ORILLIA – The Ontario Amateur Wrestling Association held the Youth Provincial Championship this past weekend in Orillia, Ontario. Three Six Nations grapplers competed in the tournament and came away with hardware, representing the Discipline Wrestling Club located in Stoney Creek well.
Mason McNaughton, wrestling in only his second tournament, competed in the Tyke age division at the 23.5-kilogram weight class. Mason worked hard in all his matches and finished the provincial tournament in third place. When asked if he liked competing in wrestling, Mason said, “Yup — it was lots of fun”.
Kaidyn Lickers, who is in his third year of wrestling, competed in the Novice age division and 28.5-kilogram weight class. Kaidyn took out some very experienced and talented wrestlers en route to the gold medal match. In the finals, Kaidyn faced the defending provincial champion from the London-Western Wrestling Club. The two had met twice previously this year with the season series being tied at 1-1. The intense final match featured what some say were very questionable calls from the official that benefitted the London competitor. In the end Kaidyn walked away with his second career silver medal at the Ontario Championships.
Aysen Lickers, also in his third year of wrestling competed in the Novice age division at the 33-kilogram weight class. The weight class featured some good athletes, but Aysen wrestled very well throughout the tournament scoring a lot of his points off of his go to ‘double-leg takedown’. Aysen only lost one match to the eventual champion from Team Impact Oshawa, but brought home his second provincial silver medal.
With the second place finishes at the Provincial Championships, Aysen and Kaidyn Lickers have now qualified to compete in the Eastern Canadian Championships in Moncton, New Brunswick. They will be competing May 14 to 15 again in the Novice division, which is the youngest age group at the Eastern Canadians.
