Clark Hoffman, a wrestler from the YRHS that trains with the Yorkton Wrestling Club, travelled to Warman last weekend with the hopes of earning one of four Provincial qualification spots for the upcoming SHSAA Wrestling Provincials at the University of Regina.
But to do so, Hoffman had to go through several other talented wrestlers in the 110 kg weight class who were also looking for one of the four available spots.
“I knew it wasn’t really going to be easy to qualify for Provincials,” Hoffman told Yorkton This Week Monday afternoon during a Yorkton Wrestling Club training session. “There were some good wrestlers there so I knew I had to work hard.”
And work hard he did, easily defeating Weyburn’s Nathan Bradley in the first round in just 54 seconds to advance to the second round where he met Warman’s Jesse Ens.
Things looked good for Hoffman in the Regional ‘A’ side semi-final.
Leading 8-4 it seemed as if Hoffman would cruise to a points victory, however a small miscue allowed Ens to take advantage of Hoffman, resulting in a pin 5:17 into the match. “It was just a stupid mistake right at the end that cost me the match,” offered Hoffman, adding that he should have had his hand raised at the end of the bout. “I definitely could have beaten him by points, I could have probably beaten him by pin too, because there were times when I almost pinned him.
“My coach said that I’m definitely able to beat him.”
The loss sent Hoffman over to the ‘B’ side, meaning he had to defeat Balgonie Greenall’s Jon Treso to at least equal last year’s fourth place finish at Regionals.
Treso put up a good fight early on, however Hoffman’s experience proved vital as the grade 11 athlete from Yorkton managed to turn Treso onto his back 2:20 into the match for the win and a spot at the 2015 SHSAA Provincial wrestling tournament next weekend.
However fourth place wasn’t where Hoffman wanted to finish, but to avoid that he had to once again defeat Bradley, who had also managed to advance to the ‘B’ side final after suffering a first round defeat at the hands of Hoffman earlier in the tournament.
Hoffman once again disposed of Bradley easily, needing just 33 seconds to defeat the Weyburn wrestler to clinch the bronze medal at Regionals.
The final win gave Hoffman an overall record of 3-1 at the Regional tournament and has no doubt fueled his drive for Provincial success. “It gives me a lot of confidence going into Provincials because those are some of the top guys I wrestled so I feel that if I could beat them then I could beat a lot of guys at Provincials,” said Hoffman, continuing, “I hope to do better this year because last year didn’t go so well but I was pretty inexperienced then.
“I feel like I’ve got a lot more experience now and that should enable me to go farther than I did before.”
Hoffman also wants to succeed at Provincials for his fellow high school teammate Russell Eddy, who was unable to compete at Regionals due to illness. “It’s Russell’s final year so I hope that I can do it for him, too,” offered the four year wrestling veteran. “I’m sure he would have loved to go to provincials and I’m sure he could have gone to provincials this year; he’s very capable of doing it because he’s in probably his best condition this year.
“So I feel as if that he’s coming with me as I go to provincials this year.”
Joining Hoffman in the 110 kg Provincial tournament from the rural areas will be Warman wrestlers Brandon McKrimmon and Jesse Ens as well as Weyburn’s Nathan Bradley.
Jordan Tholl (Regina O’Neill), Mackenzie Hawkins (Regina LeBoldus) and Terran Krahenbil (Regina Sheldon Williams) will represent Regina at Provincials while Kelly Sokolofsky (Saskatoon Centennial), Andrew Pocrnic (Saskatoon Marion Graham), Kaydon Martin (Saskatoon Bethlehem) and Tanner Unrau (Saskatoon E.D. Feehan) will represent Saskatoon.
Tholl and Sokolofsky both competed at last year’s Provincials.
