The SDSSAA wrestling crew launched the 2017-2018 season in style, last month, as Canadian Olympian and Elliot Lake native Korey Jarvis was in town, attending a workshop clinic with secondary school athletes at Chelmsford Valley District Composite School.
Now 31 years of age, the product of both Elliot Lake Secondary School and W.C Eaket (Blind River), who now trains in Guelph, has represented Canada at multiple international events, claiming gold at the 2014 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, Scotland.
Currently ranked seventh in the world in his weight class (125 kg), Jarvis has participated at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro. In addition to sharing a variety of wrestling tips and advice, the father of one recalled his introduction to the sport.
"A friend had asked me to come out, I was very timid," said Jarvis. "I was a bigger guy, so I was wrestling older guys. I got my butt kicked a lot, and it was frustrating, but I never gave up, I always came back. I started wanting to work harder, started to train during the summer."
A fourth place finish at the Ontario Winter Games only fuelled his fire, with Jarvis reaching the number one ranking, provincially, the following year. Eventually recruited by the University of Guelph club team, he would continue his meteoric rise in the sport.
"It was a whole new stage for me," he said. "The level of teaching is so much higher, and the level of workload, outside of just wrestling, is higher."
Within a few years, he would put himself in position to be considered a candidate to the national team.
"It came with maturity," said Jarvis. "It started to become a matter of focusing on everything. It wasn't just about going to every practice, it was about your life, your routines, and making it all about that sport - sleeping right, eating right, always making sure you're doing a little bit extra."
Given a very large turnout for the event, it came as little surprised that Jarvis was not only encouraged, but was able to draw on some personal similarities in the crowd that had assembled.
"I really like that there's a lot of different sizes," he said. "There are six to eight big guys out here. Body issues is a huge thing in wrestling. We wear spandex, so you can see everything. I feel that everyone here really wants to learn."
SDSSAA wrestling action continues in the new year, with meets and mini-meets in January and February, leading into the Ron Preston City Championships on February 9th, and the NOSSA meet one week later.
