The Lakehead Univ. Thunderwolves wrestling team is staging its first annual Gord Garvie Women's and Men's National Duals Meet this Friday, Dec. 2nd and Saturday Dec. 3rd at the Thunderdome on the Lakehead campus in Thunder Bay, Ontario, Canada. This new event is a combination of Lakehead's annual Women's Championship Cup of Wrestling and Men's National Duals Meet previously held separately. The new Garvie National Duals Meet creates one of the largest varsity wrestling events in North America in the unique and entertaining duals meet format. The Duals meet format means that the event is a team competition where each individual wrestler competes for team points and not for individual golds. Lakehead Co-Head Coach, and event organizer, Francis Clayton said this new event gives varsity teams across Canada and the USA an international competition in the unique and exciting duals format. "It is my hope that these two events will be considered CIS National Duals in the future; a championships to complement the CIS Championships held in March," said Clayton. Afternoon action from both events will be videowebcast live from the Thunderdome on Lakehead ThunderVision beginning at 1:00 pm EST for women and 12:30 pm for men and running to the meets' conclusions at approximately 5:00 pm. To watch all the action; go to www.thunderwolves.ca Click on the ThunderVision logo. You will need hi speed internet and Quick Time Media Player to watch the bouts. This year's women's Championship Cup will feature many Olympians, World and Junior world medalists, senior team members, and national and university national champions from Canada and the USA. The field is made up of host Lakehead Thunderwolves, the Missouri Valley College Orange and Purple teams, the University of the Cumberlands, the Northern Michigan Wildcats USOEC team, the Simon Fraser Clan, the Calgary Dinos, the Saskatchewan Huskies, the Brock Badgers, the Memorial Seahawks and the host Thunderwolves. This field has 7 of the top 10 varsity programs in North America. Women's action begins at 9:00 am Friday with hourly rounds running until the 2:30 finals. The women's meet will be split into two pools of five teams. The event will wrap up at 3:45 with a USA vs. Canada All-Star Duals competition. The men's National Duals team meet will include host Lakehead, Alberta, Brock, Calgary, and McMaster. The meet will be run in a round robin format with 5 hourly rounds beginning at 10:30 am on Saturday. Women's Garvie National Duals Meet Preview: Friday, Dec. 3rd Lakehead Thunderwolves (CIS; Thunder Bay, Ontario. Ranked No. 6 in North America) New Co-Head Coach Owen Dawkins is very happy with the results of his wrestlers from early season meets and thinks wrestling at home will be a great boost for his squad. "I am very pleased with both our men's and women's teams progression thus far this season. The Garvie National Duals will prove to be a great tool for evaluating where we are as a team right now, and for evaluating what we need to work on as a team to be prepared for the National Championships." Wrestlers to watch are Tasha Eady who is ranked No. 5 in North America at 63kg and Katie Patroch who is No. 8 at 59 kg. Eady won a silver medal at the World Junior Championships this past summer while Patroch is a former Commonwealth Championships gold medalist. Melody and Emily McCague are also very strong grapplers for the Wolves. Lakehead Roster: 48kg Michelle Gorrie 51kg Sara Silva , Jessica George 55kg Alexandra Demars, Sara Swan 59kg Katie Patroch , Leah Dougherty 63kg Tasha Eddy 67kg Melody McCague 72kg Emily McCague University of The Cumberlands (NAIA: Kentucky, No. 1 in North America) Head Coach Kip Flanik brings the powerhouse of North American collegiate wrestling to Thunder Bay; a team that is ranked No. 1 on the continent. This squad is full of Top 10 ranked wrestlers, US national champs, world medalists, university games medalists, Pan