WEST’S WRESTLERS CONVERGE ON SASKATOON.
Annie Monteith first got a brief taste of wrestling when she was a Grade 3 student.
Having taken wrestling in gym class that year, she went on to win a mini-city tournament.
Yet it took eight more years before she returned to the sport she now loves.
“I always knew that I kind of liked it, and I’m good at it, but I always had different excuses for myself,” says Monteith, now in her second season with the University of Saskatchewan Huskies and a medal hopeful in the Canada West championship this weekend at the Education Gym.
“In Grade 11, I decided to just go out to one practice, and I did. I caught on to it and really loved it.”
Up until then, sports had never been her thing. She was never overly big — petite, really. Who would have thought that wrestling, of all things, would become her passion?
“Everybody’s always surprised when I say I wrestle,” says Monteith, who competes in the lightest weight class on the women’s side at 48 kilograms.
“It just changed my life in so many aspects, with nutrition and weight training. I started working out. I started liking sports more, watching sports more. It was a gamechanger.”
Monteith is having a solid season. She was named the top female wrestler at the
“WITH EVERY YEAR, I BECOME MORE CONFIDENT THAT I MADE THE RIGHT DECISION IN COMING HERE.”
ANNIE MONTEITH
University of Regina Cougars meet in January. She has won a medal four times this season.
U of S interim head coach Daniel Olver didn’t know too much about Monteith before he took over the reins this season, but he has come to know her aggressive wrestling style and he likes it.
“Every time she goes on the mat, she’s always going after it,” Olver says.
Monteith is also focused on school. The 20-year-old Regina Campbell Collegiate grad hopes to get into the college of medicine.
“I’m really competitive and I also like to think of myself as really dedicated — when I put my mind to something and when I feel I have a goal to reach, I’m really driven towards that, and that really helps me in wrestling,” Monteith says.
“I really didn’t know anybody in Saskatoon when I came. It’s been awesome. With every year, I become more confident that I made the right decision in coming here.”
Olver says Monteith has great potential.
“We’re pretty excited about having her with the program,” he says. “When I see her compete, I’m not surprised but I’m impressed with how she builds off every match. She always wrestles to win. That’s great.”
Monteith will try to kickstart the host Huskies on Friday afternoon at 2 p.m., when she’s the first to hit the mat against the University of Regina Cougars.
“It’s nerve-racking, but hopefully I can get the momentum going and that’ll be the extra push or drive,” Monteith says. “You always want to win. I’ve been training to win, so I’m going to go out and work towards that.”