SUMMERSIDE, P.E.I. — Two Summerside wrestlers have taken a big step towards realizing their Olympic dreams.
Hannah Taylor and Ligrit Sadiku, both graduates of Three Oaks Senior High School and members of the Brock University wrestling team, recently qualified for the Canadian Wrestling Trials after Taylor won a gold medal in the 57-kilogram weight class at the Canadian senior championships in Saskatoon, Sask., and Sadiku earned a bronze medal in the same weight category on the men’s side.
“The Olympic trials are next December, and will be hosted in St. Catharines, Ont., which is where I am located now training and going to school,” explained Taylor, who will go in as the No. 1 seed. “This will be my first time competing at the Olympic trials.
“The person who wins obviously gets to go to the (2020) Olympics. It’s pretty crazy to even think about being 20 years old and competing at that level.
“I know I am capable of winning the Olympic trials after nationals. It’s pretty exciting knowing this is what I have ahead of me.”
Click here for story on Hannah Taylor named Wrestling Canada's junior female athlete of the year:
The 22-year-old Sadiku is also excited about the opportunity, and he admits he is farther ahead than he anticipated at this point.
“I am also hoping to be able to contend for the 2024 Olympics, too, because wrestlers usually peak later around mid-20s,” said Sadiku. “I am young, but I definitely have a good chance at making the Olympics. I am up there with those guys.
“If I keep training hard this summer, wrestle hard at the Olympic Trials, I think I can do it.”
Although Sadiku claimed bronze at the nationals, he moved up in seeding.
“I got bronze, but wrestled for true second and I won that, and I’m the second-seeded now,” said Sadiku, who went on to explain what “true second” means: “The guy who I lost to ended up losing to his opponent next. I got bronze and since I never lost to the guy who got silver, I get to challenge him for true second.
Sadiku won that match via forfeit. As a result, he will enter the Olympic qualifying event as the second seed.
Click here for story on Hannah Taylor and Ligrit Sadiku win gold medals at U Sports championships:
Pan American championships
The first-place finish by Taylor at nationals also secured her a berth on Canada’s senior team for the Pan American championships in Argentina. Taylor is scheduled to compete on April 20.
Sadiku could also compete at the Pan American championships. If the gold-medal winner decides not to participate, Sadiku, based on his true second finish, is next in line to go.
Overall, Sadiku went 5-1 at the nationals.
“I’m happy with it,” he added. “I did well, wrestled really, really hard and had a really close match in my quarter-final. A small mistake had me not winning, so then I had to go on the other side (of the draw) and make my way up to bronze.
“I actually met the same guy I lost to in the bronze-medal match, and beat him 10-0.”
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Results
Results for Summerside wrestlers at Canadian senior championships:
Hannah Taylor
57-Kilogram Female Class
Round 1 – defeated Julie Steffler (London Western Wrestling Club), 6-1.
Round 2 – defeated Tianna Kennett (Dinos Wrestling, Calgary), 2-1.
Round 3 – defeated Emily Shaeffer (Brock Wrestling Club), 12-2.
Ligrit Sadiku
57-Kilogram Male Class
Round 1 – defeated Josh Malu (Ontario, independent affiliation), 10-0 by technical superiority.
Round 2 – lost to Aso Palani (Burnaby Mountain Wrestling Club) 6-6. Palani won because he score the last point due to tiebreaking criteria.
Round 3 – defeated Golden Mosonza (Regina Midwest Wrestling Club), 10-0.
Round 4 – defeated Charlottetown native Trevor Banks (Montreal Wrestling Club), 10-0.
Round 5 – defeated Alex Moher (Brock Wrestling Club), 3-0.
Round 6 – defeated Aso Palani 10-0 by technical superiority in bronze-medal match.
