) to do well.
"I never put any pressure on Judai," said Bruce.
"Wrestling is a game of close calls and he's had his share of them going the wrong way.
"Now he's had all his hard work pay off.
"It's great to see Judai reach the same level of accomplishment as Tony and Joseph, and he just keeps surprising me."