American Games medalists; Cumberland is the favourite to take the team title at the Garvie National Duals. Flanik said his team loves to wrestle at the Championship Cup. "If there is one tournament I look forward to more than the US Senior Nationals, it is the Lakehead duals. Coach Clayton and Coach Dawkins have put together the best women's dual meet tournament in North America and we feel honored to be able to compete with the best in Canada as well as from the USA. This tournament will have Olympians, Senior world team members, Junior world team members, University world team members, National team members, CIS champions, US National champions, etc; so the level of wrestling will be fantastic. We eagerly look forward to this test." The Cumberlands Roster 48kg Jessica Medina; No. 6 ranked in North America, 4th at 2005 Sunkist, 2005 McMaster Open Champion at 51kg 48kg Melissa Girard; Junior world team member, 2005 McMaster Open champion 48kg Deseree Cazares 51kg Warry Woodard; 2005 McMaster runner up 51k Rikki Giles 55kg Tara Williams; No. 7 ranked in North America 55kg Jessica Jauck 59kg Othella Lucas; No. 3 ranked in North America, 2005 Sunkist champion, 2nd McMaster Open 59kg Krystal Kiyuna 63kg Alaina Berube; No. 1 ranked in North America, 2005 National champion, 2005 University world bronze medalist,2005 Sunkist runner up, 2004 Dave Schultz champion, 2004 Olympic alternate,National team member 63kg Krisha Childres 67kg Heather Martin; No. 1 ranked in North America, 2005 Junior world silver medalist, National team member, Pan Am silver medalist, 2005 McMaster Open co champ. 67kg Shelly Ruberg; No. 6 ranked in North America, 2005 McMaster co champ 72kg Toccara Montgomery; No. 1 ranked in North American, 2004 Olympian, 2x Senior world silver medalist, 2x Junior world silver medalist, 5x national champion 72kg Tabetha Golt; No. 3 ranked in North America, 2005 McMaster Open champion 82kg Theresa Fennell Simon Fraser University Clan (CIS; Vancouver, B.C. No. 2 in North America) Simon Fraser is the powerhouse of Canadian varsity women's wrestling and Head Coach Mike Jones will be bringing a formidable team to the National Duals. Jones said he can't wait to see his squad go at it in the exciting Duals action. Even though we are under considerable financial pressure this year, we think that this type of event is the future of wrestling in Canada and that it is important that we be in attendance. It has been an excellent showcase for wrestling the past two years and earned the support and respect by being a well run event. Our roster can change quite a bit but we will have a full team." Simon Fraser Roster: Ashley McKilligan 44kg (Sophomore); National Canadian Junior Champion Amanda Dick 48kg (Sophomore); National Canadian Junior Champion; CIS Champion Sarah White 51kg (Senior); 4th in last years CIS; Junior Worlds silver medalist Rita Pare 55kg Freshman; Juvenile Champion Emily Richardson 59kg (Senior); Canadian National Champion Stacie Anaka 63 kg (Freshman); Juvenile Champion Ashlea Mcmanus 67kg (Senior): 5th at Senior World Championships last year 72kg: Erin Church (Sophomore) or Hayley McLeary (Freshman); Canadian National Juvenile Champion Shayla Turcotte 80kg (Sophomore): CIS Silver Medalist, Canadian Junior Silver Medalist University of Calgary Dinos (CIS; Calgary, AB. No. 3 in North America) Head Coach Mitch Ostberg has a powerful squad and they are a threat to win the team title. Ostberg said the Dinos love the team approach of the Lakehead Duals. "This is an exciting event for both our men's and women's team. We get to test ourselves against other CIS teams head to head. The CIS championships doesn't offer this opportunity because the team score is based on individual placings. I think this really helps the athletes develop by wrestling for a true team title as a team. The athletes will have to raise their intensity when they have their whole eam behind them