As a wrestler, Jordan Marshall has always been a bit of a natural. That explains, at least partially, why he was able to qualify for the Canadian national championships in just his second year in the sport.
Marshall now has four years of grappling experience behind him and is about to compete at nationals for the second time. When he steps onto the mat from April 12-15 in Fredericton, N.B., his goal is to improve considerably upon his eighth-place result in 2010.
"I can't expect first place, naturally, but I would enjoy getting to at least the semis and seeing if I can push it farther," said the 17-year-old Marshall, who will represent B.C. in the 58-kilogram juvenile division.
Marshall, a Grade 12 student at Kelly Road secondary, earned his spot in nationals by placing third at the Western Canadian age class championships in December in Kamloops. Another Prince George athlete, 15-year-old Eric Halsall, fought to gold at westerns in the 63kg cadet class and will also attend the national tournament. More on him later.
Back in 2010, Marshall managed his top-10 finish in a field of more than 20 wrestlers. Of course he trained for those nationals, but perhaps not as hard as he could have.
"It's either you're good at it or you're not, I think," he said. "There are a lot of kids that train harder than I do but just never get to the same level. It takes that natural ability, I suppose."
Whenever Marshall is on the mat, instinct takes over. As a physically powerful wrestler, he is known for putting relentless pressure on his opponents and eventually breaking their will.
"He gives it everything he's got all the time and he's really strong," said Marshall's coach, Clint Pattison. "When I'm not with him, his dad [Shad] is helping him train. He's got a climbing rope set up at his house and when I scrimmage with him, he grabs onto my arm and it feels like he's going to pull it off. I have to really turn on the jets and I've got 30 pounds on him. I wrestled at the World Police and Fire Games two years ago and [Marshall] is like wrestling with a man."
Then there's Halsall, who has a significantly different style.
Halsall, a Grade 10 D.P. Todd student, is one of the top young judo athletes in Canada so, when he's wrestling, his opponents often find themselves on the receiving end of spectacular throws. Halsall is also adept at counter-attacking. In those moments when he finds himself in potential trouble, he has a knack for turning the situation to his advantage in a hurry.
At the Western Canadians, Halsall's opponent in the gold-medal bout, Burnaby's Eric Bauer, fell victim to his varied skills and was pinned in 20 seconds. Most observers expected the heavily-muscled Bauer -- who is also a top offensive lineman in football -- to prevail but that simply didn't happen.
"That felt pretty good," said Halsall, a third-year wrestler. "It was probably my biggest win for wrestling so far. I wasn't too sure [before the match]. I thought I was going to get my butt whooped. He was pretty big."
Halsall has twice attended Canadian championships in judo but will be a first-timer at the wrestling nationals. His goal isn't tied to a final placing.
"I'll just try as hard as I can," he said. "I don't know what to expect, really."
