A Grade 10 student-athlete from Beiseker Community School has put the small school's wrestling program on the 'mat,' wrestling his way to the school's first provincial banner in the sport on March 18 in Lethbridge, at the Alberta Schools Athletic Association (ASAA) championships.
Fifteen-year-old Cash Friend wrapped up his successful weekend in southern Alberta with the gold medal around his neck, after besting Basit Morowat of Calgary's Lester B. Pearson High School in the ASAA 1A/2A final, in the boys' 56-kilogram (kg) weight class.
Friend said he attributed his provincial-winning performance to the work he put in during the weeks and months leading up to it, and his improved cardio as a result of that preparation.
“It was a pretty great feeling,” he said. “I knew I’d done the work to be able to win, and the goal coming together was nice. It was exciting.
“I feel I got him in the last minute or so. He’d gassed out, and I was still going.”
In order to even qualify for the ASAA competition, Friend had to first win the Rural Wrestling Provincial championships, which were held at the end of February in Grande Prairie. At that meet, he beat Cochrane High School wrestler Morgan Hill in the boys' 56-kg final.
Other high-school meets Friend has competed at this year included two in Calgary and one in Edmonton. His dominance has been reflected in his impressive wins-losses record: He's won 21 of his 22 bouts this season.
Friend is no stranger to the mat, as he's wrestled for a competitive team in Calgary – the Calgary Roc Wrestling Club – for the last six years. There, he's coached by his father, Russel, who said Friend was the U19 and U17 Alberta Open Champion this year, as well as the U19 Western Canadian champion.
The Beiseker Community School student, who lives in Rocky View County just outside Irricana, said he likes the training aspect of wrestling, as well as the competitive nature of the sport.
“I like being physically fit and active, and knowing I can do things,” he said. “The physical aspect of the sport as well, being combative, is also quite fun. You don’t really get that [experience] doing anything else.”
Friend said he hopes to continue wrestling at a competitive level after high school. The day after his interview with the Rocky View Weekly, he departed for Richmond, B.C. to compete alongside his Roc teammates at the 2023 national lutte wrestling championships, from March 24 to 26 (after press time). He said he hopes to bring home gold from that competition as well.
Putting Beiseker wrestling 'on the mat'
According to Beiseker Community School's athletics director, Shane Hansen, Friend's recent accomplishment is a major milestone for the small K-12 school's athletics department.
While Beiseker's local school has won banners before at the divisional and zone level in high-school basketball, volleyball, and track-and-field, Hansen noted Friend's ASAA championship will be the school's first in the sport of wrestling.
As Rocky View Schools does not have its own high-school wrestling division, student-athletes who want to wrestle competitively need to train and compete under schools in other jurisdictions. In Friend's case, that means frequent trips to Lester B. Pearson in Calgary.
With a successful wrestler like Friend enrolled at Beiseker Community School, Hansen said he hopes to establish a full-fledged wrestling program at the school next year so Beiseker's wrestlers don't need to train at Calgary schools anymore.
“As the athletic director here, it’s important the community knows the hard work Cash has put in to making this happen,” Hansen said. “Our hope is carrying this further into next year and the years to come.”
