The drought is over for the Saskatchewan Huskies men’s wrestling team. The dogs captured their first Canada West championship in 30 years over the weekend in Winnipeg.
The men took the crown with 53 points, ending the Alberta Golden Bears run of three straight championships. The Bears came in second with 49 points while the Calgary Dinos clinched bronze.
The team had eight individual podium finishes.
Richard Cux (54 kg), Josh Bodnarchuk (57 kg) and Andrew Johnson (82 kg) led the way with gold medal performances on the mat. Nathan Galan (61 kg), Malcolm Meekins (72 kg) and Noah Bertholet (90 kg) are bringing home silver medals while Liam Graham (100 kg) and Jacob Philips (120 kg) captured bronze.
Bodnarchuk was named the Canada West men’s wrestler of the year.
READ MORE: Huskies’ Bodnarchuk looking to build off stellar rookie campaign
The women wrestlers fell shy of capturing their first ever championship as they were edged out by the defending champions, the Calgary Dinos.
The women were led by gold medal performances by Annie Monteith (48 kg) and Katie Dutchak (51 kg). Georgina Nelthorpe (72 kg) and Kiera Prior (82 kg) captured silver while Alyx Paulson (59 kg) took bronze.
Dutchak was also named the Canada West women’s wrestler of the year.
Dan Olver was named men’s coach of the year and Silke Svenkeson won the women’s community service award.
Both teams advance to the CIS national championships, taking placing Feb. 26-27 at Brock University in St. Catharines, Ont.
Ryan Falherty contributed to this story
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