The

sport Sport is a physical activity or game, often Competition, competitive and organization, organized, that maintains or improves physical ability and skills. Sport may provide enjoyment to participants and entertainment to spectators. The numbe ...

wrestling Wrestling is a martial art, combat sport, and form of entertainment that involves grappling with an opponent and striving to obtain a position of advantage through different throws or techniques, within a given ruleset. Wrestling involves di ...

has been practiced in Canada for more than a century, with the first

amateur wrestling Amateur wrestling is a variant of wrestling practiced at Olympic Games, Olympic, Collegiate wrestling, collegiate, Scholastic wrestling, scholastic, and other levels. There are two international wrestling styles performed at the Olympic Games, fr ...

championships being held at

Toronto Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...

Argonaut Rowing Club The Argonaut Rowing Club is an amateur rowing club in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The club was founded in 1872. The current junior head coach is Connor Elsdon. In the past, the club fielded teams in ice hockey and football, and the football team c ...

in 1901. The sport continued to grow during the 20th century and by 1969, the Canadian Amateur Wrestling Association was formed. Today the same organization is called Wrestling Canada Lutte, and is the national governing body for Olympic style wrestling in Canada. The organization's purpose is to encourage and develop the widest participation and highest proficiency in Olympic wrestling in Canada.

Canada Summer Games

Wrestling is a sport officially included in the

Canada Summer Games The Canada Games () is a multi-sport event held every two years, alternating between the Canada Winter Games and the Canada Summer Games. They represent the highest level of national competition for Canadian athletes. Two separate programs are or ...

program. Initially the program considered wrestling a winter sport and was featured at the first

Canada Games The Canada Games () is a multi-sport event held every two years, alternating between the Canada Winter Games and the Canada Summer Games. They represent the highest level of national competition for Canadian athletes. Two separate programs are or ...

in 1967. In 2005, women's freestyle wrestling was added to the program. Wrestling will be a part of the 2022 Canada Summer Games, 'Niagara Games', August 6–21, 2022, which will be hosted in the Niagara Region of

Ontario Ontario is the southernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Located in Central Canada, Ontario is the Population of Canada by province and territory, country's most populous province. As of the 2021 Canadian census, it ...

, Canada. The wrestling events will take place at the new Canada Games Park. The following Canadian wrestlers have competed in the

: * Chris Rinke (1979) * Sunny Dhinsa (2009) *

Justina Di Stasio Justina Di Stasio (born November 22, 1992) is a Canadian wrestler of Italian and Cree descent. Career In 2015, Di Stasio won a gold medal in the 75 kg weight class at the annual Pan American Wrestling Championships. She also won the 2015 Dav ...

(2009) * Linda Morais (2009) *

Michelle Fazzari Michelle Cristina Fazzari (July 10, 1987 – August 30, 2024) was a Canadian wrestler. She finished in 5th place at the 2014 World Wrestling Championships. Her highest career ranking was number 2 in the world. Three weeks after undergoing knee ...

(2005) *

David Tremblay David Tremblay (born September 18, 1987 in Windsor, Ontario) is a Canadian freestyle wrestler. In 2011, Tremblay won the gold medal at the Pan American Qualification tournament and thus qualified to compete at the 2012 Summer Olympics. In 2014, T ...

(2005) *

Darthe Capellan Darthe Capellan (born 27 April 1996) is a Canadian freestyle wrestler. He won one of the bronze medals in the men's 57kg event at the 2022 Commonwealth Games held in Birmingham, England. At the 2019 Pan American Games held in Lima, Peru, he won o ...

(2013)

Notables in Canadian wrestling

Olympic medalists

Aubert Côté Aubert Côté (March 22, 1880 – March 27, 1938) was a Canadian wrestler who competed in the 1908 Summer Olympics. He was born in Montreal in 1880. In 1908, he won the bronze medal in the freestyle bantamweight category. He earned Canada's ...

–

1908 Summer Olympics The 1908 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the IV Olympiad and also known as London 1908) were an international multi-sport event held in London, England, from 27 April to 31 October 1908. The 1908 Games were originally schedu ...

bronze medalist at bantamweight in men's freestyle wrestling * Carol Huynh – Two-time Olympic medalist, winning gold in

2008 2008 was designated as: *International Year of Languages *International Year of Planet Earth *International Year of the Potato *International Year of Sanitation The Great Recession, a worldwide recession which began in 2007, continued throu ...

and bronze in

2012 2012 was designated as: *International Year of Cooperatives *International Year of Sustainable Energy for All Events January *January 4 – The Cicada 3301 internet hunt begins. * January 12 – Peaceful protests begin in the R ...

in women's freestyle wrestling. Four-time

World The world is the totality of entities, the whole of reality, or everything that Existence, exists. The nature of the world has been conceptualized differently in different fields. Some conceptions see the world as unique, while others talk ...

medalist in 2000, 2001, 2005 and 2010. *

Daniel Igali Baraladei Daniel Igali (born February 3, 1974) is a Nigerian-Canadian wrestler. He won Canada's first ever Olympic gold medal in wrestling at the 2000 Summer Olympics and remains Canada's only male Olympic gold medalist in wrestling. Wrestling ...

– 2000 Olympic gold medalist and 1999 World Champion in men's freestyle wrestling *

Maurice Letchford Maurice Letchford (August 27, 1908 – August 15, 1965) was a Canadian wrestler. He was born in Pretoria, South Africa and lived in Montreal, Canada. He was Olympic bronze medalist in freestyle wrestling in 1928, welterweight class, aft ...

