It’s been a season of wins on the mat so far for John Oliver secondary’s wrestling team — and the winning may not be over.
Ten boys and three girls from the J.O. team are on their way to the 2014 B.C. Secondary School Wrestling Championships, which begins Feb. 27 in Prince George.
On Feb. 14, the J.O. Jokers won the 2014 Vancouver/North shore Zone Wrestling Championships (zone 5) in the aggregate boys and girls combined to qualify for the provincials.
It was the first zone win in Chris Fuoco’s 10 years as head coach and, as far as he knows, the first for the school in almost 40 years.
It was also the first year all the athletes from J.O. participating in the event won an individual match.
“This year we brought approximately the same number as normal but our excellence came through,” Fuoco told the Courier in an email.
The zone victory adds to J.O.’s Vancouver Championship win, second place finish at the Campbell River Invite and third place at the Miri Piri Wrestling Championship in Abbotsford.
“All the kids are firing on all cylinders,” Fuoco said.
It was the tenacity of the wrestlers who weren’t necessarily having their best day on the mat that helped the team come out on top.
At the zone championships, Grade 11 wrestler Tanveer Gill stuck around to battle through a match for fifth place, not a good result for him, instead of leaving for his part-time job.
That fifth-place win provided just the points the Jokers needed, Fuoco said.
Terry Ly, who weighs 32 kilograms with his clothes on, competes in the 38-kg weight class and was getting hammered in the matches but didn’t give up. Ly, a Grade 9 student, had a single win the whole tournament but without that win the team would not have come out on top.
“It was spectacular,” Fuoco said.
Fuoco expects all of his wrestlers will earn points for the team at provincials and a few to earn medals.
One such medal contender is Grade 11 student Ekran Shahnawaz, who competes at 54-kg and earned silver and bronze at zones.
Five-foot-nine Shahnawaz knows what will get him through.
His father grew up in a poor village in Bangladesh when the country and Pakistan were at war.
His father had to hide from soldiers and struggle to find food. He did what he could to survive and ultimately came to Canada to build a life, Shahnawaz said.
“That gives me my motivation to not give up and to try my best,” he said.
Another provincial medal contender is Grade 11 student Molly Fu, who competes in the girl’s 47-kg weight class.
“She’s the hardest working kid that I’ve seen,” said Fuoco.
Five-foot-tall Fu, who earned silver at zones, said heading into provincials she needs to remember that opponents are not friends.
“You want to be mentally ready to win,” she said. “I am not going to give up anything.”
To view an online livestream of the provincial matches, go to bcwrestling.com.
