SNHS wrestlers share their OFSAA experiences

Tim Brody - Editor

The best wrestlers at the secondary school level in Ontario gathered in Hamilton, Ontario March 5 and 6 to compete in the provincial championship and three wrestlers from Sioux North High School (SNHS) were counted among them.
Grade 12 student Omi Sakamoto, and Grade 11 students Evan Burch and Cassius Angeconeb, said OFSAA (Ontario Federation of School Athletic Associations) was an awesome experience.
“It was unlike any other experience I’ve ever had,” Omi Sakamoto shared.
Sakamoto began wrestling through an elementary wrestling program run by her father, Sioux North High School teacher Rob Sakamoto. Rob Sakamoto is also the coach of the SNHS wrestling program.
Omi Sakamoto has been part of the wrestling team throughout high school. This was her first time competing at OFSAA.
“It was tough because there were so many people there… but it was really fun,” she said.
Omi Sakamoto wrestled in two matches, losing in both.
Asked how it felt to represent her school at the provincial championship as one of the best high school aged wrestlers in the province, she said, “It was supper cool because not a lot of teams get to go to OFSAA so it was awesome that we got to go.”
Grade 11 student Evan Burch said, “It was crazy experience. It was super overwhelming being down there, just seeing hundreds of wrestlers. It was a great experience.”
Burch also began his wrestling career through the elementary wrestling program run by Rob Sakamoto.
This was his second time making it to OFSAA in the sport.
He also competed in two matches, being defeated in both.
His thoughts on representing his school as one of the top high school wrestlers in Ontario? “It felt pretty great, especially competing from such a tough area, having to go through Thunder Bay to get to OFSAA, where St. Ignatius High School in Thunder Bay ended up coming second in the tournament. So having to compete from this region just feels really good to be able to make it down there with such tough competition.”
This was the second year wrestling for Grade 11 student Cassius Angeconeb.
“It feels nice to be able to compete at that level with the top level wrestlers… Knowing I’ve wrestled two years and made it my second year,” he said of competing at OFSAA.
Asked what attracted him to the sport, he replied, “I think it’s just my interest in combat sports. I did boxing for about six years… I came to Sioux Lookout and found out there was wrestling, I joined and here I am now.”
Angeconeb competed in the North American Indigenous Games as a boxer in Halifax last year.
Angeconeb competed in three matches, winning one and losing two.
“To have wrestling in my inventory, as one of my skills, is really cool,” he said.
SNHS Wrestling Coach Rob Sakamoto said, “I’d like to reiterate what Evan said. It’s a really difficult region to get out of. The St. Ignatius team came within one point of winning the entire thing down in Hamilton. There were so many medals from Thunder Bay area. To even earn a berth out of this region is super difficult.”
Rob Sakamoto shared, “I was so proud of these guys. To earn a berth out of this region is incredible. It’s not an easy region to get out of.”
He added, “Cassius was wrestling in close matches, he was giving the guy a tough time. The silver medalist from OFSAA this year was from Thunder Bay in his weight class and every time Cassius wrestled him, he gave him fits.” 
“Just for perspective, the region took home, I think it was two gold, two silvers, a whole whack of medals,” he noted.
“Coming from Sioux Lookout to be able to send people to OFSAA is no small feet and all the coaches are super proud of these young athletes and I’m going to guess we’re going to send more next year than we did this year,” Rob Sakamoto said with a grin.
“All of these guys are right there on the cusp. I think one more year with these guys and they have a very good chance of getting up to that medal standing.”
Fellow SNHS Wrestling Coach Levi Melnichuk also praised the SNHS athletes, “I think they did amazing. I’m so proud of all of them. Like Rob (and Evan) said, it’s a very hard region to get out of. We’re competing at the top of our level just to get out of our region.”
Melnichuk, a former wrestler for the school, now a coach, said, “It was my first time actually being a coach down at OFSAA. That experience was quite interesting. It fired up my energy to go back and wrestle again. I really want to get back to university wrestling.”
He added, “I want to give Rob a lot of credit. He’s helped us coach to get to this level and he’s been sending kids down to OFSAA every single year he’s been coaching. So, I just want to give him credit and say thank you for all he’s been doing, all the time he’s put in. He’s an amazing coach.”