Tristina Howse is grappling with success once again on the national wrestling stage and this time she's targeting the top spot on the podium at the cadet/juvenile Canadian championships.
The 17-year-old Prince George secondary school student will carry the city's hopes alone in the three-day event, April 15-17 in Calgary.
"I feel more prepared than I did last year, Calgary is not that far and I feel better being close to home," said Howse, who won a silver medal last year in the 80-kilogram cadet girls division at the national championships in Fredericton, N.B.
"I'm going up to juvenile and the girls I wrestled last year aren't going to be in my division, it's going to be older girls (17- and 18-year-olds)."
For the past two seasons, Howse has made it a habit of winning gold medals at wrestling tournaments. She won the 90kg class in Edmonton over 15 others in her weight class. She won gold at the north central zone championships in Williams Lake, Feb. 13 and for the second straight year was chosen the most outstanding wrestler in the zone.
"Tristina has always been tenacious but just her confidence in her own offence is where I've see the biggest improvements in her - she's beginning to trust in her attacks as opposed to just out-grinding girls," said PGSS wrestling coach Cris Monetta.
"It's encouraging she's making that progress. She's always been a gamer but now she's starting to put the technical components together, which is really elevating her game."
Howse was a provincial silver medalist in the 90kg division at the B.C. high school championships Feb. 28 in Abbotsford. She competed up a weight class because there is no provincial 80kg class. But there will be an 80kg division at nationals and Howse has been watching what she eats to make sure she makes weight. Howse won't have to face the 90kg provincial gold medalist, Mayben Crabbe of Uclulet, who Howse said will enter the 90kg class in Calgary.
"Even though it's (Howse's) first year stepping up to the juvenile category she's not far behind, physically, any of the girls who will be in that division," said Monetta. "It's really just trying to get her in the right mindset to compete that weekend, making sure she peaks physically at the right time."
Howse has become diligent about her training and works out in the weight room four days a week, two or three hours each session, sometimes twice a day, and all that heavy lifting has paid off. Her strength and stamina are much improved over last year, as is her wresting technique. Howse is entered in the freestyle and Greco-Roman competitions next week, which means probably five matches a day.
"My cardio is better and with my takedowns I'm not making as many mistakes as I did last year, putting myself out of position," she said. "I think I'm a lot stronger. That doesn't come easy, you have to work for it."
Howse's boyfriend and training partner, Brett Stubbs, 17, also qualified for nationals when he finished fourth at the provincial finals a month ago in Abbotsford. Stubbs wanted to be there competing for national medals in the heavyweight (110kg) division but his coach at Duchess Park thought he had a prior commitment with the Condors football team and didn't enter Stubbs.
"He plays a big part in my training," said Howse. "Everyone on our team doesn't want to wrestle him at practice. He pushes me, he doesn't go easy on me. He helps with my dieting. He wants to bulk up and I want to lose weight."
Howse's regular training partner, Haley Florell of Mackenzie, who finished fourth in 90kg class at the provincial tournament, will be competing as a cadet wrestler in Calgary. Mackenzie's wrestling club folded last year, which meant Florell made frequent trips to Prince George to train.
"I've known Haley since I started wrestling," said Howse, a Mackenzie native who moved to Prince George two years ago. "She's a little younger than me and it's always nice having a familiar face to train with. For last year's last nationals all I had to train with was my coach (Monetta). He's 240 pounds and he's a fantastic wrestler."
Howse also plays rugby at PGSS and has been joining Monetta at the Prince George Gnats men's team's practices. Before wrestling became her priority, she played lacrosse and was with the Prince George Posse midget girls team that competed at the 2013 provincial championship in Coquitlam.
The wrestling nationals will be held at the University of Calgary, where Howse hopes to study nursing, preferably on a scholarship. She's also interested in the welding program at the College of New Caledonia and has applied for the apprenticeship program for her Grade 12 year.
