Twelve members of the Concordia Stingers wrestling team excelled at the AUS/QSSF qualifying tournament hosted by the University of New Brunswick in Fredericton on Saturday, earning berths at the CIS national championship in Calgary Feb. 27-28.
To qualify for the nationals, competitors had to finish in one of the top two spots at the Atlantic competition.
Leading the way for the Stingers will be 2008 Olympian David Zilberman who won the heavyweight category. He was a CIS gold medallist in both 2004 and 2006. He won a silver medal in 2005.
Other top performers include Nikita Chicoine, who won a silver medal at 67 kilos at the 2008 nationals; Gurver Talhan, a bronze medallist at 65 kilos in 2008, and Alex Dyas, who also won a bronze medal last year at 90 kilos.
Rounding out the Concordia team that dominated in Fredericton are: Gabriel Choueke, 52 kilos; Scott Schiller, 57 kg; David Tremblay, 61 kg; Steve Rennalls, 68 kg; Chris Kinsella, 72 kg; Serguei Guevorkian, 76 kg and Michael Noonan, 82 kg.
Finally, Andrea Davidson, a rookie who also suits up for the Stinger soccer team, won the 82 kg competition.
The Concordia wrestling team is coached by Victor Zilberman who has guided his athletes to 46 gold medals and six team titles at the nationals.
