{"id":86127,"date":"2025-08-21T11:52:21","date_gmt":"2025-08-21T11:52:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/86127\/"},"modified":"2025-08-21T11:52:21","modified_gmt":"2025-08-21T11:52:21","slug":"how-wrestling-at-the-canada-games-makes-these-nwt-teenagers-feel","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/86127\/","title":{"rendered":"How wrestling at the Canada Games makes these NWT teenagers feel"},"content":{"rendered":"

Tessa Nendsa\u2019s brother started all of this. Now, she\u2019s wrestling an Ontario rival three years older than her who reached last year\u2019s national final.<\/p>\n

It is fair to say Nendsa\u2019s debut at the 2025 Canada Games did not last long before Ontario\u2019s Myla Blackshaw won.<\/p>\n

But Nendsa wasn\u2019t put off. By the time Wednesday ended, she had picked up her first victory at this level during a bout against Nunavut.<\/p>\n

Nendsa, 14, began wrestling because her brother took up the sport \u201cand he\u2019s younger than me, so I wasn\u2019t going to let him outdo me.\u201d She also saw its value for self-defence. <\/p>\n

When Nendsa started, she persuaded her friend Emma Pedersen, 15, to tag along. They\u2019re now half of the NWT\u2019s female team at Canada Games, and a bout against Ontario \u2013 a dominant province in this sport \u2013 was their welcome to the national stage in St John\u2019s.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen I learned we were going against Ontario, I was like, \u2018OK, we can do this!\u2019 And then when we told everyone, they were all like, \u2018Oooooh.\u2019 They were scared for us,\u201d said Nendsa.<\/p>\n

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\u201cIt was a hard match, but I\u2019m learning a lot.\u201d<\/p>\n

Alongside Yellowknife athletes Nendsa and Pedersen, the NWT\u2019s team includes Ulukhaktok\u2019s Alison Kuneluk and Gam\u00e8t\u00ec wrestler Hannah Bekale.<\/p>\n

Bekale admitted facing Ontario first was scary.<\/p>\n

\u201cThen I just got out there and I actually did a bridge. Then I got out of a pin, and I was so proud of myself, because I didn\u2019t think I\u2019d be able to but I did it twice,\u201d she said, describing moves in wrestling that allow you to free yourself from an opponent in a better position.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was glad. And I lasted more than, like, 30 seconds, so that was good.\u201d<\/p>\n

The goldfish strategy<\/p>\n

The experience of going up against a much, much stronger rival is not unique to the NWT\u2019s wrestlers. Virtually any of the territory\u2019s athletes at this level has endured something similar.<\/p>\n

The NWT\u2019s female soccer team, for example, has registered 10-0 and 8-0 defeats this week against Quebec and British Columbia respectively. Track athletes and swimmers must contend with southern rivals disappearing into the distance. <\/p>\n

As a result, the territory\u2019s focus is normally on personal bests, the acquisition of experience and the chance to do battle against jurisdictions of a similar size like the Yukon, Nunavut and Prince Edward Island.<\/p>\n

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Not every opponent is an Ontario, and the NWT\u2019s bout against Nunavut on Wednesday afternoon was a much more evenly contested affair.<\/p>\n

After Ontario, Pedersen said she employed a \u201cgoldfish\u201d strategy taught to her by her basketball coach.<\/p>\n

\u201cLike a goldfish, the past is gone. Instantly forget it, look to the next thing,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

For Pedersen, that was a bout against Nunavut\u2019s Cora Ford.<\/p>\n

\"EmmaEmma Pedersen, top, and Cora Ford. Ollie Williams\/Team NT<\/p>\n

\"PedersenPedersen and Ford embrace after their contest. Ollie Williams\/Team NT<\/p>\n

\u201cI became really good friends with Cora over the past few days. So it was kind of like, \u2018I don\u2019t want to face my friend,\u2019 but also it was really exhilarating. Just getting the pin and the moves I practised so hard for was really great,\u201d Pedersen said.<\/p>\n

Nendsa, after her own victory, said: \u201cI feel amazing. That\u2019s my first win at this thing, and I get it was against some friends, but I\u2019m really happy \u2013 and I\u2019m happy that it was with my friends.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Nunavut and NWT teams hugged and chatted after the bout. The territories face similar odds in most of the sports they contest at this level and, when they\u2019re not facing each other, athletes from the North can usually be found taking photos with one another and supporting fellow northerners. <\/p>\n

As Team NT\u2019s soccer players battled BC on Wednesday, for example, a contingent of Yukon athletes with no other reason to be at the venue turned up, strategically positioned themselves next to BC\u2019s loudest fans, and began cheering for the NWT.<\/p>\n

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Fuel to keep going<\/p>\n

At Mount Pearl\u2019s Glacier Arena, the Canada Games wrestling venue, the crowd noise was intense as Pedersen and Nendsa spoke. <\/p>\n

On the neighbouring mat, New Brunswick was the latest team to face Ontario, and the audience was delirious as the Atlantic province \u2013 an underdog in that match-up \u2013 picked up a victory or two.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s really great to see so many supporters, even if they\u2019re not on our team. I just love that there\u2019s so many. I\u2019ve made a lot of friends and I\u2019m honestly really glad to meet other people interested in the same things as me,\u201d said Pedersen.<\/p>\n

\u201cI just find the experience is amazing and it\u2019s going get us ready for next things like Arctics and other competitions,\u201d she added, referring to the Arctic Winter Games, which many of the team contested in Alaska last year and could again attend in Whitehorse next year.<\/p>\n

\"HannahHannah Bekale prepares for a bout against Ontario. Ollie Williams\/Team NT<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m the only T\u0142\u0131\u0328ch\u01eb here and it\u2019s crazy to me, because I didn\u2019t think I\u2019d be doing this,\u201d said Bekale.<\/p>\n

\u201cI feel like, as a T\u0142\u0131\u0328ch\u01eb girl, there\u2019s a lot of anger. But you don\u2019t put it on the wrestling. You just have fun and you challenge yourself.\u201d<\/p>\n

Bekale was planning to leave the sport after this Canada Games adventure. Following a day of experiencing the atmosphere inside the Glacier Arena, she isn\u2019t so sure.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt seemed so much fun. Pin trading, meeting new people, all of it just seemed so exciting. So I kind-of can\u2019t give up wrestling,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

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\u201cIt\u2019s really loud, it\u2019s really exhilarating, and I feel kind-of overwhelmed, but you just go with it,\u201d said Nendsa.<\/p>\n

\u201cI mean, it\u2019s just fuelling you to keep going, and maybe one day have these people cheering for you.\u201d<\/p>\n

Editor\u2019s note:\u00a0The author of this article is also serving as Team NT\u2019s volunteer media liaison for the 2025 Canada Games. Cabin Radio has coverage from St John\u2019s on its website and on the air from 10am-12pm each weekday during the Games.<\/p>\n

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