Huskie Men Finish Third, Women Fourth at Golden Bear Invitational

EDMONTON, Alta. - The University of Saskatchewan (USask) wrestling teams were on the road this past weekend in Edmonton, taking on the University of Alberta in the Golden Bear duals Friday (Jan. 10) before competing in the Golden Bear Invitational on Saturday (Jan. 11).

Friday night at the Saville Sports Centre, the Huskie men and women faced off with the Golden Bears and Pandas in a duals event, the first for the Dogs since hosting the Huskie Duals on November 29. This duals event was not as successful for the visiting Huskies, as the USask teams fell 49-4 (men) and 19-5 (women) to the defending Canada West champions and runner-ups.

Saturday the Huskies then returned to the mats for the Golden Bear Invitational. For the Huskie men, they would see three podium finishes on their way to a third-place finish in the team standings. Meanwhile the women also had a trio of student-athletes reach the podium before finishing fourth as a team.

The host Alberta Golden Bears earned the win with 56 points on the men's side, followed by the Calgary Dinos. On the women's side the Simon Fraser Redleafs earned the top spot with 47 points, followed by the Calgary Dinos in second and Alberta Pandas in third.

Highlights for the Huskies were a gold medal finish from Myah Phillips, who went a perfect 3-0 in the women's 83kg weight class. Taebyn Tulp and Olivia Rose also earned podium finishes, with Tulp earning silver in the 76kg class and Rose bronze in the 90kg class.

For the men, Ashton Bodnarchuk led the way with a silver medal finish in the 65kg weight class, followed by Drake Buechler and Layne Motley who earned bronze in the 61kg and 76kg weight classes.

The Huskies next action comes next Sunday (Jan. 19) when they will travel east to Guelph, Ontario for the Guelph Open.