Sault Ste. Marie, Ont. – This afternoon, McMaster's wrestling program took home three individual gold, four individual silver, two individual bronze, and two team bronze medals at the 2025 OUA Wrestling Championships hosted by the Algoma Thunderbirds.
On the women's side, the Marauders managed 51 team points, good for third place.
Serena Di Benedetto (Hamilton, Ont.), Olivia Litchi (New Hamburg, Ont.), and
Megann Nkenglack (Barrie, Ont.) led the way, securing the top spot on the podium in the respective 53 kg, 59 kg, and 76 kg weight classes.
Di Benedetto, the U23 World Championships' silver medalist dominated the competition. Di Benedetto won by technical fall in every match. Her final technical fall victory came against Brock's Francesca Lo Greco.
Litchi was crowned champion after running through her competition in the first two rounds. Litchi then received a bye in round three, advancing to the gold medal match, and winning by a fall over (1:59) against a Guelph opponent.
McMaster's Nkenglack fought her way to the top of the podium. The rookie took on a strong Western opponent in the championship, ultimately taking the match by decision (10-3).
Vanessa Fonrose (Brampton, Ont.), the fifth-year Human Behaviour major scored eight points and claimed silver in the 83 kg weight class. In the 62 kg weight class, veteran,
Macy Malysiak (Brampton, Ont.) earned bronze, winning by technical fall in the third place match.
The Marauder men scored a bronze team medal after recording 50 points. The men racked up three individual silver medals and a bronze on the day.
In the 61 kg weight class,
Blayne Helou (Pickering, Ont.) matched his performance at the 2024 provincial championships, earning silver. The Junior and Senior National Champion put up a good fight, but eventually fell to Brock's Garette Saunders.
Along with Helou,
Luken Lawson (Enfield, N.S.) and
Irman Kang (Caledon, Ont.) added eight points to McMaster's team total with second place finishes in the respective 76 kg and 90 kg classes.
Surrey, B.C. native,
Armaan Jawandha rounded out McMaster's successes with a bronze in a fierce 72 kg weight class.
Up next, the Marauders will compete at the U SPORTS Wrestling Championships on Feb. 28 - Mar. 1 at Brock University. The Birds look to improve on their 2024 U SPORTS men's bronze and women's fifth place national finish in the upcoming weeks.
Team Standings
Women
- GOLD – Brock - 80 points
- SILVER – Western - 66 points
- BRONZE – McMaster - 51 points
- Guelph - 46
- Lakehead - 31
- York - 22
- Algoma - 21
- Queen's - 19
- Carleton - 18
- TMU - 8
- Toronto - 3
Men
- GOLD – Brock - 90 points
- SILVER – Western - 66 points
- BRONZE – McMaster - 50 points
- Guelph - 46
- TMU - 31
- York - 27
- Lakehead - 25
- Toronto - 22
- Algoma - 11
- Carleton - 11
- Queen's - 7
