The

sport Sport pertains to any form of Competition, competitive physical activity or game that aims to use, maintain, or improve physical ability and Skill, skills while providing enjoyment to participants and, in some cases, entertainment to specta ...

wrestling Wrestling is a series of combat sports involving grappling-type techniques such as clinch fighting, throws and takedowns, joint locks, pins and other grappling holds. Wrestling techniques have been incorporated into martial arts, combat ...

has been practiced in Canada for more than a century, with the first

amateur wrestling Amateur wrestling is a variant of wrestling practiced in collegiate, school, or other amateur level competitions. There are two international wrestling styles performed in the Olympic Games: freestyle and Greco-Roman. Both styles are under the ...

championships being held at

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the ancho ...

Argonaut Rowing Club The Argonaut Rowing Club is an amateur rowing club in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The club was founded in 1872. The current junior head coach is Connor Elsdon. In the past, the club fielded teams in ice hockey and football, and the football team c ...

in 1901. The sport continued to grow during the 20th century and by 1969, the Canadian Amateur Wrestling Association was formed. Today the same organization is called Wrestling Canada Lutte, and is the national governing body for Olympic style wrestling in Canada. The organization's purpose is to encourage and develop the widest participation and highest proficiency in Olympic wrestling in Canada.

Canada Summer Games

Wrestling is a sport officially included in the Canada Summer Games program. Initially the program considered wrestling a winter sport and was featured at the first Canada Games in 1967. In 2005, women's freestyle wrestling was added to the program. Wrestling will be a part of the

2022 Canada Summer Games The 2022 Canada Summer Games or informally as Niagara 2022 is the summer season portion of the Canada Games and a multi-sport event for amateur athletes. The games took place from August 6–21, 2022 in the Regional Municipality of Niagara, Niaga ...

, 'Niagara Games', August 6–21, 2022, which will be hosted in the

Niagara Region The Regional Municipality of Niagara, also colloquially known as the Niagara Region or Region of Niagara, is a regional municipality comprising twelve municipalities of Southern Ontario, Canada. The regional seat is in Thorold. It is the southern ...

Ontario Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central Ca ...

, Canada. The wrestling events will take place at the new Canada Games Park. The following Canadian wrestlers have competed in the Canada Summer Games: * Chris Rinke (1979) *

Sunny Dhinsa Sunny Dhinsa (born May 20, 1993) is a Canadian professional wrestler and former amateur wrestler. He is best known for his time with the WWE, where he performed under the ring name Akam. After signing with WWE in 2014, he has since teamed with ...

(2009) *

Justina Di Stasio Justina Di Stasio (born November 22, 1992) is a Canadian wrestler of Italian and Cree descent. Career In 2015, Di Stasio won a gold medal in the 75 kg weight class at the annual Pan American Wrestling Championships. She also won the 2015 Dav ...

(2009) *

Linda Morais Linda Morais (born 31 July 1993) is a wrestler competing for Canada. She won a gold medal in the 59 kg freestyle at the 2019 World Wrestling Championships and a bronze medal in the 60 kg freestyle at the 2016 World Wrestling Champions ...

(2009) *

Michelle Fazzari Michelle Cristina Fazzari (born July 10, 1987) is a Canadian wrestler. She finished in 5th place at the 2014 World Wrestling Championships. She has been ranked number 2 in the world. Three weeks after undergoing knee surgery, Fazzari made her P ...

(2005) *

David Tremblay David Tremblay (born September 18, 1987 in Windsor, Ontario) is a male freestyle wrestler from Canada. In 2011 Tremblay won the gold medal at the Pan American Qualification tournament and thus qualified to compete at the 2012 Summer Olympics. In ...

(2005) * Darthe Capellan (2013)

Notables in Canadian wrestling

Olympic medalists

Aubert Côté Aubert Côté (March 22, 1880 – March 27, 1938) was a Canadian wrestler who competed in the 1908 Summer Olympics. He was born in Montreal in 1880. In 1908, he won the bronze medal in the freestyle bantamweight category. He earned Canada's f ...

