Ilya Woronowski is easy to identify at a wrestling tournament. He’s the one pinning his foe to the mat. And while the fifth-year Blues veteran’s formidable record speaks for itself, Woronowski isn’t afraid to make the point clear.
“I’ve been at the top,” he says. “I’ll be there again.”
Woronowski, the OUA silver medal winner last season, is a contrast to the other team’s standout Louise Chan, who talks softly but carries a big stick.
“I’m just basically trying to add some different type of activity than academic and team,” Chan says modestly. She placed sixth nationally in her first year of wrestling.
Both Woronowski and Chan have set the bar low for now, in part because they are a bit out of practice—Woronowski because of commitments with the football team; Chan because she took a year off to work. But they have a plan.
“Right now my focus is just to prepare myself for February, for OUs, then nationals,” said heavyweight Woronowski at his first tournament.
“The outcome today does not matter.”
Assistant coach Stan Zogas says that students often come to the team without a wrestling background but pick up skills quickly through practice with experienced coaches and team members. Chan is a good example of that, and encourages others to follow her lead.
“I have absolutely no wrestling background and tried it out and enjoyed it,” she said. “I [had] never done an impact sport before, so I decided it was something different to try other than swimming or dancing.”
Woronowski’s back is covered with a remarkably deep roster, including rookie Dean Ringette, who won a recent McMaster tournament. Women’s coaches may be a bit envious, looking to add some depth to a shallow but talented pool of current members.
“We could use a few more numbers,” said Zogas, “but with what we have we’re making the most of it.”
Zogas credits the rising fortunes of the men’s team to a strong contingent of club wrestlers, athletes who are either only part-time students or whose five years of varsity eligibility have expired.
Some of them have experienced success with the Canadian national wrestling team and are now training with the Varsity team.
“The guys who are inexperienced are really getting a lot out of these practices,” said Zogas.
Photograph by Simon Turnbull
