Long time Wilkie wrestling coach Kent stepping away

Former student athletes told battlefordsNOW Kent saw potential in every person who joined his wrestling program.

“When we first started it up, I think a lot of people just thought it would be something that the kids who didn’t play basketball or do hockey or whatever else would just do to keep them busy and keep them out of trouble. Then it ended up being this thing that really allowed kids to showcase what they could really do when a person and their teammates believe in them. I think that’s what this program became.”

Practicing the sport may require teammates throwing each other to the mat repeatedly, but Kent said bonds are formed through that shared effort and were a key part of what made the sport meaningful to him.

“They’re all buddies because they’ve all been in the corner crying or getting tears in their eyes because they just got their butt whooped. Then all of a sudden you’ve got the ‘Grade A’ captain of the football team coming over, picking up the guy who plays Dungeons and Dragons in his mom’s basement and saying, ‘Man, you’ll get them next time. Let’s go grab a Gatorade or something’. You don’t see lines like that just cross, and I saw it in wrestling when I was at Thomas Collegiate in Regina, and you see it in every wrestling team. It’s like a patchwork mosaic quilt of human beings that all do the sport.”

On the left, Odin Kent prepares for his first ever match with a pep talk from Nick Nielsen, and on the right Odin stands next to his dad/coach Chris after winning a gold medal during his final high school wrestling season. (Image Credit: Facebook/Gorilla Factory Wrestling)

Originally, wrestling had little support in Wilkie, and Kent worked to establish it as part of McLurg’s extracurricular sports offerings. He started a small club team, Gorilla Factory Grappling, which practised after school in the St. George School gymnasium.

In a town focused mainly on hockey and baseball, the early years were difficult, as many students tried wrestling but left after finding it more challenging than expected. Momentum eventually grew, however, as more committed athletes gravitated to the program, including four in particular who helped popularize the team.

First was Matt Fedler, a wrestler from the Battlefords with family ties to Wilkie, who became Kent’s first athlete to earn a scholarship with the University of Regina Cougars. At the time, the now-defunct U of R wrestling program was among the strongest in the country, and Fedler was nearing Olympic-level contention.

He was followed by a group of athletes in the same grade, including Rylan Petterson and Cole Veit, who helped the club team grow in popularity and eventually secure a place in McLurg’s athletic programming. Once the program moved into the school, Kent said his first female champion, Celina Risling, played a major role in expanding its reach.

“When people thought wrestler, they thought like 250-pound bruisers that were out throwing haymakers behind the quonset on a Saturday night. Celina wasn’t that. She was this very soft-spoken, smart little person and she came on the scene and she was my first provincial medalist for this school. After Celina did it, and she did it in Grade 11, all of a sudden my female program exploded because it went from having just Celina to all of a sudden I was having girls sign up left and right,” Kent said.

Kent added that Petterson and Veit, while “absolutely tough guys,” were also outgoing and popular students, which helped normalize the sport.

“So all of a sudden, it was so accessible from that first crop,” he said.

Fedler, Petterson, Veit and Risling all went on to earn scholarships at the University of Regina, a connection that helped strengthen the early relationship between the McLurg program and the Cougars. Kent also credited University of Regina coaches Dan and Leo McGee with helping build the program in Wilkie.

“I wouldn’t have that program without them. Leo McGee used to drive 460 kilometres, unpaid, multiple times a year just to support a small-town wrestling program. You show me another U Sports coach that’ll do that,” he said.

The list of people who helped shape Kent’s program is long, but includes assistant coach and team supporter Heidi Veit, the program’s first provincial and national champion August Baylis, and numerous former wrestlers who have since gone on to coach across Saskatchewan.

After coaching his two children, Piper and Odin, through their high school careers, the team saw lower-than-usual numbers this season and ultimately folded. Kent is now moving on to coach in Weyburn while teaching in Pangman, closer to his hometown of Regina, and will leave the McLurg wrestling program in the hands of former athlete Koralie Mack (formerly Huber).

Chris Kent kneels down in front of Koralie Mack (Huber at the time) and reminds her to take in every detail she can of the moment she had become a provincial champion. (Image Credit: Facebook/Gorilla Factory Wrestling)

Kent coached Mack to a provincial medal during her high school career, and he recalls a moment after one of her victories when she tried to slip away before he stopped her and encouraged her to take in the moment of becoming a champion.

“I hope she just makes it her own and keeps doing what she’s doing. I know she’ll show that picture and the spirit of that will always be there. The great thing about Koralie is she’s tough as nails and she’ll keep it real with a kid,” Kent said.

Many of Kent’s former wrestlers have since moved into coaching roles, meaning his influence through the Gorilla Factory will continue to be felt in Saskatchewan wrestling for years to come.

—

by Nick Nielsen

Long time Wilkie wrestling coach Kent stepping away

What's Trending