It’s the end of wrestling in Yorkton, but the club is going out with a bang. The last student competing, Riley Richards, just took the Provincial title for the third year in a row. In 2020, Richards took the title in the 115kg weight class – his second in that class, his first title being in the 90kg class. Yorkton This Week visited the wrestling program at their last practice, held at the Yorkton Martial Arts Training Centre before provincials.
Richards said that it’s a bittersweet moment to see the club fold after having success with it, including the three provincial championships. More than his success in that particular sport, Richards said that wrestling has made him into the athlete he is today.
“It has really been a lifestyle of mine. I’ve been wrestling now for six years, so it’s kind of sad that the club is ending, I will really miss it.”
While Richards was confident going into provincials, he said the nature of the sport means that he wouldn’t take the competition lightly.
“You can never underestimate your opponents. Someone can get that unexpected throw on you and pin you like that. You really have to keep your head on a swivel.”
In terms of his athletic career, which will continue in football after graduation, as Richards has a scholarship with the University of Regina Rams, Richards said that wrestling has given him the right attitude.
“Just the grit you need to have. You have to have that never give up attitude. Wrestling is one of the most physical sports that you can be in. Sometimes you can be wrestling for six minutes against a guy your weight, and you’re tired, and you just need to know how to get through it. That pain you’re feeling in your legs when you’re in your stance, your cardio feeling that you’re gassed. It’s really good in the fact that it teaches you how to overcome adversity.”
Technical coach Austin Hovrisko has been with the program for about three years, and the program has been built around a core group of kids, which has been graduating out of school. He is also leaving, as work has lead him to Regina this year. The result is that there will be no program next year.
In his time with the program wrestlers out of Yorkton have seen a lot of success. Beyond Richards, Kurt Hoffman is also a two-time Provincial champion in greco-Roman. Jordan Stewart is another successful wrestler, though he was sidelined with knee injuries.
While the program had limited practice time, limited facilities and a relatively small number of kids, Hovrisko said that he was surprised by the success that the group had.
“When I started taking them to tournaments I saw how immediately successful they were and it was really kind of impressive to me. I think what it really is attributed to is their dedication, their mental toughness, their physical toughness, that overcomes the lack of experience and technique they have with other wrestlers within their weight class. Then they slowly, throughout the years, got better and better. Actually looking more like wrestlers, more technical, and they’re just for the most part unstoppable. I don’t know if it’s something in the water or it’s just the farm kid thing, but they just come out swinging and then just don’t quit.”
Jason Payne, athletic director with YRHS said that the success of the program comes down to the passion of the community to keep it alive.
“When we had our wrestling coach retire probably 10 years ago, we didn’t have somebody step in who had the knowledge and the technical base to help out. Then, we had a flood and we lost our mats, and they are very expensive to replace. So it’s been awesome to have Paul [Hoffman] and Austin [Hovrisko] step in and help coach these guys up.”
With all of the success the program has seen, why is it so difficult to get students?
Part of the problem is that the program isn’t out of the schools anymore. After the former coach left and flood damaged the high school’s mats, they could no longer operate the wrestling program out of YRHS. Hovrisko believes that if it was in the school, it would have the visibility it needs to attract athletes to the sport.
“It’s shocking because when I first came here I thought it was going to be bigger. I know MMA and cage fighting is really popular nowadays, especially among youth. One of the core principals there is that you’ve gotta know how to wrestle.”
Payne agrees that a coach in the school would be what the program needs to succeed, and that’s something they haven’t had.
“I think having that person who can shoulder tap and get things going that way would be a great starting spot.”
However, Payne notes that without the equipment to safely practice, the school has a challenge.
“Its obviously going to take money which in 2020 is a challenge on a lot of levels for a lot of different community members.”
Hovrisko speculates that the difficulty attracting wrestlers might just be that it’s not a sport that someone is immediately good at.
“It’s a very alien sport. It’s not like you grow up throwing a ball or anything. You’re very clumsy, you’re very awkward when you initially start, and a lot of people don’t like that. They want to have instant success or feel confident right off the start. It’s a credit to these kids, they were very awkward when they first started and they just kept plugging away at it.”
Payne believes that it’s something kids need to learn more about. While they do wrestling in class in grade 9, he does see apprehension in a lot of kids, who haven’t tried it and only know the word wrestling from WWE, which “isn’t related to this at all.”
“I think if we gave it a little bit more of a try it would probably be something that would grow again.”
Richards sees hope for wrestling’s return to the city, and his plan is to be part of it. Richards is about to leave for the University of Regina, and will be studying education. His goal is to come back to Yorkton, and YRHS, as a teacher and bring wrestling back.
Payne believes it’s going to take someone like Richards to revive it, and he believes he’s someone who could bring the sport back in Yorkton.
“I know his dedication and determination,” Payne said.
If there is interest, Hovrisko said that he’s willing to help if anyone wants to revive the program, as while he’s not in Yorkton anymore Regina is not too far out of the way.
