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Bole, Scott, pin down OFSAA bronze
Fourteen local wrestlers on the mats at high school provincial championships
March 6, 2025
By Rob J. Ross
KITCHENER, Ont. - Parkside Stampeders Haevyn Bole and Central Elgin Titans Kendelle Scott took similar paths at OFSAA wrestling this year.
The two local wrestlers both opened the high school provincial championships with wins, before suffering a disappointing loss, testing their resiliency, determination and focus, as their meet was not over.
Bole and Scott responded with dominant wins, before taking their respective bronze medals, Bole in the female 57.5-kilogram division and Scott in the female 83 division, at OFSAA, March 4-5, at the Kitchener Auditorium.
"It was really awesome to win my last match because that didn't happen last year," said Bole, who took a silver medal home last year. "Sometimes bronze is better than second, because you get to end with a win. It's even better because the girl I had lost to, I got to beat."
Bole pinned Shelby Kemp, from Tilbury District, who beat Bole, 10-4, in the third round.
"I made a lot of mistakes. I was too eager to end the match, which made me shoot without setting shots up," said Bole, of the loss. "When I had her in a head and arm, I didn't keep pressure on and she was able to grab my leg. There is lots to work on that I learned from that match."
Bole dominated her next two matches after the loss, winning 10-0 and 12-2, setting up a rematch for the bronze.
Kemp lost to Makinleigh Courtney, of Holy Cross, in the semifinals. Myla Blackshaw of Resurrection won gold defeating Courtney.
After having to retire due to injury in her gold match a year ago, Bole was aiming for a return.
"Disappointing I didn't get to wrestle the first or second place girl," Bole said.
After opening with two wins, Scott lost again to nemesis Andie Watson, of the Medway Cowboys, in the semifinals. Scott lost to Watson in the WOSSAA final two weeks earlier.
"I got in my own head, but I collected myself and had a really good semi match in the consolation," said Scott, who won in 23 seconds, for a spot in the bronze bout.
Mariah Mixon, of Windsor Riverside, almost had Scott, set to pin the Titan athlete, but Scott gutted out a bridge, flipping her opponent to suddenly be in the pin position.
"I was scared and I didn't want to be pinned, but if I didn't stop I still had a chance. I managed to get out of it twice," said Scott. "My coaches said I wrestled my best matches here. The best matches I've wrestled all season."
Scott, 4-1, at this year's event, now has placed third, fourth and fifth, at three OFSAA appearances.
"It's a big moment. She had a strong year," Titans coach Cole Moore said. "She's been trying to push herself to improve off of her past years and to keep excelling. The biggest thing we've noticed this year is her resilience to bounce back. In past years, her mental being had been her downfall. This year, she's really showed poised and not only growing as a wrestler, but a person."
St. Joe's Flourish Nmor finished sixth, with a 3-2 record.
"This was an enjoyable experience. Even the losses were fun. They're very aggressive. I find it thrilling," said Nmor. "(Wrestling) is really nice, really different from running obviously and feels much more electric. I feel that's the word. I really had fun."
Titans Dollan Brown (male 130) and Devon Berehulka (male 64), both finished with 3-2 records.
Parkside's Lily Anderson (female 44) and Coby Scanlan (male 130) both went 2-2.
Going 1-2 were Parkside's Jack Rice (male 44), Eagles Sydney Woodford (female 115), St. Joe's Nikola Vaessen (female 77) and Titan Logan Finzgar (male 51). Gavin Dale (male 54) was winless in two matches.
"Every person who made it to OFSAA are first year wrestlers," said Bole of her Parkside teammates. "That's the most amazing thing and we had a really fun time. Everyone wrestled really well. Over the next couple of years, we're going to have a really strong team."
Around WOSSAA
Seven additional athletes from WOSSAA won medals.
The most active wrestler at OFSAA had to be Spencer Wickens, of London Montcalm. Wickens lost his second match to Julian Rhind of Beaver Brae, then reeled off seven straight wins, including beating Rhind in a rematch, gutting a 7-4 decision in the bronze medal match. Wickens finished 8-1.
Parker Zimmerman, London Oakridge, bronze, male 72; Mitchell Hayward, Tillsonburg Glendale, silver, male 130+; Kendra MacTaggart, London Saunders, bronze; Andie Watson, Medway, silver, female 83; Jameka Campbell, London Banting, female 115+; Emma Blair, London Lucas, bronze, female 115+.
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