Photo courtesy: Thomas Skrlj/CFL.ca

The 2026 CFL Invitational Combine took place at the University of Waterloo’s Feridun Hamdullahpur Field House on Friday, bringing together more than 80 under-the-radar prospects from across the country.

An undetermined number of participants are expected to receive promotion to this month’s CFL National Combine following the conclusion of positional drills and one-on-ones. However, unofficial results have already been released showing who performed the best during athletic testing.

Here are the top five finishers at each of the six main events.

Bench Press

1. OL Mahdi Hazime, New Mexico Highlands — 38
T-2. OL Thomas Ta’avili, St. Clair Saints (G) — 29
T-2. DL Marcus Tenney, Laurier — 29
T-2. LB Colin McKellar, Regina — 29
5. LB Anthony Sestanovic, McMaster — 27

Vertical Jump

1. REC Tyriq Quayson, Windsor — 35.5
T-2. DL Steven Kpehe, Queen’s — 35
T-2. LS Orin Schellenberg, Alberta — 35
T-2. REC Colby Ginn, Windsor — 35
T-2. REC Gavin Owen, UBC — 35

Broad Jump

1. REC Gavin Owen, UBC — 10’7 5/8
2. REC Tyriq Quayson, Windsor — 10’4
T-3. REC Colby Ginn, Windsor — 10’1 1/2
T-3. DB Ethan John, Windsor — 10’1 1/2
5. LS Orin Schellenberg, Alberta — 10’0 1/4

Forty-Yard Dash

1. RB Liam Talbot, Windsor — 4.51
2. DB Gianni Green, Guelph — 4.52
T-3. REC Tyriq Quayson, Windsor — 4.54
T-3. LS Orin Schellenberg, Alberta — 4.54
T-5. REC Thomas Desrosier, Sherbrooke — 4.56
T-5. DB Jean-Sebastien Lamothe, Concordia — 4.56

Three-Cone

1. REC Hamilton McMartin, Texas — 6.90
2. REC Zachary Houde, St. FX — 6.96
T-3. LB Olivier Ruest, Laval — 7.01
T-3. DB Jordan Chizda, Calgary — 7.01
5. REC Colby Ginn, Windsor — 7.03

Short Shuttle

1. RB Angel Vital, Laval — 4.13
T-2. DB Jean-Sebastien Lamothe, Concordia — 4.15
T-2. DB Ethan John, Windsor — 4.15
4. REC Hamilton McMartin, Texas — 4.16
5. DB Jordan Chizda, Calgary — 4.19

Full Invitational Combine results can be found here. 3DownNation draft analyst J.C. Abbott provided the following takeaways on social media.

1) Big winner for me is St. FX receiver Zachary Houde. Uber productive in the AUS, but I had mostly written him off after some terrible testing at EW Bowl last year. He improved substantially in every test today while weighing 10 more pounds. Impressive.

2) I will personally be holding Justin Dunk responsible for Guelph listing Gianni Green at six-foot-two when he’s actually five-foot-11. Still has wheels, though.

3) Queen’s Steven Kpehe will get some clout for his explosiveness, but it’s Marcus Tenney from Laurier who was the best overall DL.

4) Spare a thought for the CJFL DBs who had to face 280-pound receiver Daniel Yussuff… That has to be a typo, right?

5) Unsurprisingly, special teams LBs are great at the 40. Solid numbers from Chase Henning, Olivier Ruest, and Josh Connors. Small school NCAA LBs, not so much.

6) Not a prototypical body type, but Alberta’s Orin Schellenberg blowing up the testing as a long snapper will always make me smile.

7) Forget Mahdi Hazime’s bench press, it was Calgary’s Chris Pashula and Waterloo’s Nick Gidaro who made money in the OL group.

8) Bobsleigh Canada needs to call Gavin Owen. Not productive at UBC, but one hell of an athlete.

9) That Windsor strength & conditioning program is no joke. Huge days from RB Liam Talbot, REC Colby Ginn, REC Tyriq Quayson, and DB Ethan John. Will it be enough for any to get drafted? Not sure.

10) Jordan Chizda probably helped himself most in the DB group.

11) Liam Silverson is huge for a FB/TE, but 10 reps on the bench is disappointing. You see that lack of strength show up at times with the Gaels.

The CFL National Combine will take place over three days in Edmonton, Alta., from March 27 to 29. The 2026 CFL Draft is scheduled for Tuesday, April 28, at 7:00 p.m. EST.