OFSAA 2011 Article

Another OFSAA silver for young Drury wrestler. The Canadian Champion (Milton): Tuesday, March 8, 2011

For a second straight year, Zack Brady reached the innermost sanctum of Ontario high school wrestling competition.

But when it came time to battle for OFSAA gold, the young E.C. Drury grappler just couldn’t measure up — literally — to his opposition.

Facing a much taller Colin Rodgers of Bethune in the 41-kilogram finals in Sudbury Friday afternoon, 15-year-old Brady was simply unable to execute his bread-and-butter double-leg takedown. As a result, hopes of upgrading last year’s silver were squashed with a decisive two-round loss.

“He was so tall and lanky that I just couldn’t get inside on him,” said the two-time OFSAA silver medalist. “Every time I shot in he just turned out of the way.”

The only Drury wrestler to medal in his first two OFSAA appearances, Brady guaranteed himself a second provincial medal in fairly dramatic fashion, delivering a late go-around point on Bishop Tonnos’ Hamden Mirza in the semifinals to tie the third round 4-4. The final point decides who wins a round, and in this case the match.

“It feels pretty cool to get silver again, but I’d still like gold,” said Brady, who went 3-1 in Sudbury.

With just one senior representative and half of its OFSAA contingent in either Grade 9 or 10, Drury missed out on a team medal for the first time in 14 years. But with three returning wrestlers going 3-2 for top-12 finishes, the Spartans’ future looks awfully bright.

Coming away with winning records were Kierran Smillie (38-kg.), Reed Nicholson (47.5-kg.) and Max Michaelis (64-kg.), as well as graduating senior James Ponton (54-kg.), who lost two matches that were protested. He won the first and lost the second in the dying moments of the round.

Tenth grader Zach Vandervelde (44-kg.) went 1-2 at OFSAA, while rookie Jarrett Steptoe rounded out the Drury team and gained valuable experience in his debut.