Smith College

Feb. 11, 2012 - Regina Leader-Post
By Ian Hamilton

Paul Grebinski was in a lose-win situation Saturday.

The University of Regina Cougars wrestler lost his final match of the Canada West championships at the Centre for Kinesiology, Health and Sport, but did so in such a way that Regina's men's team was able to claim its second straight conference title and the 10th in program history.

"The whole time I was warming up, I kept looking up at the scoreboard," said Grebinski, whose team led the Alberta Golden Bears 1915 in their dual meet entering his 130-kilogram match against Daniel Oloumi.

"If I get pinned, it's five points (for Alberta), so I had to make sure that didn't happen. I just had to wrestle smart and wrestle so that I didn't get pinned.

"I probably could have opened it up a little, but that's the way the points worked out."

Oloumi won the match 3-0, meaning Regina won the dual - its fourth victory in as many outings over the two-day event.

The Cougars won the team title with 45 points, one more than Alberta. The Saskatchewan Huskies (34 points) were third, followed by the Calgary Dinos (20) and Winnipeg Wesmen (three).

On the women's side, Alberta won the championship with 34 points, two more than Saskatchewan. The Cougars (who won two of their four duals) were third with 26 points, followed by Calgary (23) and Winnipeg (six).

In the deciding dual of the men's competition, Regina got wins from Gilbert Musonza (54kg), Steven Schneider (57kg), Gaelan Malloy (68kg) and Connor Malloy (76kg) and held the lead entering the final three matches.

After Alberta's Jason Margo beat the Cougars' Mike Carrier at 82kg and Graeme Forsythe of the Golden Bears defeated Regina's John Lendvoy at 90kg, the Cougars took a fourpoint lead into the 130kg tilt.

Oloumi won 2-0 in the first period and 1-0 in the second, but Grebinski raised his arms in triumph when it was announced that Regina had won the team title.

Grebinski, Oloumi and Saskatchewan's Jacob Phillips all went 3-1 in their weight class during the championship. But because Phillips pinned Oloumi, the U of S wrestler won the gold, Oloumi got the silver (because of his victory over Grebinski) and the Reginan fell to third.

Even so, Cougars head coach Leo McGee said Grebinski did what he had to do.

"He won two matches (Friday) that were really good for morale," McGee said. "He stepped up big time and made a real difference for us. There are kids who are championship wrestlers in the training room but can't get it done under the lights. He got it done ...

"The team championship comes first. Does being second or third (individually) make a difference? Absolutely. But I told these guys, 'You can jump around and high-five guys all you want, but that doesn't necessarily help the team. You've got to defend your seat on the (team) bus.' ''

Regina won medals in nine of the 10 men's weight classes.

Musonza, Schneider and the Malloys claimed golds, Kirk Ackerman (61kg), Mark Ballon (65kg), Carrier and Lendvoy earned silvers, and Grebinski got a bronze.

Since the top three finishers in each weight class advance to the CIS championships Feb. 24-25 in Thunder Bay, Regina will have a large contingent at nationals.

Connor Malloy, who was named the conference's outstanding male wrestler, viewed the team title as a nice way to end his Canada West career. He has a year of eligibility remaining, but hopes to go on an exchange to China next year.

"Our mindset all year was that we were the best team and we should win this," said Malloy, who has won three individual golds and a silver in his four career conference championships. "We worked hard as a team and feel we deserved this."

"It's an individual sport, but we wrestled as a team," added Grebinski. "That's why this is a team of champions."

Jasmine Slinn (48kg) and Lisa McKibben (67kg) won gold and Danielle Anderson (55kg) and Kayla Brodner (72kg) claimed bronze for Regina's women's team. Those four will move on to nationals.

"Third in the conference was a great performance for that team," McGee said. "We had a lot of new faces, but we got a real shot in the arm with the return (this season from medical issues) of Slinn and McKibben.

"I like what's going on there. I like that group."