–

1908 Summer Olympics The 1908 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the IV Olympiad and also known as London 1908) were an international multi-sport event held in London, England, United Kingdom, from 27 April to 31 October 1908. The 1908 Games were ori ...

bronze medalist at bantamweight in men's freestyle wrestling *

Carol Huynh Carol Huynh (; born 16 November 1980) is a retired Canadian freestyle wrestler. Huynh was the first gold medalist for Canada in women's wrestling and was the first gold medallist for Canada at the 2008 Beijing Olympics. She is also the 2010 C ...

– Two-time Olympic medalist, winning gold in

2008 File:2008 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Lehman Brothers went bankrupt following the Subprime mortgage crisis; Cyclone Nargis killed more than 138,000 in Myanmar; A scene from the opening ceremony of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing; ...

and bronze in

2012 File:2012 Events Collage V3.png, From left, clockwise: The passenger cruise ship Costa Concordia lies capsized after the Costa Concordia disaster; Damage to Casino Pier in Seaside Heights, New Jersey as a result of Hurricane Sandy; People gather ...

in women's freestyle wrestling. Four-time

World In its most general sense, the term "world" refers to the totality of entities, to the whole of reality or to everything that is. The nature of the world has been conceptualized differently in different fields. Some conceptions see the worl ...

medalist in 2000, 2001, 2005 and 2010. * Daniel Igali – 2000 Olympic gold medalist and 1999 World Champion in men's freestyle wrestling * Maurice Letchford –

1928 Summer Olympics The 1928 Summer Olympics ( nl, Olympische Zomerspelen 1928), officially known as the Games of the IX Olympiad ( nl, Spelen van de IXe Olympiade) and commonly known as Amsterdam 1928, was an international multi-sport event that was celebrated from ...

bronze medalist at welterweight in men's freestyle wrestling * Daniel MacDonald –

1932 Summer Olympics The 1932 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the X Olympiad and also known as Los Angeles 1932) were an international multi-sport event held from July 30 to August 14, 1932 in Los Angeles, California, United States. The Games were held duri ...

silver medalist at welterweight in men's freestyle wrestling *

Robert Molle Robert “Bob” Molle (born September 23, 1962) is a Canadian author, speaker and former Olympic freestyle wrestler and professional Canadian Football League (CFL) player. Career Sports career After finishing high school in his hometown ...

– 1984 Olympic silver medalist at 100+ kg in men's freestyle wrestling * Christopher Rinke – 1984 Olympic bronze medalist at 82 kg in men's freestyle wrestling * Joe Schleimer –

1936 Summer Olympics The 1936 Summer Olympics (German: ''Olympische Sommerspiele 1936''), officially known as the Games of the XI Olympiad (German: ''Spiele der XI. Olympiade'') and commonly known as Berlin 1936 or the Nazi Olympics, were an international multi-sp ...

bronze medalist and

1934 British Empire Games The 1934 British Empire Games were the second edition of what is now known as the Commonwealth Games, held in England, from 4–11 August 1934. The host city was London, with the main venue at Wembley Park, although the track cycling events wer ...

gold medalist at welterweight in men's freestyle wrestling *

Guivi Sissaouri Guivi "Gia" Sissaouri ( ka, გივი სისაური, tr, born April 15, 1971) is a Canadian freestyle wrestler who lives and works in Canada. Biography Born in Tbilisi, Georgia, Sissaouri began wrestling at age ten. Sissaouri won the ...

– 2001 World Champion and Olympic silver medalist at

1996 Summer Olympics The 1996 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXVI Olympiad, also known as Atlanta 1996 and commonly referred to as the Centennial Olympic Games) were an international multi-sport event held from July 19 to August 4, 1996, in Atlanta, ...

in men's freestyle wrestling, five total World and Olympic level medals *

Donald Stockton Donald Parker Stockton (22 February 1904 – 16 June 1978) was a Canadian Olympic medalist in freestyle wrestling. He won an Olympic silver medalist at the 1928 Summer Olympics, and also competed at the 1924 and 1932 Summer Olympics. Early ...