cheering them on." The Dinos have three CIS medallists from last year and Brittany Laverdure is ranked No. 1 in North America at 55kg. Calgary Roster: 48kg Brandy Ens- 4th yr, CIS Silver medallist 2004 53 kg Breanne Beh-1st year 55 kg Brittany Laverdure 5th year- No. 1 ranked in North America, team captain, 2005 CIS Champion, and Senior National silver medallist, Senior National team member 59 kg Jazzie Barker - 1st yr, Junior national silver medalist, Senior Nationals bronze medalist 63 kg Justin Bouchard - 2nd yr, Junior National champ 2005, Junior worlds 8th place, CIS bronze medalist 2005 67 kg Leah Callahan - 1st yr, Canada Summer Games silver medalist 72 kg Rachel Pinet 1st yr - 2 time Junior National champ 82 kg Megan Goldsmith 2nd yr - transferred from University of Minnesota Morris last year Missouri Valley College Vikings (NAIA, Marshall, Missouri. No. 4 in North America) Head Coach Carl Murphree brings the No. 2 ranked team in North America into the Thunderdome with the hopes of winning the Garvie national duals title. The Vikings are a formidable squad and feature some world level wrestlers. Murphree said his squad is ready for the test. "This will be a big test for Valley; I am looking forward to matching up with the best teams in North America. It should be a great tournament for fans and wrestlers." The Vikings are bringing two teams to the Cup; a purple and an orange team. An interesting factoid is that wrestler Britney Sevy comes from North Pole, Alaska. Key wrestlers are Stephany Lee (No. 1 ranked in North America, 2005 Sunkist Champion. 2004 Manitoba Champion, and World University Champion), Tabithia Ramsey (4th Pan_American Games 2004, U.S. National University Champion) and Rachel Billerbeck (5th US Nationals, 4th US World team trials). Missouri Valley Roster: Ashley Elizabeth; 48 kg Cruz Norine; 48 kg Homma Angelee; 48 kg Miyasaki Tanya; 48 kg Ramsey Tabithia; 48 kg Varland Christina; 48 kg Ramos Carmen; 51 kg Sevy Britney ; 51 kg Watanabe Maika; 51 kg (No. 5 ranked in North America) Schuman Samantha; 51 kg Fair Brittany; 55 kg Germany Jennifer; 55 kg Calibuso Clarissa; 55 kg (No. 8 ranked in North America) Chew Erika; 55kg kg Martell Courtney; 55 kg Solis Sharlee ; 55 kg Rivera Denise; 59 kg Bogren Brooke ; 59 kg Chambers Kayla; 59 kg Duarte Julie; 59 kg Dunn Maria; 59 kg Kennedy Jamie; 59 kg Velasquez Amanda; 59 kg Billerbeck Rachel; 63 kg (No. 4 ranked in North America) Howe Karen; 63 kg Meletia Chaneal; 63 kg Rinehart Emily; 67 kg Hilliard Sara; 67 kg Jones Brittany; 67 kg Contreras Celeste; 72 kg Novinska Lacy; 72 kg (No. 6 ranked in North America) Lee Stephany; 72 kg (No. 1 ranked in North America) Perez Selina; 72 kg Curtis Collette; 82 kg Hampton Gillian; 82 kg Brock Badgers (CIS, St. Catherine's, Ont. No. 5 in North America) Brock is a perennial powerhouse in CIS wrestling and hope to be competitive at this year's National Duals. Head Coach Bill Smith said his young team is in the rebuilding process. "Our team this year is young but working hard to replace two CIS finalists from last year. Alana King has had some good results this year following up her second place a last year's nationals with Top 2 finishes at the Sunkist Meet and the NYAC Tournament. We are looking forward to the tournament to measure our progress and to see what we need to focus on the rest of the year." King is ranked No. 2 in North America at 48 kg while Liz Martindale is ranked No. 8 at 51kg. Brock Roster: 48kg--Melanie Howitt 51kg--Alana King, Liz Martindale 55kg--Jessie Bondy, Golda Parahoo, Ashley Werner 59kg--Michelle Fazzari 63kg--Lindsay MacDonald 67kg--Buffy Ainsworth 72kg--Jocelyn Dresser 82kg--Jen Hanson Saskatchewan Huskies (CIS; Saskatoon, Sk. No. 9 in North America) Head Coach Todd Hinds brings a very powerful team to the National Duals and the Huskies will be looking to place high; led by Megan Buydens who is team Captain and CIS champion. Hinds said his