If Kaiden Snider ever becomes an Olympic wrestler, he'll have Carol Huynh to thank.
Four years ago when he was 12, Snider's mother suggested he take up wrestling because his grandfather, Bruce Johnson, used to coach Huynh when she was a kid in Hazelton, long before she went on to become a the two-time Olympic medalist.
If his results Saturday at PGSS gym are any indication, Snider was wise to follow his mom's advice. The 16-year-old went undefeated in four matches to win the 63-kilogram weight class.
"It feels great to win it, I was nervous at the beginning but I got more confident as it went on," said Snider, who said his toughest match was against his PGSS teammate, Jaiden Michalchuk, who came close to beating him.
Snider has yet to lock up a top-four finish at the provincial level needed to qualify for national competition but he's convinced that drought will come to end this season at the B.C. high school championships in Abbotsford. He's been working hard to learn tactics from new PGSS coach Cris Monetta, a former college athlete at Simon Fraser University, and so far it's working for Snider.
"He's taught me a lot of stuff, he's really helped me improve my wrestling stance and that's the most important part of it," Snider said. "My willingness to work hard is my strength."
Monetta has taken over the PGSS coaching reins this season from Louie Van Grootel. Van Grootel coached the team for 20 years and has the returning Polar wrestlers well-schooled in the fundamentals. PGSS finished second to Nechako Valley in the team standings.
"They've been working hard all week and these guys just keep getting better and it was a great measuring stick to where we are," said Monetta. "It was great to see everybody come out with a lot of confidence. We know it's early in the season and this is where we want to make our mistakes and try things that are outside of our bread and butter and keep building from here."
