Tristina Howse made the most of her first appearance on the national stage at the Canadian cadet wrestling championships in Fredericton, N.B., on the weekend.
She won a silver medal.
Howse, a 16-year-old Grade 10 Prince George secondary student, usually competes in the girls 74- or 75-kilogram weight class provincially but had to move up a division to 80kg in Fredericton because the 75kg category doesn't exist at the national level.
That meant competing against girls who were bigger than her.
Howse defeated Ashley Gravelle of Timmins, Ont., in her first bout, then lost to Serena Woldring of Vancouver's Capilano Wrestling Club.
"Winning silver, I'm pretty proud of myself," said Howse. "It was a hard competition. Against Ashley, we went for a couple of seconds and then I eventually pinned her. Serena is the provincial champion in B.C. and I was really nervous. I hadn't fought her before. The first round was pretty even and we were both being aggressive. In the second round she caught me and threw me and pinned me for gold."
Howse won gold in her 75kg division at the north central high school zone championships in February, where she was selected the most outstanding female wrestler in the north. She finished a personal-best fourth at provincials in Abbotsford in late-February.
After provincials, Howse, who has competed in wrestling for three years, put out a call to the community on a crowd funding page to help her get to New Brunswick for nationals. Northland Hyundai got word of her plight and stepped up to sponsor Howse not only for the national meet, but for the remainder of her high school career.
Howse returned to Prince George Monday night and will now focus on preparing for the Western Canada Summer Games trials in Burnaby next month.
She hopes to make Team B.C., which will compete at the Western Canada Summer Games in Wood Buffalo (Fort McMurray), Aug. 7-18.
