Two members of the Saskatchewan Huskies men’s wrestling team won’t be at practice for a while. That’s because they are out of the country, competing for Canada.
Hunter Lee and Logan Sloan will be representing their country in their respective weight classes at the U-23 World Wrestling Championships in Belgrade, Serbia.
“Yeah, I am super excited to be representing Canada,” Sloan said.
“I have been a huge hockey fan my entire life and always cheered on the Flames and Team Canada, so I would always watch Jarome Iginla, go out and represent the Flames and Canada. So I hope to go out and represent the Huskies and make everyone proud.”
It’s been tough for elite athletes to stay in top form over the last year, so for Lee, he had to get creative at the start of the year.
“We had trouble getting on wrestling mats for a while, so I bought a bunch of wrestling mats, me and my roommate, and put them in our living room and trained there,” Lee said.
“I wrestled in a tournament in February which was the second lockdown. I did all my training in there, in my living room, just calling people up. My coaches couldn’t be involved so it was literally running my own practices in my living room.”
And joining Lee, and Sloan, on this European excursion will be their head coach with the Huskies, Daniel Olver.
“It allows me the ability to sharpen their techniques and the conversations that are important, leading into the tournament,” Olver said.
“Especially the day of because I am their personal coach. I know their nuances and their quirks, so it helps create a comfortable environment where you can get out and perform.”
The U-23 world championships run until Nov. 7.