Brock Badgers men’s, women’s wrestling teams sweep national championships | CBC Sports

The Brock Badgers kicked off the 2024 winter U Sports championship season by taking both the men’s and women’s national wrestling titles in Guelph, Ont., on Saturday.

It marks the ninth straight team victory for the men at the U Sports championship, dating back to 2014 with nationals not being held in either 2021 or 2022 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The men earned gold with 83 points, clearing silver medallist Alberta by 21 points and bronze medallist McMaster by 35 points.

Five Badgers finished atop the 10 men’s weight classes, headlined by fifth-year Bobby Narwhal, who won the 72-kilogram weight class for the second straight year by taking down Yann Heymug of Concordia.

Also winning gold for Brock were junior Garette Saunders (61-kg), first-year Nicolae Gandrabura (65-kg), third-year Callum Knox (100-kg) and sophomore Roger Li (125-kg).

The men’s team has now accumulated 22 national titles — 14 more than Concordia’s second-best total of eight — and will have a chance to match its best-ever championship streak of 10 next year.

The Saskatchewan Huskies finished just behind Alberta with 55 points to claim bronze.

Last year’s Female Most Outstanding Wrestler of the Year Mia Friesen earned one of three gold medals for the Badgers women’s wrestlers across 10 different weight classes.

Third-year Brianna Fraser also collected her second straight national title in the 83-kg class, while freshman Francesca Lo Greco topped the podium in the 50-kg category.

The Brock women’s team now sits at 11 overall titles, five more than Simon Fraser, which has the second most.

53-kg women’s gold medallist Serena Di Benedetto and 68-kg men’s champion Gregor McNeil — both of McMaster — were named the women’s and men’s Most Outstanding Wrestler of the Year, respectively.