Impressive showing for wrestlers at South Sask. Open

A strong day for the Moose Jaw Kinsmen Wrestling Club proved the local kids have what it takes to compete with clubs from all over Saskatchewan.
Many of the 140 wrestlers who attended the inaugural South Saskatchewan Open at Vanier Sunday were from the Moose Jaw club, and several of those members won medals.
"Our club really shows up," said club coach and meet organizer Rob Villeneuve. "I'm always pretty proud of the way the kids compete. They always seem to dominate everywhere where they go. It was pretty good for some of the kids who haven't really gone anywhere to compete. They came out and saw they had some skills they actually didn't know they had.
"That's the reason we host these tournaments - to get the exposure and to get those kids who haven't gotten over their fear of leaving Moose Jaw and competing to come out and compete."
A meet like this is a big stepping stone for the younger-level competitors who may not have realized how good they are.
"I'm sure that after seeing they did well today, their parents will realize their kids are at a level that they can compete with kids from the rest of the province, and they'll be ready to move on," said Villeneuve. "We're heading to a tournament in Saskatoon next weekend, and I'm sure some of them that wouldn't have gone to that will be attending just because of the confidence they got from this tournament."
Villeneuve is hoping more older wrestlers attend in future years, and Villeneuve said the Vanier venue was good for their set-up.
In the Freshie age group, Jenna Helland and Danton Hartman finished first in their pools, while Abby Busch and Tony Cushway were in second place. Ryan Stefanovic was in third place.
In the Novice age group Jordan Bryant, Kurtis Busch, T.J. Busch and Devin Kiryk all landed top spots. T.J. Loeppky and Kolby Nant had second place finishes.
In the Pee Wee pools, Cassy Busch and Vicki Busch were in first place, and Adam Helland, Matt Stefanovic and Marisa Hartman finished in second. Wyatt Reid was in third place.
Kayla Busch took top spot in ber Bantam age division, and Keagan Francis and Michael Stefanovic each finished in second place.
Cadet Mitchell Smith was a first place winner, and Juvenile John Lendvoy was also a first-place finisher.
At a tournament in Sidney, Montana on Saturday, Kiryk went 4-0 to win gold in his category. Francis and Nant went 2-2 and won bronze.