Chao ZhangOn Sunday, Feb. 27, wrestler Michael Asselstine won his third consecutive CIS National Championship gold medal. If that isn’t a triumph in itself, he also was titled wrestler of the year for the third year in a row — the first time this has happened in CIS history.
Although it seems to the average person that he dominated the weekend, Asselstine claimed that it wasn’t his best performance.
“The first day I did not wrestle well at all. I put myself in some bad situations,” Asselstine said. “I didn’t feel like I wrestled my style, or even the level that I expect from myself.”
But his doubts didn’t last long. Asselstine’s mentality shifted on the second day and he used his previous complacency to refocus and fuel his determination. During the gold medal match, he put his opponent on his back in 45 seconds, finishing his Golden Bears wrestling career on a high note and earning his third straight CIS gold medal.
Asselstine’s love for wrestling is easy to spot. The three-time CIS wrestling champion says his interest in the sport began in junior high. Eager to follow in his athletic brother’s footsteps, he tried out and got cut from volleyball in grade seven. He decided to join the school’s new wrestling program, started by ex-Olympic wrestler Colbie Bell, and excelled at it. He then continued wrestling at the high school level and doing exceptionally well, before starting at the U of A.
One of Asselstine’s favorite parts of wrestling is its accessibility. Anybody at any size can participate.
“I connected with the sport immediately,” he said. “I’ve always been pretty small. I broke 100 pounds in grade 10. With wrestling being a weight class sport, you’re competing against people your same size.”
As a fourth-year pre-service teacher, Asselstine is enthusiastic to begin coaching at a school once he graduates. He believes that wrestling can improve a student’s focus and discipline. He recalled that a fellow teacher recommended wrestling to a pair of students that were not performing well in class and were disruptive, and after joining the team, those students made significant improvements in the classroom.
Asselstine said one of his main motivations for becoming a teacher is to act as a mentor to students, and give back to a community that gave him so much support growing up.
“I struggled in school and I had a lot of teachers and coaches put in more time with me than what was expected of them,” he said. “With all that help and those external resources, I feel like I should give back a little bit of what they shared with me, and I really enjoy doing it.”
Although his University of Alberta wrestling career has come to a close, Asselstine said that he’s going to continue wrestling nationally and internationally. With senior nationals coming up on March 23, and his coaching career just beginning, he’s not giving up the mat anytime soon.
“I want to share my love of wrestling with people. What’s so great is that it’s a sport that anyone can do.”
