Before every bout, Quinn Clemas likes to make sure he's in the right frame of mind.
It helps him focus on the task at hand - beating the opponent across from him on the mat.
It worked for him Saturday, as he posted a 2-1 record in a best-of-three winner take-all match against Daniel Henry in the U-21 -81-kilogram division to grab gold at the Youth Provincial Judo championships Saturday at the Northern Sport Centre.
The three-day tourney at UNBC featured more than 130 judokas from all 14 clubs in B.C.
"I'm pretty happy right now, I never fought him [Henry who is from Campbell River], before and winning is always great," said Clemas, a 19-year-old judoka who trains at the Prince George Judo Club. "I just wanted to make sure I was in the right head space and follow a routine and go out in the right mindset."
Clemas won the first match, lost the second and rebounded to win the third to take the gold.
He then moved up to the U-21 -100kg division to fight Brendan Bellavance, his 17-year-old sparring partner from the Hart Judo Club.
The pair fought in an exhibition best-of-two match since no one entered Bellavance's division.
"We fight a fair bit, he's bigger and stronger and it's nice to have that advantage that we're both from Prince George," said Clemas.
Clemas, who's just completing his first-year foundation program in heavy duty mechanics at the College of New Caledonia, competed in a tournament in Abbotsford last fall where he won all but one match in his division.
He then moved up to the bigger -90kg division at the Pacific International tourney in Richmond in February.
He didn't fare as well there and is content to stay in the -81kg division as he looks forward to the national championships May 15-18 in Saugenay, Que.
"I had to drop weight for youth provincials and in the long-term I'll stay at this weight for nationals to maintain good, physical condition," said Clemas. "This was a great experience before nationals."
Youth provincials were also good preparation for Clemas' clubmate Kristen Yawney, 16, who competed in the U-18 -73kg division.
She won both of her matches to win gold, then moved up to the U-21 division to fight against a Richmond opponent in two exhibition matches which she lost.
"It was a good tune-up for nationals and it gives you an idea where you're at and where you need to be," said Yawney, a Grade 11 D.P. Todd secondary student. "Fighting people who are older and have a higher rank than me, you still want to do well.
"In U-18, the two other girls are who I regularly compete against. Everybody in the tournament did really well."
Youth provincials was a final selection tournament for Team B.C. that will compete at the national championships next month. The final selection tournament for the 2015 Canada Winter Games is in Abbotsford this fall.
