D’Alleva shines for Mustang wrestlers

The London-Western Wrestling Club, buoyed by several top Mustangs
wrestlers, finished second in the women’s division and sixth in the
men’s division at the Ontario Senior Wrestling Championships on Nov.
28 in Barrie.
While not an official Ontario University Athletics event, the Mustangs use the provincial competition to stay sharp during their long season.
“It’s a full year sport, so we really won’t peak until mid-February when we host the OUA championships,” Mustangs head coach Ray Takahashi said.
On the women’s side, Olivia Gunnell and Larissa D’Alleva won gold in the 59 kg and 63 kg weight classes, respectively. Brianne Barry and Lesley McCallum claimed silver and bronze in the 55 kg division.
Meanwhile, Jennifer Nguyen won bronze in the 51 kg division and Liz Sera finished fourth amongst the 59 kg competition.
For the men, Ilya Abelev and rookie Eric Jacobson both finished sixth in the 66 and 74 kg weight classes.
“We’re doing very well,” Takahashi said of his squad’s season thus far. “We need to be well conditioned, work on our technique, get match experience and stay healthy. Having a good day and getting a little lucky can be important too.”
D’Alleva — in her first year of OUA competition — has been a pleasant surprise for the Mustangs this year — immediately stepping in and winning gold medals.
“Larissa has done really well this year — she’s fit in very well with us,” Takahashi said of the Prince Albert, Ontario native. “She was one of our top recruits for the women. She’s strong, really good technically and she’s physically sound.”
D’Alleva also won gold in the 63 kg division at the Toronto Open earlier this year, taking down several seasoned, university-level veterans.
The rookie is a product of Team Impact — a wrestling club in Eastern Toronto, which has turned out several national and provincial junior champions.
“She has a really good background. She’s coming out of a wrestling club that has a really strong background and really good coaching,” Takahashi said. “Larissa has integrated really well [at the university level].”
—Arden Zwelling

No surprise as Mustang cheerleaders win again

The Western Mustangs cheerleading team furthered its winning reputation by taking home its 24th National title in 25 years at the Powerade Centre in Brampton this past weekend.
The Mustangs trampled over the competition, finishing 113 points ahead of second place Queen’s.
“Our performance was almost perfect,” Mustangs cheerleading coach David-Lee Tracey said. “In a judged sport like this, it is extremely difficult to fuse the monstrously difficult athletic skills into a visually appealing routine and then hit it. We only made two minor miscues.”
With 21 college teams competing, Western had to seamlessly execute their routines in order to stay above the competition.
“Queen’s University has been on our heels most consistently over the past six or seven years but they struggled this year,” Tracey noted. “Regardless, we left everyone in the dust in the overall score breakdown.”
With another national title penned into the books, the team is ready to take a brief break before coming back to get ready for more competition.
“[The team will get] some much deserved rest time during exams and holidays, then we gear up for the CheerSport Nationals in Atlanta. We have won the past four years in the Elite College Coed Division,” Tracey said.
— Grace Davis

Courtesy of David-Lee Tracey