Haley Walz learned a lot in her first trip to junior nationals.
She made good use of that experience in her second trip. A year ago, Walz made her debut at the Judo Canada Youth Nationals and only won one bout. This year she won a bronze medal.
“It was really good. It was exciting — that I made it on to the podium this year and that I’ve improved from last year,” said Walz.
Walz finished with two wins and a loss to finish third in the under-17 women’s under-70 kilogram division in Lethbridge at the junior nationals.
“She did very well considering she had a very tough draw,” said coach Derek Porter from the Koseikan Judo Club. “She picked up some important wins when she needed to.”
Walz lost her first match by ippon 10-0 to Salima Yamina Mesri from Quebec who ended up finishing second. Walz followed that with a 10-0 win by ippon over Lara Bellon from the Yukon before beating Katrina Dillon from Ontario by a 10-0 score, again by ippon.
Walz was one of five local competitors from the Moose Jaw Koseikan Judo Club who competed in Lethbridge.
Rebecca Hanson lost her two matches. Meanwhile, Adam Langdon won his first match and finished seventh, while Brock Pearson and Eryn Langdon both failed to win a match, but all three were making their national junior debuts.
For more please see Monday’s Times-Herald.
