A gym full of flipping, cart-wheeling bodies on mats is a sure sign there’s a wrestling practice in session.
For the Cochrane Cowboys, the Dec. 1 training session was a little more urgent as they were preparing for the Alberta Winter Games Zone 2 throwdown this weekend (Dec. 8) at Spray Lake Sawmills Family Sports Centre. Zone 2, or Big Country Zone, includes Banff, Canmore, Cochrane, High River, Olds and Drumheller. Wrestlers from Grades 7-9 will be in Cochrane vying for a spot on the Big Country Zone team competing at the 2014 Alberta Winter Games Feb. 6-9 in Banff/Canmore.
“We need to work on our conditioning, for sure,” said James McKeage, a Cowboys wrestling coach overseeing the Dec. 1 training session.
“Our zone is looking very strong. As a zone, our male team looks very strong. Very diverse.”
So, in order for Cochrane’s Cowboys to make the zone team, they’ll have to grapple their way past strong fellow Big Country combatants at the Dec. 8 trials on their home mat.
WORLD’S BEST AT ST. TIM’S
On Dec. 12, St. Timothy High School is hosting a world-class female wrestling event. Top grapplers from France, the U.S. and Canada will be training from 1-2:45 p.m., with exhibition matches going 2:45-3:30 p.m.