COVID can’t slow down wrestlers

By Dale Woodard on April 24, 2021.

LETHBRIDGE HERALDsports@lethbridgeherald.com

The COVID-19 pandemic of the past year has made training and competing a bit difficult for Brantley Saar.

Fortunately for the Chinook High School student and member of the Lethbridge Amateur Wrestling Association, his day job away from the wrestling mat has helped him stay in shape.

“I push carts at Safeway, just anything I can do that relates to wrestling or gets me in good shape, running or anything I can do,” said Saar.

That can-do attitude has paid off for Saar and his fellow Chinook schoolmate and LAWA member, Angelina Ellis-Toddington, as the duo make the jump to the University of Calgary USPORTS program.

An exciting prospect, for sure, even if COVID has presented some challenges in the past year.

“It’s been really tough. I haven’t wrestled another person in a year,” said Saar.

“It has been a lot of working on anything I can by myself. There have been a couple of virtual camps I’ve attended to just try and get something out of it. It’s definitely tough when you can’t do a contact sport.”

Those challenges weren’t enough to keep Saar and Ellis-Toddington off the University of Calgary’s radar.

“I’m super-excited,” said Ellis-Toddington.

“It’s where I’ve wanted to go. I started wrestling around Grade 4, mostly with my siblings because there weren’t very many elementary kids. It started more in Grade 6 and it just picked up from there.”

Saar started wrestling when he was in Grade 8.

“It has been my driving factor ever since then. It gives me motivation to do everything to the best of my ability.”

Like her schoolmate, Ellis-Toddington had to navigate the pandemic of the past year.

“It’s definitely tricky because you go from having someone tell you what to do every day to having to figure it all out on your own,” she said.

“So I’ve done a virtual camp over the summer and recently I had a coach teaching me some one-on-one power lifting, which will be really useful for next year, just building strength and stamina.”

As the duo get ready to head down the highway to begin the next step of their student-athlete careers, Saar and Ellis-Toddington reflected on their time on the local wrestling scene with Chinook and the LAWA

“It has meant a lot that we have such a great program going here and everything has been growing as I’ve been going through the program,” said Saar. “I’ve seen a huge change, from us getting new mats to a huge increase in my own and everyone else’s wrestling. It’s been great.”

Ellis-Toddington noted the increase of female wrestlers in the club.

“It’s so cool to see the program grow more and more every year,” she said.

“When I first started there weren’t too many. It’s just cool to see that grow.”

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