Burnaby schools had some strong showings at the B.C. high school zone 4 wrestling championships.
Defending provincial girls’ champion St. Thomas More won five weight classes and was a finalist in two others to win the zone aggregate with 69 points over runners-up Centennial and host Port Moody.
Burnaby Central, which has won seven high school provincial banners since 2000, placed second behind Pinetree in aggregate boys’ standings. New Westminster finished right behind Central in third.
STM’s Natalie Nelson won at 64 kilograms, Nicole Depa took top spot at 57kg and Taylor McIntosh placed first at 60kg.
Caileen Corbett, at 40kg, and Amanda Silveri, at plus-90kg, were both unopposed.
Ciara Corbett was a runner-up at 51kg, while Meagan Chow and Gabriela Chow were second and third, respectively, at 43kg.
Juliana Casas, Gabriella Bellini and Dominika Maludzinski also placed in their respective weight classes. Livleen Sidhu was petitioned in at 69kg.
Central’s Mele Viklani topped the girls’ 75kg division, while Sanna Bhayanna was third at 47kg.
Vanna Oropilla and Sara Brinkac also qualified for Central. Burnaby North’s Chelsea Coombes was petitioned in at 51kg.
On the boys’ mats, Central’s Sanan Parshakoori was first at 60kg and Alec Shaw won at 63kg, while Nazeeb Omar and Ansel Hait were winners at 74 and 84kg, respectively.
Aidan Labreche was petitioned in at 41kg, while Faraz Faziahizadeh and Billy Trengrove also qualified.
“All these kids, if they wrestle well, they could place,” said Central coach Gianni Buono.
“We’re a better team than last year, but this year these guys are a blue-collar team and could get into the top six with a good tournament. We could crack the top 10,” Buono added.
New Westminster did well to finish just five points behind Central in third place.
TJ Cordoviz took first at 45kg and Sammy Sidhu won at 66kg, while Justice Champagn was unopposed at 90kg.
David Penalver and Connor Pattison were runners-up at 51 and 84kg, respectively. Hossein Shidfar placed third at 78kg, as did Yanni Angelopoulus at 110kg.
Isaiah James and Logan Charron also qualified for New West.
STM had success at the lighter weight classes with Joel Calica taking first at 48kg and Daniel Alphonso winning at 51kg. Aidan Field and Cristian Costa were second and third, respectively, at 45kg. Stefano Pozzolo was also petitioned in at 51kg. Daniel Sulentic qualified at 60kg.
Burnaby South’s Jim Sidhu is a favourite in the boys’ heavyweight division, while David Awayo, Marcus Awayo and Erik Twinn were all qualifiers at 70-plus kg.
The B.C. high school wrestling championships will be held at the Ag-Rec building in Abbotsford from Feb. 26 to 28.
