A trio of York University Lions women’s wrestlers reached the podium earlier this month at an Ontario Cup event in Guelph, Ont., where they won gold and silver medals.
Lions wrestlers Bailey Agard, Christelle Lans and Mary Adarkwa all claimed a medal for the squad in an impressive display from the three talented wrestlers. The three podium performances also earned the team first place in the overall standings as they brought home the junior women’s Ontario Cup title.
Lions women’s wrestler Christelle Lans is shown here during a match
Agard led the way for the Lions with a gold medal in the 53kg division. The Lions’ second-year wrestler was dominant in her two victories, beating Ligaya Stinellis of the Hamilton Wrestling Club and Arely Torelas of Team Extreme by scores of 10-0 via technical superiority. The victory over Stinellis was particularly impressive, as she won a silver medal at the Ontario University Athletics (OUA) championships for the McMaster Marauders in February.
Lans (68kg) and Adarkwa (72kg) both went 1-1 on the weekend to finish with silver medals. Lans was defeated via pin fall at 2:53 in her opening match by independent Elise Daynes, but rebounded to pick up a win over Kesia Lozarda of Team Extreme when she pinned her at 1:13. Adarkwa also lost via pin fall to Leigha Smith of Mariposa at 59 seconds in her first match, but came back to dominate Coralee Allaert of Wrestling New Brunswick by a score of 16-4.
The future looks bright for the Lions women’s wrestling program, as Agard and Adarkwa both had impressive rookie seasons last year and will return for their second campaign with Lions in 2019. Lans is entering her third year with the squad and is already an OUA championship medallist, winning a bronze medal in her rookie season.