–

silver medalist at middleweight in men's freestyle wrestling * Jeff Thue – 1992 Olympic silver medalist and 1991 World bronze medalist at 130 kg in men's freestyle wrestling *

Jim Trifunov James Trifunov (July 18, 1903 – June 27, 1993) was a Canadian freestyle sport wrestler who competed in the 1924 Summer Olympics, in the 1928 Summer Olympics, and in the 1932 Summer Olympics. His parents Mr. and Mrs. Rade Trifun ...

–

bronze medalist and

1930 British Empire Games The 1930 British Empire Games were the inaugural edition of what now is known as the Commonwealth Games, and were held in Hamilton, Ontario, from 16 to 23 August 1930. The games were organized by ''Hamilton Spectator'' sportswriter Bobby Robinso ...

gold medalist at bantamweight in men's freestyle wrestling *

Tonya Verbeek Tonya Lynn Verbeek (born 14 August 1977) is a Canadian freestyle wrestler. Verbeek was the first woman to win a wrestling medal for Canada when she took silver in 2004, she added to that with a bronze at the 2008 Summer Olympics and a second si ...

– Three-time Olympic medalist, winning two silver and a bronze medal at the

2004 2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and its Abolition (by UNESCO). Events January * January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 6 ...

and

Olympics in women's freestyle wrestling. Three-time

medalist in 2005,

2009 File:2009 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The vertical stabilizer of Air France Flight 447 is pulled out from the Atlantic Ocean; Barack Obama becomes the first African American to become President of the United States; 2009 Iran ...

and

2011 File:2011 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: a protester partaking in Occupy Wall Street heralds the beginning of the Occupy movement; protests against Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi, who was killed that October; a young man celebrate ...

. *

Erica Wiebe Erica Elizabeth Wiebe (born June 13, 1989) is a wrestler competing for Canada. She is an Olympic champion in women's 75 kg freestyle, winning gold at the 2016 Summer Olympics. She was the third Canadian champion ever in wrestling at the Oly ...

– 2016 Olympic gold medalist at 75 kg in women's freestyle wrestling

Gallery

Justina Di Stasio at 2015 Pan Am Games.jpg,

Carol Huynh.jpg,

⁣ Bob Molle (2011).jpg,

Linda Morais.JPG,

Jim Trifunov.jpg,

London 2012 Canadian Olympic Female Freestyle Wrestling Team.jpg,

(Verbeek pictured far left)

Popular culture

In 2012, a 45-minute TV movie/documentary was released by Vanwestfilm Productions about the development of women's wrestling in Canada called, ''Wrestling with Attitude''. The film focused on two female Canadian wrestlers in particular – former

Simon Fraser University Simon Fraser University (SFU) is a public research university in British Columbia, Canada, with three campuses, all in Greater Vancouver: Burnaby (main campus), Surrey, and Vancouver. The main Burnaby campus on Burnaby Mountain, located from ...

wrestler

, who begins training with the Calgary Dinos at the

University of Calgary The University of Calgary (U of C or UCalgary) is a public research university located in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. The University of Calgary started in 1944 as the Calgary branch of the University of Alberta, founded in 1908, prior to being ins ...

, and Junior World wrestling champion

Danielle Lappage Danielle Suzanne Lappage (born 24 September 1990) is a wrestler competing for Canada. She won a gold medal in the 63 kg freestyle at the 2014 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow. She finished in 5th place at the 2014 World Wrestling Championships. ...

, originally from

Alberta Alberta ( ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is part of Western Canada and is one of the three prairie provinces. Alberta is bordered by British Columbia to the west, Saskatchewan to the east, the Northwest Ter ...

and was then training at Simon Fraser University in her first year as a senior wrestler.

References

{{Reflist

External links

Wrestling Canada Lutte
(official website)
Trailer for ''Wrestling with Attitude''
a 2012 documentary about the development women's wrestling in Canada. (VanWestFilm Productions on YouTube)