Swift Current’s Aleah Nickel helped the University of Alberta Pandas win their first team title since 2011 at the 2023 Friends of the World Cup of Wrestling Society U SPORTS Championship in Edmonton.
Nickel won silver in the 63 Kilogram Division. She topped her pool with three straight wins, beginning with an 18 second win over Brock’s Jessica Tillmanns. She added a 57 second win over Saskatchewan’s Angela Aalbers and a 40 second victory over Lakehead’s Erin Clayton.
Nickel lost by decision to Concordia’s Laurence Beauregard in the championship match.
The Pandas team won their second national title in program history, ending the Brock University Badgers run at nine straight. The Pandas finished with 65 points, 14 ahead of the Badgers.
Swift Current’s Sebastian Marchand placed seventh in the 76 Kilogram Division. The University of Saskatchewan Huskies athlete suffered round robin losses to Western’s Patrick Salvador Guzman, New Brunswick’s Koen Poirier, and Brock’s Max Budgey. Marchand rebounded to defeat Alberta’s Eli Fines by fall in 1:41 in his placement match.
The Huskie men placed fourth in the team standings with 46 points. Brock won an eighth consecutive men’s team title with 65 points.
