Winnipeg Wesmen want more than just their two front teeth

WINNIPEG – All they want for Christmas is a Wesmen Classic Championship.

One of the longest running university basketball tournaments in Canada is just around the corner and the host Winnipeg Wesmen will be looking to end an eight year championship drought in their own tournament. But the Wesmen enter the holiday break coming off a pair of weekend road losses in Regina and have only a 3-5 record at the unofficial halfway mark.

“We just got off a long bus trip from Regina so I guess right now we’re a little bit fatigued.” Wesmen head coach Mike Raimbault said. “But you know to have a chance to step away from conference play and concentrate on the tournament is really going to be positive for us.”

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The 49th annual Wesmen Classic is once again an eight team field. In addition to the Wesmen, Manitoba Bisons and Brandon Bobcats, the Lakehead Thunderwolves, Acadia Axeman, Nait Ooks, MacEwan Griffins and Lethbridge Pronghorns have also accepted invitations.

“You wanna hope you get a chance to play in the championship game and it’d be really special to have a chance to win one.” Raimbault said. “But at the same time, you know you have to play three games, and you have to play well if you’re going to get there, so to look past your first game might be a little bit foolhardy.”

The Wesmen’s first game is on December 28 against the Ooks.

“It’s an eight team tournament, one of the few left in this country” Wesmen acting Athletic Director Dave Crook said. “And I think it’s been going on so long I think the history of it, it’s just a meeting place for people in the basketball community to come together.”

The Alberta Golden Bears did not come back to defend the championship they won last year. But in the high school portion of the event the Oak Park Raiders have returned to defend their crown with Vincent Massey, Grant Park, John Taylor, Fort Richmond, Garden City, Kildonan East and St. Ignatius all competing. The Junior Varsity Classic kicks off the event with the first games on December 11. Both the high school and university championship games will be played on December 30.