Turcotte golden in Barrie

It was a busy weekend for the local wrestling community, with athletes representing both Laurentian University and the Sudbury Regional Wrestling Club participating in a pair of events down south.

Coach Andy Lalonde and the L.U. crew were off to St. Catharines, site of the 2013 Brock Open. Despite fielding a team of just ten athletes, the Voyageurs finished 12th in a field of 18 teams, just two points shy of cracking the top 10.

Lo-Ellen Park Secondary graduate Indira Moores recorded the top finish of the day among the Laurentian contingent, placing fourth in the senior women's 59-kg weight class.

A freshman with the team this year, Moores lost a tough 5-4 decision to Carla Sluberski of Brock, bouncing back to knock off Brenna Llewellyn and Alexa Momy, both of Western, and earning a spot in the bronze-medal match.

There, Moores would fall to Sluberski for the second time, losing 9-6 in the rematch. Despite the setback, Moores continues to hold down 10th place in the latest Canadian Interuniversity Sport rankings released this week.

Teammates Gracelynn Doogan and Sam Demers finished fourth and fifth respectively in the 72-kg weight class, with Demers following up on her silver-medal performance at the Ontario Senior Championships in November.

Doogan is a native of Elliot Lake who trained alongside Canadian Olympian Martine Dugrenier for part of last summer in Montreal, and currently holds down 10th place in the CIS rankings.

On the Laurentian men's side, rookie Alex Aubin extended his streak of scoring at every event to three, placing fifth in St. Catharines in the 65-kg division.

Aubin beat Joel Hillman of Guelph (6-0), lost to Robert Abtan of York (11-0) and Scott Schiller of Concordia (12-0), before closing with a win over Tom Hiebert, also of Guelph.

Earning a second-place finish earlier in the year at the Toronto Open and finishing fourth at McMaster, Aubin sits ninth in the country within the Canadian university ranks.

Blaise Queneville from Windsor matched the tournament result posted by Aubin, besting Wyle Middleton (McMaster), but losing to both Jevon Balfour (Brock) and Matt Jagas (Western).

Dylan Galloway struggled in a pair of bouts, but managed to retain his eighth-place ranking, at least for the time being, while Emily Morgan (55 kg) was also ousted in two straight.

Competing in the same weight class as Morgan, SRWC representative Victoria Day posted a record of 1-2 against older post-secondary opponents, including former local champion Diana Ford.

Ford, a native of Nova Scotia who moved to Sudbury to pursue her training before making her way to Brock, captured her grouping with relative ease and continues to hold down the top spot in the country.

As for the remaining club wrestlers, the local squad settled in a couple of hours north, taking part in the annual Kempenfelt Bay Barrie Open.

The highlight, from a Sudbury perspective, was a gold-medal performance courtesy of wrestling newcomer Erica Turcotte. The Grade 10 student at Sudbury Secondary School continued her rapid ascension in the sport, taking top spot in the 47.5-kg weight class.

Joel Lamontagne, Billy Wylie and Logan Blanchard all finished fourth in their respective groupings, with Kole Paulin-Poitras just one spot back in fifth.