Sudbury Secondary School wrestler Jean-Marc Lalonde is a man who wastes little time.
His matches are an exhibition of excellent execution.
He's so efficient, in a blink of an eye, Lalonde can end
a match with one graceful, but powerful move.
At the recent SDSSAA Ron Preston City Championships, Lalonde
was a force, tearing through the field almost unchallenged.
With machine like precision, Lalonde won every match on his way
to winning gold in the 83-kilogram division.
Lalonde expects this from himself everyday. He wants to be the
best at what he does.
Lalonde has now turned his attention on the NOSSA
championships, but is also looking beyond.
"It feels great to be a city champion...it's the third time
in a row for me," said the 18-year-old. "It's my last year
in high school and I want to win a gold medal at OFSAA.
That's what is motivating me right now. To win at
OFSAA...it would be four years of hard work has paid off and it
would be unreal. I have to go through NOSSA first and
that's never easy. There's some tough competition, but
I am confident I will win."
Lalonde has been like a wrecking ball all season, smashing his
way through hapless opponents across the province.
"Jean-Marc has been dominating the Northeastern Ontario
competition from Day One of this season," said  Paul
Berthiaume, his coach from the Rayside-Balfour Wrestling Club.
"He's a powerful wrestler with tremendous moves. He won a
big tournament in Port Credit...it's a tough event to even
medal at. He's one of the hardest workers in Sudbury and it
shows. He improves month-by-month."
Lalonde also pushes his limits in Mixed Martial Arts (MMA)
fighting. He started back in Sept. 2006 by winning his first
match in a promotion called Ultimate Cage Wars. He lost his
second match shortly afterwards, but plans on continuing in the
MMA fighting scene.
"Right now, wrestling and graduating high school are my
priorities," said the Grade 12 student. "I would like to go on
and win a provincial senior wrestling medal and go onto a
national event. After this year, I will be concentrating on the
MMA fighting...I really like it. I prefer MMA because
there's all kinds of disciplines all combined into one
sport."
Lalonde hopes to make a big impact in the MMA world.
"I expect a lot out of myself and I want to be in the Top 10 in
Canada for MMA fighting by 2008. I'm training five hours a
day. I'm not doing all this work for nothing...I want it to
mean something."
Lalonde isn't the only local wrestler making noise on mats
across Ontario.
Chelmsford rookie wrestler Spencer Burton has also manhandled
the competition.
"This kid is an explosive wrestler," said coach Berthiaume.
"He's methodical, but when he goes for a move, he usually
scores because he's so fast. He plays a patient game, but
when the opportunity arises, he racks up points in a hurry."
Burton has caught many by surprise.
"He went undefeated to start the season, winning his first 30
to 35 matches," said Berthiaume. "He's strong...probably
stronger than most seniors. It doesn't usually happen that
a kid will come in his first year and dominate. It's even
more impressive considering he's in the biggest weight
class - 150-pounds - which has the most kids in it."
Burton won a gold medal at the recent Cadet/Juvenile Ontario
Wrestling Championships in London. He didn't even have one
point scored on him.
"It was an exciting win," said Burton. "It meant a lot to
win...I was proud of the accomplishment. I never had a point
scored on me and I beat everyone I faced, so it was good for
me."
Burton wants to win gold at NOSSA and OFSAA.
Here's some other highlights from the city championships.
Confederation's Jason Schilling was named boys' MVP,
while Macdonald-Cartier's Celeste Rodrigues was the girls
MVP.
Top rookies included Chelmsford's Burton and
Notre-Dame's Calvin Wayne, and for the girls' it was
Macdonald-Cartier's Maxime Comeau. The overall combined
girls' and boys' champion was Lockerby.
A large contingent of Sudbury wrestlers will now compete at
NOSSA in Sturgeon Falls from Feb. 15 to 22.
