Bears wrestling team tops in the West

The University of Alberta Golden Bears wrestling team finished the Canada West Conference championships in Saskatoon with 50 points on Saturday to capture their first title since 2015.

It was their fourth title overall in the past five seasons after winning three-straight conference championships from 2013-15. The University of Saskatchewan Huskies finished second with 46 points and the University of Calgary Dinos wound up third with 44.

On the women’s side, the Pandas wrestling team finished third overall for their second podium finish in three seasons, earning 30 points behind second-place Calgary’s 32 and first-place Saskatchewan’s 36.

Bears coach Owen Dawkins, who also coaches the Pandas, was named coach of the year on the male side, while Alberta’s Marcus Peterson was named the conference’s male wrestler of the year.

PANDA POWER: Fifth-year Pandas outside hitter Meg Casault set the new Canada West kills record Saturday at the Saville Community Sports Centre, earning her 1,255th career conference kill on the way to a straight-sets blanking of the UBC- Okanagan Heat (25-17, 25-19, 25-23).

The previous record was set by ex-Pandas MVP Tawana McLeod (née Wardlaw), who reached 1,254 back in 2006. A native of Edmonton, Casault is part of a perfect 20-0 record the Pandas have put up to sit first overall in Canada West this season. OTHER ACTION: Amy Boucher and Lisa Lloyd scored for Pandas hockey in a 2-1 win over the University of Manitoba Bisons Saturday. The Pandas finished out the regular season with 11 straight conference games .... The men’s hockey Bears fell 2-1 to Manitoba in Saturday’s regular-season finale to finish second in Canada West standings.