Outstanding on the mat

When Amber Jones found out she had won the outstanding wrestler award Wednesday at Carlton Comprehensive High School, all she could do was think of others she thought were more deserving.

"I, for sure, thought Casey (Shearer) or Cam (Oleksyn), or even Joe (Wahlstrom) would get it, because they're much better than I am," she said. "They're much more, just everything - they're better, they're more dedicated, they work a lot harder."

Naturally, Jones also won the award for outstanding female wrestler.

The 16-year-old Grade 10 athlete was the only Crusader to win a provincial wrestling championship on March 14 at Mount Royal Collegiate in Saskatoon.

In her second year of wrestling, Jones also won gold medals at the Redman Classic at Bedford Road in Saskatoon and at Carlton's own meet in Prince Albert.

"She had a few shortcomings during the early part of the year, and towards the middle of the year she started to turn it around and started coming on," said Carlton wrestling coach Kevin Lavallee.

Jones's Cinderella run began at regionals, where she didn't win gold but still managed to qualify for provincials, where she would enter as an underdog.

On the first day of the provincial tournament, she lost to the Regina champion.

"I know the first match I should have beaten her, but I got cocky," Jones said.

The next day she came back with a renewed focus. She beat the Regina champion and the Saskatoon champion, and in the gold-medal match Jones beat Dani Anderson of Yorkton for the first time in three meetings.

Lavallee gave Jones a game plan for taking on Anderson in the final and she stuck to it.

Anderson's offence relies on the gabori - a move similar to a choke hold - and Lavallee went over with Jones how to avoid the dangerous move.

"Rather than a choke, she snaps down on the neck, and she just keeps snapping down," Lavallee said. "As she snaps down, it wears you. It hurts your neck, and then she can take her points from behind. She's also in position to turn to the side and take a half-nelson."

Jones avoided the move and went on to win the gold in the 85-kilogram plus weight class.

Next school year, Jones plans to play for the Carlton senior football team before returning for her third wrestling campaign.

"(The provincial title) will inspire me to work harder and try a lot more, be a little bit more confident," she said.

Other Carlton wrestling award winners Wednesday were Josiah Wahlstrom (outstanding male), Brock Munro (outstanding male rookie) and Tammy Bonneau (outstanding female rookie).

tpruner@paherald.sk.ca