SUMMERSIDE, P.E.I. — Hannah Taylor describes her experience at the Pan American wrestling championships as “kind of bittersweet.”
The 20-year-old from Cornwall, P.E.I., recently captured a silver medal as part of Team Canada’s senior women’s team that competed in Buenos Aires, Argentina.
“I’m happy that I got to the gold-medal match, but obviously I wanted to win,” Taylor told the Journal Pioneer in a phone interview. “I can’t really complain because it was my first (international senior) event.
“I didn’t exactly wrestle my best, but overall it was a pretty neat experience for sure. I am confident I can be successful at the senior level. I’m excited for the rest of my season.”
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Next up for Taylor, a graduate of Three Oaks Senior High School in Summerside, is a “wrestle off” in Toronto on May 15 for a berth on Canada’s team for the world senior championships in Kazakhstan this summer.
Taylor, who is a member of the Brock University wrestling team based in St. Catharines, Ont., will meet Alex Town of York University in a best-of-three.
Dave Collie is one of Taylor’s coaches at Brock University and was with Team Canada in Argentina.
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“This was Hannah’s first senior international tournament,” said Collie. “We are extremely happy with her results and her performance.
“Hannah’s wrestling continues to progress and we are extremely excited to see what the future has in store for her.”
Asked if there is much difference competing at the senior level compared to junior, Taylor replied, “At the senior level the point scoring and matches aren’t usually as high because you have less chances to catch somebody on a mistake.”
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Taylor, who won two of her three matches at the Pan Am championships, was happy with her effort against two-time Olympian Lissette Antes Castillo of Ecuador in the gold-medal match.
“My gold-medal match, even though I didn’t win, was one of my better performances,” assessed Taylor. “I was in there with the top girl and ended up losing 3-3 because I got pinned on a technique I did incorrectly, so that was my mistake that she capitalized on. I can’t really say I’m very upset about the match. I did make a mistake and it cost me, but it was a great learning experience and the next time I try that technique I will execute it better.”
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