Jacqueline Lew cried at her first wrestling match when she was in Grade 8 at Summit middle school.
In September, she’ll stride into the wrestling room at Simon Fraser University as part of what Clan wrestling coach called “the best recruiting class we have ever assembled.”
Lew is one of 10 incoming recruits who will bolster the women’s team that finished in second place at the 2017 WCWA National Championship and included two champions as well as eight All-Americans.
Lew said she had no doubt where she wanted to wrestle.
“I didn’t see myself going anywhere else,” said Lew, who just graduated from Pinetree secondary school. “I think I was very tunnel-visioned.”
Lew is already a familiar presence up on Burnaby Mountain. She’s attended wrestling camps at SFU, worked with the coaches and some of the athletes.
That kind of high-level training helped Lew win three high school provincial championships in her 51-kg weight class, three Canadian cadet/juvenile championships, along with numerous age-group tournaments in Peru, Bosnia, Romania, Spain, Mexico and the United States. In June she was honoured with a place on the Coquitlam Sports Wall of Fame.
It’s a long way from the young girl who attended her older brother’s matches with her mom. Until Lew’s mom suggested she take up the sport herself.
Lew said she really took to the individual challenge of wrestling.
“I couldn’t rely on my coach, I couldn’t rely on my teammates,” said Lew. “It was all on me.”
Still, all of Lew’s achievements in wrestling thus far won’t stand for much as she steps on the collegiate mat, where the athletes are stronger, the competition more intense.
“They’re more aggressive, more technical,” said Lew. “I’m open to the challenge.”
She’ll also have to adjust her style from freestyle to the folk-style wrestling that is more commonly practiced in the United States where competitors aren’t allowed to lock their hands and they must try to escape when their opponent has them pressed to the mat.
Friendly faces will help ease the transition, said Lew, who will be studying arts and social sciences at SFU. Her family is still nearby and two of the other new recruits have been her teammates on Team Canada. And she plans on returning to Pinetree to help out with some coaching.
“It’s nice to be home,” said Lew.
