Three Northwestern wrestlers attended the OFSAA Wrestling Championships in Tillsonburg last weekend, where every weight class had the 32 top wrestlers from across Ontario.

In Michelle Jackson’s first match in the 57.5 kg. weight class, she  wrestled Alexandra MacKenzie from Thunder Bay. Michelle lost a close two-round decision of 6-0 and 5-4.

This moved Michelle to the consolation round where she met Rene Carelse-Turner, a very experienced wrestler from Turner Fenton in Brampton and lost on a pin.  

This eliminated Michelle from further competition but valuable experience gained and she will be back next year.

At 83 kg., Dennis Tinning wrestled his first match against Mike Saunders from Smiths Falls. Dennis lost the first round 4-0 and was pinned in the second round.  

This moved Dennis to the consolation round where he advanced on a default injury to his opponent.  In the second round of consolation he faced Jendiayi McBean from Brampton.

Dennis lost a close decision on round scores of 4-3 and 5-2, eliminating him from the competition.

At 44 kg., Dylan MacDonald wrestled Sam Stewart  from Peterborough. In the first round Dylan won 5-0 and pinned his opponent in the second round.

This advanced Dylan in the championship round where he faced Chris Morrowe from Toronto.

In the first round, Dylan won 8-0, and he pinned his opponent in the second round.  

This advanced Dylan to the quarter-finals in the championship round.

His next opponent was last year’s OFSAA gold medalist, Patrick Sobchuk, from St. Catharines. Dylan won the first round 1-0.

In the second round Dylan lost on a score of 2-0. In the third round, he was winning with seven seconds to go and was caught and lost 2-1 decision.

Instead of going to the semi-finals with the loss, he went to the consolation side of the draw.

In his first match in consolation, he met Reed Nicholson from Brampton. Dylan lost the first round 5-1. In the second round, he won 3-1. In the third and final round, Dylan pinned Nicholson for the win.  

Advancing in consolation, Dylan faced Brandon Antonechio from Hamilton and promptly pinned him in the first round. This win advanced Dylan to the top six championships to be held Friday afternoon.  

His first match was for bronze, against John Hatzis, last year’s gold medalist at 41 kg. Dylan lost the first round 6-0 and was caught on a move in the second round and pinned by Hatzig.  

In his final match, Dylan was fighting for fifth against Patrick Sobchuk, last year’s gold medalist at 38 kg., again having lost to him previously in the quarter-finals in the last seven seconds of the match.

Dylan won the first round 2-0, but Sobchuk took the second round 2-1.

In the final round, it was a 0-0 tie and had to go into overtime. In overtime, Dylan lost the clinch flip and had to present a leg for the clinch and was scored on losing the match and placing sixth.

Dylan will be back again next year and is already contemplating the  weight class he will wrestle in.  

Coach Dave Finnie congratulates all three Huskies’ wrestlers, Michelle Jackson, Dennis Tinning and Dylan MacDonald, on their OFSAA wrestling experience.