Standout in spotlight
Brock head coach Marty Calder enshrined into wrestling hall of fame as two-time Olympian
Marty Calder was in the spotlight, only this time the Brock University head coach didn’t have to share it with one of his wrestlers.
He was the only inductee enshrined in the Wrestling Canada Lutte Hall of Fame’s athletes wing.
Former national member and longtime friend Justin Abdeu had the honour of welcoming the twotime Olympian into the hall at the induction ceremony Saturday night in St. Catharines.
A bit of everything filled Calder’s induction speech. In addition to recounting statistics, the St. Catharines native who now lives in Thorold cracked jokes, recalled memorable moments and even recited poetry.
Mostly he thanked the people in his life who helped him reach his full potential as an athlete.
Calder, a seven-time national champion, represented Canada in men’s freestyle wrestling at the 1992 Olympics in Barcelona and at the Summer Games four years later in Atlanta. He won gold at the 1994 Commonwealth Games, bronze at the 1999 Pan Am Games, placed fifth at 1993 Senior World Championships at seventh at the 1996 Olympics.
At Brock Calder was one of the most-decorated athletes in Badgers history. He won four national champions, helping Brock to is first Canadian team championship, and five provincial champions wrestling at the university level. He was named the school’s top male athlete three times and
Calder, one of the most decorated athletes in Brock Badgers history, was a five-time OUA champion and four-time CIAU champion and first team All-Canadian while leading his team to the first National championship in school history. He went on to win Brock Male Athlete of the Year three times. For his career performance and in 2003 was inducted into the Brock Hall of Fame along with the first national Championship team that he was a part of.
Calder the successful wrestler became a successful coach with both the Brock University and Brock club teams. As a coach and athlete, Calder he been apart of all 24 national and 35 provincial wrestling championships that the Badgers have won in their history.
Saturday night’s induction was among the highlights of the 2017 Wrestling Canada Junior/Senior National Championships which were held in front of a capacity crowd at the Ian Beddis Gymnasium.
Brock’s six senior national titles and three junior national titles was highlighted by Chris McIsaac who captured both junior and senior titles.
Ty Bridgwater claimed home gold at the 74-kilogram junior nationals and Jevon Balfour was named outstanding male senior wrestler after demonstrating technical superiority in the 74-kg final.
Brock rookie Hannah Taylor was named the outstanding junior female wrestler after winning the junior national title Friday night.
On Saturday night, Jessica MacDonald, 53 kg; Michelle Fazzari, 58 kg; Diana Weicker, 55 kg; Olivia Di Bacco, 69 kg; and former Brock wrestler and alum Jasmine Mian, 48 kg; all captured the senior national title in their respective weight classes.
MacDonald was recognized as outstanding female senior wrestler.
Other medallists at the senior nationals were Jessica Brouillette, silver, 63 kg; Jade Parsons, bronze, 53 kg; Hannah Taylor, bronze, 55 kg; and Emily Schaefer, 58 kg.
Shauna Kuebeck settled for silver in junior 72 kg and Larissa Bufalino collected bonze in junior 63 kg.
Established in 1975, the Wrestling Canada Lutte Hall of Fame recognizes outstanding achievement and contribution to Olympic wrestling in or for Canada. Athlete and builder are the categories for membership.
Accompanying Calder in the Class of 2017 was William Hogarth, who was inducted as a builder. He served as team manager for two Olympic Games teams, two senior Pan Am championship teams, as well as two junior and two senior world championships teams.
Hogarth was also the manager for Ontario’s Canada Games team and on three occasions served as provincial team manager for Ontario. He volunteered at the 2015 Pan Am Games held in Toronto and across southern Ontario and at the last year’s Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro.