New Westminster Secondary’s wrestling team gathered momentum heading into next week’s provincial championships in Langley, thanks to a strong result at the Lower Fraser Valleys in Port Moody last week.
Behind gold-medal efforts from Daniel Dordevic, Titgol Jok and Nathan Saenz, the Hyacks placed a close second in the boys’ overall standings, just two points shy of first-place Centennial.
The program, which won the boys provincial wrestling title in 2016 and 2017, has built a strong, larger team after a slight down year.
Dordevic, a Grade 12 student who picked up a bronze at last year’s provincials, defeated St. Thomas More’s C. Peluso in the heavyweight division.
Jok, who primarily played basketball last year while attending Byrne Creek, emerged as the Valley champion in the 84kg division, beating STM’s Luke Perizzolo in the final.
In the 90kg event, Saenz defeated Riverside’s Jason Son.
Adding to New West’s medal tally was Alec Lakusta, who scored silver in the 66kg division, edged only by Heritage Woods’ Devin McCrae. A year ago, Lakusta finished fourth at the provincials.
Kavin Giroux placed third in the boys’ 70kg division, as did Forest Xu in the heavyweight competition.
On the girls side, the Hyacks’ Willow Bayea took gold in the 90kg division, as the lone female athlete registered.
Serena Ring, meanwhile, picked up silver in the 69kg category, falling to Pinetree’s Emily McLane in the final.
Rounding out New West’s results were Andros Dancey, finishing fourth in the 74kg class, Paige Mercier, who placed fourth in the girls’ 64kg division, and Alex Ewin, who placed fifth in the boys 60kg division.
The provincials begin Monday, Feb. 18, with preliminary matches. Consolation and championship matches follow on Tuesday, all at the Langley Events Centre.