team is ready for the high level of competition. "This is a great opportunity for our athletes to compete in this dual meet format. It allows for us to compete as a team and every point counts. This is also a great opportunity for us to get use to the dual meet format as this is how the Canada West Championship is run. It's going to be a great event." Saskatchewan Roster 48kg; Pam Ewanishin (Canada Games Champion) and Carol Scrivener 51kg; Alyssa Krahn (Canada Games Champion) 55kg; Jill Gallays (Silver Medalist at the Junior National Championships) 59kg; Amy Dyck (4th at CIS Championships 2005, Bronze at Junior Nationals) and Angie Istace 63kg; One of the above 67kg; Megan Buydens (Captain of the Huskies and returning CIS Champion) and Jane Packota 72kg; One of the above 82kg; Beth Thompson (Juvenile and Junior National Champion) Memorial Seahawks (CIS; St. John's Newfoundland. No. 16 in North America) The Seahawks are only sending five wrestlers due to injuries, so are the smallest team at the meet, but Head Coach Glen Clark said his squad loves the Duals format and really wanted to make the trip to Thunder Bay. "These are all experienced wrestlers. We've had a couple of injuries lately, and our small team size made me think twice about coming to a dual meet , but my team thoroughly enjoys this competition, so it is something we do not want to miss." The Seahawk to watch is KerriAnn Evely at 67 kg. She went through last year's Championship Cup without a loss and finished third in the CIS. Memorial Roster: 51 kg Carla Bryant 59 kg Allison Rockwood 63 kg Kellee Melendy 67 kg Kerri Ann Evely 72 kg Gina Keeping Northern Michigan University Wildcats (USOEC Team; Marquette, Michigan) This team could be a contender at this year's Duals. They are unranked because they are, in fact, the United States Olympic Education Center team that trains and attends university at Northern Michigan and don't usually wrestle under the Northern Michigan banner. USOEC Roster: 48kg Sadie Kaneda 51 kg Debbi Sakai (No. 8 in North America) 55 kg Camhuyen (Sandy) Do, Nikki Darrow, Amy Borginini 63 kg Hope Schenck, Kierstin Hyatt 67 kg Stefenie Shaw 72 kg Donell Bradley Men's Garvie National Duals Meet Preview: Saturday, December 3rd Lakehead Thunderwolves (CIS: Thunder Bay, Ont.) New Co-Head Coach Owen Dawkins is very happy with the results of his wrestlers from early season meets and thinks wrestling at home will be a great boost for his squad. "I am very pleased with both our men's and women's teams progression thus far this season. The Garvie National Duals will prove to be a great tool for evaluating where we are as a team right now, and for evaluating what we need to work on as a team to be prepared for the National Championships." Wolves to watch are Chris Camarata (Canadian Jr. National Team/OUA silver medalist last year) who has won three gold medals at three meets this season and is undefeated. Mitch Fryia and Dave Rector are coming off gold medal performances two weeks ago at the Regina Meet as well. Darren Manion, Andrew Elliot, and Yasin Kaya are also very tough on the mats for the Wolves. Lakehead Roster: 54kg Chris Camarata (OUA Silver Medallist 2004, 3 consecutive golds 2005) 57kg Martin Sterling 61kg Mark Crockett, Chris Britt 65kg Ryan MacLeod 68kg Mitch Fryia 72kg Mustafa Muhomad 76kg Andrew Elliot 82kg Yasin Kaya 90kg Dave Rector Dante Gravina 130kg Darren Manion John Wright Brock Badgers (CIS; St. Catherine's, Ont.) The Badgers are the big guns in the CIS until somebody can pin them down. Coach Marty Calder said his team is looking forward to the National Duals. "This tournament provides us with the opportunity to wrestle a lot of matches with opponents we will be seeing at the CIS tournament in March. We're hopeful that our athletes are moving forward in preparation for the National Championship." Brock Roster: 54kg James Henry 57 kg Dylan Fryia 61 kg Jamie Macari 65 kg Pete