–

1928 Summer Olympics The 1928 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the IX Olympiad (), was an international multi-sport event that was celebrated from 28 July to 12 August 1928 in Amsterdam, Netherlands. The city of Amsterdam had previously bid for ...

bronze medalist at welterweight in men's freestyle wrestling * Daniel MacDonald –

1932 Summer Olympics The 1932 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the X Olympiad and also known as Los Angeles 1932) were an international multi-sport event held from July 30 to August 14, 1932, in Los Angeles, California, United States. The Games were held du ...

silver medalist at welterweight in men's freestyle wrestling * Robert Molle – 1984 Olympic silver medalist at 100+ kg in men's freestyle wrestling * Christopher Rinke – 1984 Olympic bronze medalist at 82 kg in men's freestyle wrestling * Joe Schleimer –

1936 Summer Olympics The 1936 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XI Olympiad () and officially branded as Berlin 1936, were an international multi-sport event held from 1 to 16 August 1936 in Berlin, then capital of Nazi Germany. Berlin won the bid to ...

bronze medalist and

1934 British Empire Games The 1934 British Empire Games were the second edition of what is now known as the Commonwealth Games, held in England, from 4–11 August 1934. The host city was London, with the main venue at Wembley Park, although the track cycling events wer ...

gold medalist at welterweight in men's freestyle wrestling *

Guivi Sissaouri Guivi "Gia" Sissaouri ( ka, გივი სისაური, tr, born April 15, 1971) is a Georgian-Canadian former freestyle wrestler. Biography Born in Tbilisi, Georgia, Sissaouri began wrestling at age ten. He would later become a citizen ...

– 2001 World Champion and Olympic silver medalist at

1996 Summer Olympics The 1996 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXVI Olympiad, also known as Atlanta 1996 and commonly referred to as the Centennial Olympic Games) were an international multi-sport event held from July 19 to August 4, 1996, in Atlanta, ...

in men's freestyle wrestling, five total World and Olympic level medals *

Donald Stockton Donald Parker Stockton (22 February 1904 – 16 June 1978) was a Canadian Olympic medalist in freestyle wrestling. He won an Olympic silver medalist at the 1928 Summer Olympics, and also competed at the 1924 and 1932 Summer Olympics. Early ...

–

silver medalist at middleweight in men's freestyle wrestling * Jeff Thue – 1992 Olympic silver medalist and 1991 World bronze medalist at 130 kg in men's freestyle wrestling * Jim Trifunov –

bronze medalist and

1930 British Empire Games The 1930 British Empire Games were the inaugural edition of what is now known as the Commonwealth Games, and was held in Hamilton, Ontario, from 16 to 23 August 1930. The event was organized by '' Hamilton Spectator'' sportswriter Bobby Robinso ...

gold medalist at bantamweight in men's freestyle wrestling * Tonya Verbeek – Three-time Olympic medalist, winning two silver and a bronze medal at the

2004 2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and Its Abolition (by UNESCO). Events January * January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 60 ...

and

Olympics in women's freestyle wrestling. Three-time

medalist in 2005,

2009 2009 was designated as the International Year of Astronomy by the United Nations to coincide with the 400th anniversary of Galileo Galilei's first known astronomical studies with a telescope and the publication of Astronomia Nova by Joha ...

and

2011 The year marked the start of a Arab Spring, series of protests and revolutions throughout the Arab world advocating for democracy, reform, and economic recovery, later leading to the depositions of world leaders in Tunisia, Egypt, and Yemen ...

. *

Erica Wiebe Erica Elizabeth Wiebe (born June 13, 1989) is a Canadian retired wrestler. She won gold at the 2016 Summer Olympics in women's 75 kg freestyle. Wiebe was the third Canadian champion ever in wrestling at the Olympics, and second Canadian woma ...

– 2016 Olympic gold medalist at 75 kg in women's freestyle wrestling

Gallery

Justina Di Stasio at 2015 Pan Am Games.jpg,

Carol Huynh.jpg, Carol Huynh⁣ Bob Molle (2011).jpg, Robert Molle Linda Morais.JPG, Linda Morais Jim Trifunov.jpg, Jim Trifunov London 2012 Canadian Olympic Female Freestyle Wrestling Team.jpg, Tonya Verbeek
(Verbeek pictured far left)

Popular culture

In 2012, a 45-minute TV movie/documentary was released by Vanwestfilm Productions about the development of women's wrestling in Canada called, ''Wrestling with Attitude''. The film focused on two female Canadian wrestlers in particular – former

Simon Fraser University Simon Fraser University (SFU) is a Public university, public research university in British Columbia, Canada. It maintains three campuses in Greater Vancouver, respectively located in Burnaby (main campus), Surrey, British Columbia, Surrey, and ...

wrestler Carol Huynh, who begins training with the

Calgary Dinos The Calgary Dinos are the athletic teams that represent the University of Calgary in Alberta, Canada. They were known as the "Dinosaurs" but usually referred to as the "Dinos" until 1999, when the name was officially shortened. Some of its venues ...

at the

University of Calgary {{Infobox university , name = University of Calgary , image = University of Calgary coat of arms without motto scroll.svg , image_size = 150px , caption = Coat of arms , former ...

, and Junior World wrestling champion

Danielle Lappage Danielle Suzanne Lappage (born 24 September 1990) is a wrestler competing for Canada. She won a gold medal in the 63 kg freestyle at the 2014 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow. She finished in 5th place at the 2014 World Wrestling Championships. ...

, originally from

Alberta Alberta is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province in Canada. It is a part of Western Canada and is one of the three Canadian Prairies, prairie provinces. Alberta is bordered by British Columbia to its west, Saskatchewan to its east, t ...

and was then training at Simon Fraser University in her first year as a senior wrestler.

References

{{Reflist

External links

Wrestling Canada Lutte
(official website)
Trailer for ''Wrestling with Attitude''
a 2012 documentary about the development women's wrestling in Canada. (VanWestFilm Productions on YouTube)