After hundreds of high school wrestlers competed their hardest at the BC High School Wrestling Provincials atthe Shaw Centre over the weekend, four Salmon Arm Secondary students mounted the podium for their weight classes.

Rohan Kafle finished fifth in the boys 54-kilogram division, Shyanne Matthys was sixth in the girls 75-kilogram class, Carrie Fromme finished fifth amongst the 64-kilogram girls and Elijah Lazar brought home the gold medal in the 41-kilogram boys division.

Matthys, a grade 10 student, said the last of her three matches in the tournament was the most memorable for her because it was long and physically demanding.

“We were like bulls butting heads the entire time,” she said.

Matthys said she definitely plans to return to the team next year.

Fromme, the fifth place finisher in the 64-kilogram weight class, said the provincial tournament was lots of fun and she was happy to see so many people out watching.

She added it was nice to face stiff competition at her own weight class because the Salmon Arm Secondary team doesn’t have a training partner that is an exact match for her.

“Those girls are aggressive and they really want it,” Fromme said about the competitors she faced at provincials.

Fromme is also in Grade 10 and plans to return to the team next year and work on her technique, fitness and speed in hopes of climbing higher up the six-place podium at next year’s provincials.

Kafle finished fifth in the 54-kilogram weight class, in his third appearance at the provincial championships.

Kafle said his greatest technical challenge came in his semifinal match against the reigning provincial champion, but two six-minute-long matches on the second day of the tournament tested him physically.

Salmon Arm wrestling head coach Ray Munsie said Kafle’s weight class is arguably the most competitive in Western Canada.

Kafle placed third at last year’s provincials, wrestling at 48 kilograms.

Kafle is in Grade 11 and says he will return to the team for his last year of high school.

Lazar had the best finish of any Salmon Arm wrestler, winning the 41-kilogram division easily.

Wrestling at 38 kilograms and still a student at Shuswap Middle School, Lazar won a provincial gold medal at last year’s tournament.

“He’s dominant,” said Munsie of the Grade 9 wrestler.

Lazar wrestled against opponents in the 45-kilogram division for most of the season as there is no serious competition for him in the Okanagan at his weight class. Even when wrestling heavier opponents Munsie said only one wrestler was able to beat Lazar.

Lazar will be going to nationals, held in early April in Windsor Ontario, under the tutelage of the B.C. elite coaches. Until he does, he will continue to train three times per week in the weight room and wrestle with Kafle twice a week.

Hosting the tournament was a massive undertaking which brought 408 high school wrestlers to the Shaw Centre; 283 boys in 17 weight classes and 125 girls in 13 weight classes.

Munsie said despite a few hiccups, the response from visiting wrestlers, coaches and spectators to the tournament has been overwhelmingly positive.

“We set the bar high for the rest of the province,” he said.

Munsie praised the volunteers who helped the tournament run smoothly and said Port Alberni, who is hosting provincials next year, plans to copy the registration procedure used over the weekend. He also said he heard stories from visitors complimenting what friendly and welcoming hosts the Salmon Arm community had been.