Beausoleil First Nation youths came home from the recent North American Indigenous Games with three gold medals and three bronze medals.
'Hurricane' Hayden Wilson won gold in wrestling in the 130 kg division.
"I felt awesome. It felt like my hard work had paid off. I’ve been training since March," said Wilson, 18, who lives in Thedford.
It was his first time competing in the games which, like the Olympics, are held ever four years. This year they were held at venues around Halifax.
Wilson said he had been training since March and mostly on his own without a coach, although he had one for the games.
"I had to tie resistant bands to an old basketball net to try my take downs. I did lots of cardio and watching wrestling on YouTube," he said.
Wilson, who stands 6' 4" and weighs 123 kg won all three round-robin wrestling matches, pinning each opponent in the first round. He had no points scored against him.
He paid for the his travel and expenses by running fundraisers with a couple of other athletes.
“It was an awesome experience. I enjoyed the challenge. I met lots of new people and I enjoyed the travel," he said.
Wilson will be continuing his education at Fanshaw College. He plans to join the wrestling team at nearby Western University and would like to get involved in mixed martial arts.
Medal Winners for the NAIG include:
- Elora Waardenburg: gold medal for U19F Box Lacrosse
- Layakwas Kennedy: gold medal for U19 Box Lacrosse
- Hurricane Hayden Wilson: gold medal for 130 kg wrestling
- Gabriel Givans: bronze medal for U19M Soccer
- Brody and Peyton Monague: bronze medals with the U16M softball team.
Athletes competed in 16 sports at the tenth North American Indigenous Games held on the traditional territory of the Mi’ kmaq people. More than 500 athletes, coaches and team staff from more than 756 First Nations participated.
The traditional sports of 3-D archery, box lacrosse and canoe/kayak events each had a special opening ceremony.
For more information, visit the website: naig2023.com.
