The Alberni Armada Boys Wrestling Team won the Vancouver Island Secondary School Wrestling Championships for the 21st consecutive year. It is the 33rd time in the last 37 years the Armada Boys have won the title of Island Champions.
The ADSS boys finished ahead of second place GP Vanier and third place Cowichan Secondary.
The Armada girls finished second behind Cowichan Secondary School.
Individually, 12 wrestlers qualified to represent Alberni District Secondary School at the BC High School Championships from Feb. 15-17 in Langley.
Four Alberni wrestlers claimed the gold medals in their respective weight classes: Seth Price (70 kg), Scott Coulthart (90 kg), Paige Maher (69 kg) and Miranda Barker (90 kg) all went undefeated.
Evan McLeod (45 kg), Duncan McLeod (54 kg) and Kyle Parkar (63 kg) finished with silver medals, while Alex McKenzie (51 kg) and Mason Bodnar (90 kg) rounded out the podium finishes with bronze.
Connor Alexander (fourth at 90 kg), Carter Duperron (sixth at 60 kg), and Duncan Richardson (sixth at 90 kg) competed to finish in the top six. Bobby McKenzie and Kelcie Sam were petitioned into the BC High School Championships based on their past results from the season.
“It was nice to see the boys keep the streak alive,” said head coach John McDonald. “Individually our gold medalists looked sharp and largely went uncontested. The wins are not going to come that easy next weekend.”
ADSS has had a tough year in terms of injury, added McDonald. The team has lost two Grade 12s in Owen Spencer and Anna Frost.
“We need to put that behind us and look ahead,” said McDonald. “The wrestlers we have are going to be ready to compete.”