Burnaby could one day become a wrestling haven for heavyweights.
Just two years after Burnaby Central Secondary’s Amar Dhesi made history becoming one of the first wrestlers out of Western Canada to earn a full-ride athletic scholarship to an NCAA Division I university program, Burnaby South grappler Jimshir Sidhu has followed suit, committing to South Dakota State for next season.
“It’s really exciting to have that pressure off and know what I’m training for, and to have it out of the way,” said Sidhu in an interview with the NOW last week. “I know where I’m going, what’s expected of me. It takes a lot off your mind.”
Sidhu’s path to South Dakota State began last year at the Pan Am championships in Brazil, where one of the university’s assistant coaches spotted the B.C. high school champion take second-place at the international tournament.
Last month, Sidhu made yet another positive impression on his prospective coaches, capturing third place against a pair of world-ranked wrestlers at one of the biggest national-level competitions in the United States.
Sidhu lost his superheavyweight semifinal match to the eventual champion Osawara Odighizuwa of Oregon by a single two-point takedown, before taking the bronze medal in the consolation match that followed at the FLO Reno World Championships in Nevada.
“It’s one of the toughest tournaments around. I was happy to be able to push through that and do pretty good,” said Sidhu. “(My coaches) were happy I contested it and came top three. They see me as a project they can develop. I see myself the same as well. I know I can get better.”
At nearly 250 pounds, Sidhu is slightly smaller than a lot of the superheavyweight wrestlers he’ll face in his weight class. He uses his interest in Olympic weightlifting to build up the necessary strength and power to go up against his bigger foes.
“(My coaches) know I’m going to get bigger and stronger, but I have the technique behind it, too,” he said.
Sidhu acquired much of that technique through years of practise since first starting out in wrestling as a somewhat reluctant 5-6, 125-pound lightweight coming out of elementary school.
“I was awful when I started but now I’m pretty good. It’s cool to see. I know if I can keep this up I can do great things with the sport,” Sidhu said.
“I’m glad I had to use my technique. I had to learn as a lightweight, a middleweight and as a heavyweight. It helped me develop muscle memory. I feel I can really fit into what they want to mould me into.”
Sidhu breezed through the B.C. high school championships without having a point scored against him to win the gold medal in his senior year.
But the 17-year-old knows what lies ahead at university won’t be anything similar.
First, he will no longer be the big fish in a small pond, and furthermore, the folk-style brand of wrestling employed at American universities – where an aggressor must hold position after making a move – will require a necessary change in tactics.
But even more importantly perhaps is knowing what you’re up against.
“Knowing the guys I’m going to be up against next year, it’s hard to take a day off,” said Sidhu.
“I want to be an NCAA champion. I’m working for that. It’s what I want to achieve. Every year, I’m going to be trying my best to be an NCAA champion.”
But the high school honour roll student also realizes his scholarship is also about academics and thanking those who helped him get this far.
Wrestling, he says, is a sport of perseverance and patience.
“If you get one per cent better every day, you never know. All those effective actions add up. They might not mean much now, but over the course of the year, you get way better,” he said.
