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THUNDER BAY, Ont. – By the slimmest of margins, the University of Calgary Dinos women’s wrestling team is returning home with a U SPORTS team silver medal.

The women’s competition at the 2026 WCL U SPORTS Invitational Championships became a three-team race Saturday, with the Alberta Pandas, Brock Badgers and Calgary combining to send 14 wrestlers into gold-medal bouts.

The team title was decided in the final match at 83 kilograms. Alberta’s Vianne Rouleau pinned Saskatchewan’s Myah Phillips to secure gold in the final moments of their bout and lifted the Pandas to the championship.

Alberta finished with 74 points, just one ahead of Calgary. The Pandas earned two individual gold medals from Rouleau and Victoria Stefanov (50 kg).

“We knew we were in the hunt for a team title, but it didn’t work out this time,” said Dinos head coach Mitch Ostberg. “They fought very hard and gave everything they had. Any given match, Friday or Saturday, if we’d won instead of lost, would have been the difference. It was a very close competition.

“Full credit to the Pandas program. They put a bunch of people in the final and had strong scoring in the middle with a lot of placers.”

Seven Dinos reached the podium Saturday. Gabriela Cross (56 kg) and Annika Fines (62 kg) repeated as national gold medallists. Mackenzie Cayer, Maya Johnston and Elizabeth Latulippe earned silver medals, while Angelina Ellis-Toddington and Clara Smithanik claimed bronze.

After the competition, Fines was named U SPORTS Most Outstanding Women’s Wrestler of the Year. She dominated her Day 1 matches, pinning three opponents and added a 10-0 technical fall victory. In the gold-medal bout, Fines wrestled through the full match and earned a 5-2 decision when time expired.

For Cross, a fifth-year athlete, the victory caps a decorated university career that includes three Canada West team titles, three national individual gold medals and U SPORTS Top 8 Academic All-Canadian honours in 2024-25.

“She has been a performance leader, no doubt,” Ostberg said. “She’s also been that sparkplug and intensity you need in the training room. She’s a bit of the yardstick. New athletes come in and quickly learn how tough university wrestling is when they wrestle her in practice.”

The Dinos men’s team placed sixth overall. Mark Schwichtenberg, a Canada West champion, was Calgary’s top finisher with a fourth-place result at 76 kilograms.

Calgary graduates four current or former U SPORTS medallists this season, but much like a year ago, the program appears well-positioned to remain a contender on the national stage.

“The strength of our program is the effort of the athletes,” Ostberg said. “We’re trying to build a team champion for Calgary, and I think the next generation is ready to go.”

 

Women’s Team Results




POS
TEAM
POINTS


1
Alberta
74


2
Calgary
73


3
Brock
68


4
McMaster
50


5
Saskatchewan
41


6
Western
39


7
Guelph
29


8
Lakehead
23


9
Algoma
18


10
Lethbridge
15


11
Concordia
14


12
Carleton
10


13
Queen’s
9


14
Toronto
6


15
UNB
5

Men’s Team Results




POS
TEAM
POINTS


1
Brock
86


2
McMaster
64


3
Saskatchewan
49


4
Alberta
46


4
Western
46


6
Guelph
40


6
Calgary
40


8
Toronto
23


9
Algoma
20


10
Lakehead
18


11
York
15


12
TMU
8


13
UNB
8


14
Lethbridge
7


15
Concordia
5


16
Carleton
1

Female Outstanding Wrestler of the Year – Annika Fines (Calgary)
Male Outstanding Wrestler of the Year- Lukas Geske (Western)
Female Rookie of the Year – Victoria Stefanov (Alberta)
Male Rookie of the Year  – Chanjot Kang (McMaster)
Female Team Coach of the Year – Owen Dawkins (Alberta)
Male Team Coach of the Year – Marty Calder (Brock)
Female Community Service Award – Iman Zebian (Western)
Male Community Service Award – Donovan Neudorf (Saskatchewan)
Female Fair Play Award – Haley Florell (Lakehead)
Male Fair Play Award – Samuel Awonuga (York)
 



PLACE
NAME
TEAM


50kg




1
Victoria Stefanov
Alberta


2
Emma Chartres
Brock


3
Cyenna Trotman
Western







53kg




1
Serena Di Benedetto
McMaster


2
Maya Johnston
Calgary


3
Sierra Mullin
Saskatchewan







56kg




1
Gabriela Cross
Calgary


2
Francesca Lo Greco
Brock


3
Natasha Ekundayo
Alberta







59kg




1
Macy Malysiak
McMaster


2
Elizabeth Latulippe
Calgary


3
Olivia Mathezer
Brock







62kg




1
Annika Fines
Calgary


2
Mia Friesen
Brock


3
Olivia Lichti
McMaster







65kg




1
Jonelle Clarke
Western


2
Mackenzie Cayer
Calgary


3
Jolie Brisco
Concordia







68kg




1
Vanessa Keefe
Brock


2
Maria Sawiak
Alberta


3
Angelina Ellis-Toddington
Calgary







72kg




1
Cassie Corbett
Brock


2
Aaliyah Hartfelder
Alberta


3
Clara Smithanik
Calgary







76kg




1
Natalie Vecchio
McMaster


2
Haley Florell
Lakehead


3
Jennifer Nwamadi
Western







83kg




1
Vianne Rouleau
Alberta


2
Myah Philips
Saskatchewan


3
Alexia Sherland
Concordia












PLACE
NAME
TEAM


57kg




1
Javier Tonita-Charriez
Brock


2
Brandon Carrillo
Algoma


3
Ben Reid
Alberta







61kg




1
Blayne Helou
McMaster


2
Aiden O’Neill
Brock


3
Yuel
Kebrom







65kg




1
Mason Mastroianni
Brock


2
Donovan Neudorf
Saskatchewan


3
Gianluca Fortino
McMaster







68kg




1
Casey Harkley
Guelph


2
Gabe Blanchette
Brock


3
Dechlan Papadopoulos
TMU







72kg




1
Tyler Barry
Guelph


2
Chayton Valleau
Western


3
Takis Sembaleras
Saskatchewan







76kg




1
Luken Lawson
McMaster


2
Josiah Mayers-Noel
Toronto


3
Eli Fines
Alberta







82kg




1
Lukas Geske
Western


2
Aidan Stevenson
Alberta


3
Austin Brabant
Brock







90kg




1
Yazdan Farokhizad
Brock


2
Thomas Rousseau
Alberta


3
Koen Poirier
UNB







100kg




1
Omogbai Asekohme
McMaster


2
Callum Knox
Brock


3
Matthew Yong
Saskatchewan







125kg




1
Chanjot Kang
McMaster


2
Roger Li
Brock


3
Bjorn Nelson
Alberta

-UC-