EDITOR NOTE: the story has been updated, with comments and corrections, from the paper edition.
Burnaby’s Sara Brinkac has faced her share of tough tests the past six months – and then some.
The Burnaby Central Grade 12 student has rehabbed from knee surgery and some disappointments to get to a special place in the wrestling world, following her victory at the Canadian Cadet and Juvenile national wrestling championships in Windsor, Ont.
The freestyle grappler topped the 60-kilogram division, defeating Kirti Saxena of Mississauga, Ont., by a 10-9 decision after two grueling rounds. Facing a tough, national team member and a deficit after one round, Brinkac gained the final upper hand with 30 seconds left on a takedown.
"It went right down to the final minute, it was insane," Brinkac told the NOW in a phone interview from Montreal. "I almost got pinned a couple of times and had to fight her off my back."
Although she scored first, Brinkac trailed 4-2 after one round.
"It kind of took me down a peg," she said.
But she battled back -- which if you knew what she has overcome the past six months, there'd be no surprise to hear that she bested Canada's representative at last year's worlds.
She scored what proved to be the winning points in the late stages of the final round, capping a tremendous run at the championships.
Based on her performance, Brinkac was named the Outstanding Juvenile Women’s Wrestler of the tournament.
It was her fourth match of the tournament, which began with a 10-0 technical fall over Reese Fariss, and a 6-4 decision over Deven Goett. She advanced to the final by edging Edmonton’s Sophia Santoro in a 4-4 decision.
It was Saxena who edged out Brinkac last year at the national team trials, providing some extra incentive for the Burnaby wrestler. Add the fact that she was, until recently, rehabbing from knee surgery, and Brinkac made major strides to capture the title. Creating a mental hurdle right before the championship match was the fact that Saxena was announced as the Canadian juvenile wrestler of the year prior to the final.
"It was a little imposing -- (Saxena) finished fifth at the worlds and had pinned me at last year's national team trials," recalled Brinkac. "I was not going to let that get to me.
"I knew from our previous match how tricky a wrestler she is, so I was constantly on alert."
She effectively blocked out all the noise and pain from her knee to emerge victorious.
"It is all thanks to my training," said Brinkac. "I wouldn't be able to do this without my coaches and training partners at Coast (Wrestling Club)... After (the win) I knew all the hard work I put in was to prepare me for those moments."
She had knee surgery in August and virtually spent two months away from the mats. In that time, she gained 11kgs to top out at 71kg.
"It was real, real difficult. Wrestling is already a mentally draining sport but to be away for two months and get back after that long a layoff was extremely tough... I wasn't in the right shape, my knee hurt but I had to keep going, and I went with a strict diet to get back down (to 60kg)."
Getting over the hurdles was a challenge but her coach said everything came together to produce a championship result.
“This is her first national title and it was exactly what she needed,” said Coast head coach Frank Mensah. “The last minute of a match was normally where (Brinkac) had issues, and she was extremely smart and stood her ground.”
Brinkac said her biggest area of improvement has been on the mental side of the sport.
"What I've worked on the most is to wrestle smart and not freak out," she said, referencing the semifinal where Brinkac was handed a late penalty for protecting a lead. At one point, she said that setback, even with a lead in hand, would have seen her become unravelled in the last minute. She conquered it this time around.
"It's all about staying calm and staying in the match."
Graduating from Burnaby Central in a few months, the red-headed grappler is weighing her options, including checking out the universities in Quebec, Edmonton and at home.
The Coast coaching team, which includes Greg Brock, Mitch Dodd, Omid Farahani, Garfield Gairy, Jason Jahani and Jessica Tang, got stellar results across the board, including other gold results from 46kg champion Alexia Seal and 65kg’s Ana Godinez in juvenile, while at the cadet level Tyleen Scaiano, in 46kg, and Victoria Seal, in 52kg.
The latter wrestler was named Most Outstanding Wrestler in the women’s cadet division.
Also medalling were, in juvenile women’s, Joclyn Bhatha, third in 49kg, cadet women’s Khalya MacKilop, third in 65kg, and for the men, juvenile’s Kyle Mills, silver in 50kg, and cadet men’s Christos Katsiamitas, silver in 63kg.
In the national team trials competition, Victoria Seal topped the 52kg, beating Cowichan’s Hannah Tuplan 10-0.
Posting top-four results were, in juvenile, Calista Espinosa, Daniel Chernetski, Sahil Bajwa, and in cadet, Sekou Tatem.
The club’s coaching support includes Bill and Shelley Adair, Mark Magano, Safi Sharar and Andrew Vargas.
