Warriors come and go, and this transition is most obvious in university sports. The Dinos wrestling team is certainly not immune to this rule, and this year produces a pair of distinguished graduates–Damon Booth and Krista “Killer” Wells. Both have made a name for themselves on the wrestling mat of glory.
Booth, a local high school graduate, has wrestled at the varsity level for four years. During that time, he won two silver medals at the Canadian Interuniversity Sport Championships, a difficult if not Herculean task considering the competition. Booth added various Canada West awards to prove he is a top university wrestler.
“He loved to compete,” described Head Coach Mitch Ostberg. “He wanted to be in competition, so when it came down to the crunch, he performed for us.”
Booth will complete his courses and convocate this coming winter.
As for Wells, she is a first-year education student and transferred from Queens University. Rugby, not wrestling, was her first sport. According to Wells, wrestling was a way for her to keep in shape during rugby’s off-season. But, the bug caught her sometime in her third or fourth year, and she began to wrestle seriously.
“A large part of my reason for coming to Calgary was the wrestling program,” explained Wells. “They have one of the strongest women’s programs in the country, and excellent coaching, and the attitudes of the program as well.”
Her one and only season as a Dino was almost a golden season.
“She’s a very dedicated athlete. She maintains her fitness and strength very successfully on her own and brings intensity to her matches,” Ostberg said, adding that she was leading the final match at this year’s CIS championship before one mistake cost her the gold medal.
Even though wrestlers compete alone, they are still feel like part of a team.
“Just the team atmosphere and knowing that even though it’s an individual sport, it’s still very much a team thing and everyone contributes,” Wells said.
Wells, with her eligibility completed, will now finish her degree here. She will still compete with the U of C wrestling club in hopes of making the senior national team, a major step towards the Olympics.
Wells hopes in the future she will be teaching, while still wrestling.