HAMILTON, Ont. – A half-dozen schools from around Ontario University Athletics (OUA) will look to knock the Brock Badgers to the mat at the 2008-09 OUA wrestling championships in St. Catharines, Ont.

The host Badgers are defending men’s and women’s champions. The Badgers have won the OUA men’s title an unprecedented 14 straight times, while the women have claimed seven of the last eight OUA championships.

The Badgers return five OUA individual champions from last season, led by two-time OUA gold medalist Alex Brown-Theriault (82 kg) of Ottawa, Ont. Peter Simons (65 kg) returns after capturing his first OUA title last year. The Campbellford, Ont. product has had a colourful career, winning one gold, one silver and one bronze medal at the OUA championships.

C.J. Hudson (61 kg) of Calgary, Alta., Aaron Fabiano (54 kg) of Windsor, Ont. and Ajax, Ont. native Paul Rabjohn (90 kg) also look to repeat as OUA gold medalists. Hudson is also the defending Canadian Interuniversity Sport (CIS) champion. Returning to the Badgers line-up for the first time in five years is heavyweight Phil Vandenbeukel (130 kg).

Leading the Badgers women’s team is three-time OUA champion Michelle Fazzari (59 kg) of Caledonia, Ont. Jocelyn Dresser (82 kg) and Greenbank, Ont. native Debra Jehu (72 kg) look to improve on their silver medals they captured in 2008. Dresser (Tottenham, Ont.) has medalled three times, capturing two silvers and one bronze. Sudbury, Ont. product Celeste Contant Rodrigues (63 kg) will look to add to her bronze medal won last season as a rookie.

The Lakehead Thunderwolves, bridesmaids at the men’s event last season, are hunting for their first ever OUA men’s title. They have plenty of firepower in two-time CIS champion Huy Nguyen (54 kg) of Calgary, Alta. Two-time CIS silver medalist Clayton Serreres (68 kg) of Windsor, Ont. and 2007 OUA gold and CIS bronze medalist Corey Lee (76 kg) of LaSalle, Ont. are also a threat to claim gold.

On the women’s side, Thunderwolves veteran Leah Dougherty (59 kg) of Renfrew, Ont. is a three-time silver medalist, and looks to add gold to her impressive resume. Sophomore Emma Brightwell (82 kg) of Guelph, Ont. is the defending Ontario and Canadian junior champion. Freshman Aislynn Torfason (63 kg) of Winnipeg, Man. claimed gold at the Brock Open and silver at the Ontario senior championship.

For the Western Mustangs, Sam Stewart (51 kg) of London, Ont. has showed great promise as a rookie, winning the Ontario Senior Championships back in November. She hopes to help the Mustangs reclaim the women’s title they won in 2006-07. Stewart will have help from Lesley McCallum (55 kg) of Woodstock, Ont. who is returning from injury. Andrew Ross (68 kg) of London, Ont. and Cory Palmer (130 kg) of Brampton, Ont. will carry the load for Western’s men.

The Toronto Varsity Blues, who last won a wrestling championship of either gender in 1961-62, will pin their hopes on two-time Ontario senior wrestling champion and Bancroft, Ont. product Jessica Fitzgerald (67 kg). First-year wrestler Jennifer Seidel (63 kg) of Ajax, Ont. is the reigning Ontario junior champion and could be on the verge of a distinguished OUA career. On the men’s side, Shujon Mazumder (54 kg) of Toronto, Ont. won the Brock Open earlier this year as he looks for similar results in St. Catharines.

The McMaster Marauders put their medal hopes on Dusan Milakara (72 kg) of Toronto, Ont. and Ryan Blake (68 kg) of Hamilton, Ont. on the men’s side. Female wrestler Caitlyn Goodfellow (63 kg) of Barrie, Ont. is a returning bronze medalist from 2007. The Guelph Gryphons and Queen’s Gaels will also compete in St. Catharines.

The finals of the wrestling championships will be available via webcast courtesy of www.splitdraw.com, beginning at approximately 3 p.m. on Saturday from the Bob Davis Gym inside the Walker Complex at www.splitdraw.com Brock University. Preliminaries begin at 9 a.m.

– OUA –

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