Simons 68 kg Brandon McKinley 72 kg Ryan McCracken 76 kg Eric MacKinnon 82 kg Scott Hall 90 kg Mark Walter 130 kg Mike Neufeld Alberta Golden Bears (CIS; Edmonton, AB.) Head Coach Vang Ioannides brings a very strong den of bears to Thunder Bay this Saturday. Coach Ioannides said his team loves the dual formats and is ready to wrestle against the CIS's best. "We are really looking forward to this event. The dual meet format is spectator friendly, and creates a "team" atmosphere in an otherwise individual sport. This event will allow us to measure ourselves against the best in the CIS, and hopefully we will gain some valuable insight as to what we can expect from our competition at this year's CIS Championships." Bears to watch are Anthony Kulak and Joe Slobodian who are both CIS bronze medalists and Kulak is also Canadian Junior National Champion. Alberta Roster: 54 kg Anthony Kulak (2005 Canada West Champion, Junior national Champion- 14th at Junior Worlds, CIS Bronze Medallist) 57 kg Jason Lee 61 kg Joe Slobodian (2004 CIS Bronze Medallist) 65 kg Bram Ratay 68 kg Joe Harrington (Placed 6th at 2005 CIS Championships) 72 kg Thomas Rowmanowski 76 kg Jens Reuter 82 kg Louis Bezuidenhout 90 kg Wes Jones (2005 Juvenile National Silver Medallist, 2004 Cadet National Team Member) 130 kg Mike Hulbert (7th at 2005 CIS Championships, 4th at 2005 Junior Nationals) Calgary Dinos (CIS; Calgary, AB.) Head Coach Mitch Ostberg's young team team will be ready for action this Saturday. Coach Ostberg said his team loves the Duals meet. "This is an exciting event for both our team. We get to test ourselves against other CIS teams head to head. The CIS chamionships doesn't offer this opportunity because the team score is based on individual placings. I think this really helps the athletes develop by wrestling for a true team title as a team. The athletes will have to raise their intensity when they have their whole team behind them cheering them on." The Dino to watch is two time CIS medalist, team captain, and Canadian national wrestling team member Joe Bentley. Calgary Roster: 54kg - Shaughn Jones 1st yr 57kg - Ryan Lannan 1st yr - 5th Canada Summer Games 65kg - Jeremiah Barnert - 4th yr 68kg - Joe Bentley 5th yr team captain- CIS Bronze 2005, CIS silver 2004, 2 time Junior national champ, 5th 2005 Senior nationals, Senior National Team member 72kg - Wes Barnert 1st yr - Canada Games Champ 76kg - Nathan Bodewitz 1st yr 82kg - Wilson Burnett - 4th yr 90kg - Beamer Comfort - 5th yr team captain 130kg - Mark Dewit McMaster Marauders (CIS; Hamilton, Ont.) Head Coach Nick Cipriano said he has an interesting team. "Wrestlers to watch; all of them; they are all entertaining and funny people. Athletically, Francis is a good one, Dave Rennalls is tough, and Steve Rennalls is funky. Dusan is our only freshman and he can be outstanding. McMaster Roster: 57 kg Tommy Wauchoppe 61 kg Mike Celli 65 kg Steve Rennalls 68 kg Dusan Milakara 72 kg Matt Miller/Dave Rennalls 76 kg Ray Foster 82 kg Sheldon Francis 90 kg Andrew Bournes 120 kg Lenny Payne COMPETITION SCHEDULE Women's National Duals Schedule: Dec. 2, 2005 Pool A The Cumberlands U of Saskatchewan Missouri Valley Purple Simon Fraser Memorial Pool B Calgary Lakehead Northern Michigan Missouri Valley Orange Brock Mat A Cmb vs U of S Cmb vs MUN Cmb vs SFU Cmb vs Miss P U of S vs SFU Mat B Miss P vs SFU U of S vs Miss P U of S vs MUN SFU vs MUN MUN vs MissP Mat C Uof C vs LU U of C vs BR Uof C vs MissO UofC vs NM LU vs MissO Mat D NM vs Miss O LU vs NM LU vs BR MissO vs BR BR vs NM 2:30 Gold/Silver; third/fourth; fifth/sixth; seventh/eight 3:30 Awards 3:45 to 4:45 USA vs Canada Dual Men's National Duals Schedule: Dec. 2, 2005 Lakehead Brock Calgary McMaster U of A Mat A LU vs BR LU vs UofA LU vs Mac LU vs Uof C BR vs Mac Mat B UofC vs Mac BR vs UofC BR vs UofA Mac vs UofA UofCvsUofA Rd One @ 11am Rd Two @ Noon Rd Three @ 1 PM Rd Four @ 2 PM Rd Five @ 3 PM