Six athletes on a single team is considered small in the wrestling world, but that number did not matter for Simon Fraser University (SFU) last weekend.
Every member of the Red Leafs' wrestling team landed on the podium at the Alberta Golden Bear Invitational in Edmonton, including a gold on both the women's and men's mats.
Maddie MacKenzie, originally from Calgary, Alta., took the title in her home province in the women's open 50 kg division.
In fact, the Red Leafs swept the medals in that weight class as MacKenzie defeated her own teammates Ivy Threatful (silver) and Gina Bolognese (bronze) to reach the top.
The win secured a back-to-back successful weekends for the junior MacKenzie after claiming the Mat 'Cat Invitational in McMinnville, Ore. on Jan. 7.
She opened with a bye and took out the Calgary Dinos' Liana Such in a 39-second fall before downing Bolognese (10-0 by technical fall) and Threatful (10-4 decision).
Meanwhile, junior Jade Trolland settled for silver in the 59 kg division after finishing with a 2-1 record.
The sixth-ranked NCAA women's wrestler at 136 pounds lost in the final to Waipuilani Estrella-Beauchamp of Providence, the NAIA's No. 2-ranked 136-pound competitor.
Burnaby wrestler Clara Scaglione secured the fifth medal for SFU women's wrestling by winning the third-place match in the 62 kg weight class.
He was the victor of the 125 kg division: he received a bye to the semifinals and pinned Alberta's Bjorn Nelson in a 10-0 tech fall win before needing just 51 seconds to defeat Jordan Tholl to win it all.
Inaugural women's season
The Red Leafs are a founding member of the women's wrestling division in the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference (RMAC).
And they're off to an impressive start as they hold a record of 4-0 in conference competition; 6-1 including non-conference appearances.
The other five schools include Colorado Mesa, Texas Woman's University, Chadron State (Nebraska) and Adams State (Colorado).
Next matches
SFU is on the road to Oregon for its next slate of tournaments, starting at Pacific University today, Jan. 20, before heading to Ashland for bouts with Vanguard (California) and Southern Oregon on Sunday, Jan. 21.
The SFU men are set to host their final home RMAC competitions tonight against Adams State and San Francisco State at West Gym — located at 8888 University Dr. on the Burnaby campus.
