Bronze for Stittsville wrestler
Erica Wiebe rallies from early loss at Universiade
Freestyle wrestler Erica Wiebe of Stittsville claimed a bronze medal in the 72-kilogram division of the 27th Summer Universiade at Kazan, Russia, on Saturday night.
A two-time Canadian Interuniversity Sport champion for the University of Calgary, Wiebe defeated Gozol Zuova of Azerbaijan 4-0 in the bronze-medal match. Earlier on Saturday, she lost 5-0 to Russia’s Ekaterina Bukina in the quarter-finals, but she was able to qualify for the bronze match through the repechage side of the draw.
“This day was awesome,” said Wiebe, who fought only twice on the day after receiving a bye in the first round. “I had Bukina, a former world medallist, and I knew she was going to be really tough. I was heartbroken that I lost, but I knew I was going to come back in the repechage. As soon as my match was over, I refocused and set a goal of leaving with a medal. At the end of those six minutes, I was so happy and relieved to achieve my goal.”
Bukina went on to defeat Brittney Roberts of the United States in the gold-medal final. Galina Levchenko of Bulgaria won the second bronze in that weight class.
Wiebe won gold in the 2011 Commonwealth championships, silver in the 2012 FISU university championships and bronze in the 2013 Pan Am championships, in addition to competing in the junior worlds in both 2008 and 2009. She is also the reigning senior national champion at 72 kilograms.
“To represent Canada and my university at a major games and win my first international medal at a multisport event was a combination of hard work,” Wiebe said. “All the hard work has finally paid off.”
On Sunday, Canada added two medals in swimming and one in wrestling, raising its overall total to 15 (two gold, five silver, eight bronze) with three days of competition remaining.
Katerine Savard of PontRouge, Que., claimed the country’s second gold by setting a Universiade record of 57.63 seconds in the women’s 100-metre butterfly swim final.
Victoria’s Eric Hedlin earned bronze in the men’s 800-metre freestyle. His time of 7:53.78 left him 3.82 seconds behind Kohei Yamamoto of Japan, with Ukraine’s Sergii Frolov second in 7:51.02.
In wrestling, Stacie Anaka of Coquitlam, B.C., defeated Azabaijan’s Natalya Palamarchuk 3-1 to win the bronze medal in the women’s 67-kilogram division.
The country’s first gold was by Kim Hyacinthe of Terrebonne, Que., in the women’s 200-metre sprint.
Meanwhile, the Canadian men’s basketball team defeated Brazil 88-77 in a quarter-final game on Sunday, earning a matchup with host Russia in the semifinals on Monday.