Wrestling | 12/4/2024 12:02:00 PM
The York University Lions wrestling team concluded the fall term last weekend at the U of T Open in the final meet before the holiday break
The highlights of the meet for the Lions were a pair of second place finishes. Ali Dahcha's took home the silver medal in the men's 90kg weight class, while Rav Chahal finished second in the men's 125kg category.
Dahcha won each of his first three matches, beating club wrestler Cole Michaelis by fall 3:44 into the opening-round match. He then defeated Omar Al-Lanham of the host Varsity Blues in the quarter-final, winning again by fall, this time 1:58 into the match to advance to the semi-final and guarantee himself a chance to fight for a medal. There, he ousted Jairdan Chopra of the Western Mustangs by technical fall (10-0) to book his ticket to the gold medal bout. While he was beaten by Brock's Yazdan Farokhizad by technical fall (11-1), he captured one of two medals for York on the day and earned 7.0 team points.
Chahal, meanwhile, won his opening round match over Western's Aanu Osunade by fall at the 2:18 mark to advance to the final. He would face Roger Li of the Brock Badgers after Li received a first round bye before downing Osunade in round two. Li then took down Chahal by tech fall (13-0), giving Chahal the silver medal and the Lions another 7.0 team points.
Stephan Niron, who won a medal at the season-opening McMaster Open, finished fifth in the 57kg weight class. After receiving a bye to the quarters, he won by tech fall (10-0) over Josh Bissett of the Guelph Gryphons. Despite losing his next two matches, he finished fifth after McInroy was injured in his fight with Niron.
Lastly, on the women's side, Prabhleen Randhawa finished fourth in the 65kg category. She received a first-round bye, before falling to Jonelle Clarke by a 12-7 decision in the quarterfinals. She bounced back in her first consolation round fight, winning by fall just 28 seconds over Madison Bumbaca of the Guelph Gryphons to advance to the bronze medal match. Randhawa put up a strong fight against Macy Malysiak of the McMaster Marauders, losing by fall at the 4:10 mark, narrowly missing out on the silver medal and scoring 3.0 team points.
The Lions will open the 2025 calendar year at the Brock Open on Jan. 11.
