In her last year of high school, Tristina Howse finally has bragging rights.
She's a national wrestling champion.
The 17-year-old senior from Prince George secondary school made quick work of her opponents at the cadet/juvenile Canadian championships in Windsor. Ont., to claim the juvenile girls freestyle 90 kg title Saturday morning.
Before the day ended, another Prince George wrestler joined her at the top of the medal podium.
Zenze Stanley-Jones, a Grade 10 Kelly Road secondary school student who wrestles for Team Goldrush and trains with Howse, struck gold in the cadet girls 90 kg freestyle tournament and also won Sunday's Greco-Roman tournament.
Howse claimed the juvenile title with her second win of the day Saturday, pinning Ontario champion Elinor Brown of Hamilton on her back, 25 seconds into their match.
"It's a super feeling, it feels really good," said Howse, the Greco-Roman silver medalist. "It's four years in the making. I just circled inside and got an underhook and just pushed forward and she flipped on her back."
Howse, in her first match Saturday, pinned Racha El Darzi on Orleans, Ont., just 23 seconds after it began.
"I did a hip toss and I almost got stuck but I had her arm and just circled to one side and pinned her there," said Howse.
Howse celebrated her gold-medal triumph at the University of Windsor gymnasium by jumping into the arms of her PGSS coach, Cris Monetta, who also trains Stanley-Jones.
"It was just my mindset, I just was thinking to myself that this was the last chance to prove I'm supposed to here and prove I am the best," Howse said. "I had so much family that supported me through all of this, so I wanted to give back to them."
Howse has applied to attend the University of Winnipeg next fall. Wesmen head coach Adrian Bruce was in Windsor watching the tournament and congratulated Howse after she won the title.
Stanley-Jones and her Team Goldrush training partner Haley Florell of Mackenzie secondary (cadet girls, 80 kg) both advanced to their freestyle championship matches.
In the final, Stanley-Jones, a 15-year-old first-time competitor at the national championships, won a 6-0 decision over Amanda Silvery of Burnaby in a match that went the distance (two two-minute rounds).
"My heart was racing, my head was pounding, my feet were moving and everything was just go, go, go, and then I stopped - I actually did it. It's been an amazing tournament," said Stanley-Jones.
"She was a really good wrestler, she was six inches taller and it was a really tough match. She's almost six-feet and I'm about five-foot-six and your arms get really tired, really quickly and it's difficult to keep the stamina going throughout the match."
Stanley-Jones led 2-0 after the first round.
"Because she was taller than me she was leaning heavily forward and I would duck under her arms and lock my arms around her waist and kind of trip her forward," said Stanley-Jones. "I'd hang on for dear life as she went down and pop my head out the other side. I took her down three times."
The gold medals for Howse and Stanley-Jones are believed to be the first at nationals for any Prince George athlete since Wes Black of PGSS won the boys 115 kg division in 2009.
Steven Herzig of PGSS was eliminated from the boys 46 kg cadet national team trials competition after losing his four matches Saturday. Herzig, a Grade 11 student, finished fourth in the 46 kg freestyle class on Friday.
Howse, Stanley-Jones and Florell all competed in the Greco-Roman competition on Sunday. Cadet and juveniles were grouped in the same class and Stanley-Jones defeated Howse 5-2 in their match, then beat El Darzi when she disqualified for incurring her third caution of the match. Stanley-Jones was leading the match 6-4 at the time.
"Freestyle was the big one," said Stanley-Jones, before she started the Greco-Roman tournament. "Greco is more of a fun tournament and I'm not too worried about the outcome."
Howse went on to beat El Darzi when she scored a fall to claim the silver medal.
Florell suffered an injury in her 80 kg Greco-Roman match against Teah Angelstad of Saskatoon and was finished sixth in the competition.
