Travis Cross (born December 1, 1980) is an amateur Canadian freestyle wrestler, who played for the men's light heavyweight category. He qualified for the 84 kg class in men's freestyle wrestling at the

2008 Summer Olympics The 2008 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXIX Olympiad () and also known as Beijing 2008 (), were an international multisport event held from 8 to 24 August 2008, in Beijing, China. A total of 10,942 athletes from 204 Na ...

Beijing } Beijing ( ; ; ), alternatively romanized as Peking ( ), is the capital of the People's Republic of China. It is the center of power and development of the country. Beijing is the world's most populous national capital city, with over 21 ...

by finishing eighth from the

2007 World Wrestling Championships The 2007 World Wrestling Championships were held at the Heydar Aliyev Sports and Concert Complex in Baku, Azerbaijan. The event took place from September 17 to September 23, 2007. Medal table Team ranking Medal summary Men's freestyle Men's ...

in Baku, Azerbaijan. He is also a three-time Canadian national wrestling champion.

Wrestling career

Cross grew up in

Port Alberni Port Alberni () is a city located on Vancouver Island in the province of British Columbia, Canada. The city lies within the Alberni Valley at the head of the Alberni Inlet, Vancouver Island's longest inlet. It is the location of the head offices o ...

British Columbia British Columbia (commonly abbreviated as BC) is the westernmost province of Canada, situated between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains. It has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that include rocky coastlines, sandy beaches, ...

, and started his wrestling career as a seventh grade student at Mount Klitsa Junior High School. He became a two-time high school state wrestling champion, while attending Alberni District Secondary School, and eventually continued his sporting career as a varsity team member at Simon Fraser University. After completing his college diploma, he enrolled in the Justice Institute's Firefighting program to follow his ultimate career goal of firefighting. While pursuing his education, Cross continued his wrestling career by participating in numerous tournaments. He had won two silver medals and claimed three back-to-back titles for his weight division from the national championships. Cross also reached into an international level, when he first competed as a member of national wrestling team at the World Junior Championships in

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

. In 2005, Cross finished twelfth at his first World Championships in

Budapest, Hungary Budapest (, ; ) is the capital and most populous city of Hungary. It is the ninth-largest city in the European Union by population within city limits and the second-largest city on the Danube river; the city has an estimated population of ...

, and achieved an eight-place finish two years later, in Baku, Azerbaijan, where he received an automatic qualifying berth for the

. Cross was also a full-time member at the Burnaby Mountain Wrestling Club in Burnaby, British Columbia, where he had been training for two years with his partner Ivan Diaconu, a seven-time national champion from

Moldova Moldova ( , ; ), officially the Republic of Moldova ( ro, Republica Moldova), is a Landlocked country, landlocked country in Eastern Europe. It is bordered by Romania to the west and Ukraine to the north, east, and south. The List of states ...

, who competed at the

2000 Summer Olympics The 2000 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXVII Olympiad and also known as Sydney 2000 (Dharug: ''Gadigal 2000''), the Millennium Olympic Games or the Games of the New Millennium, was an international multi-sport event held from 1 ...

Sydney Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountain ...

. At the 2008 Summer Olympics, Cross competed for the men's light heavyweight class in freestyle wrestling. He lost the second preliminary round match to Turkey's

Serhat Balcı Serhat Balcı (; born March 15, 1982 in Üsküdar, Istanbul) is a male sport wrestler from Turkey competing in the 96 kg division of freestyle wrestling. The tall athlete is a member of the Sancaktepe Belediye S.K. in Sancaktepe, Istanbul ...

, who was able to score the final point first for each period based on the international wrestling rules. Cross currently works as a firefighter at the local department, and also, resides in Port Alberni, British Columbia, with his wife and former high school sweetheart Melissa, and son Nicholas.

References

External links

FILA ProfileProfile – Canadian Olympic Team
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cross, Travis Canadian male sport wrestlers 1980 births Living people Olympic wrestlers of Canada Wrestlers at the 2008 Summer Olympics Sportspeople from Nanaimo