Local judoka strikes gold again

It wasn’t enough for Jared Catholique-Bruyere to run roughshod over the opposition in his own weight class—now he’s beating up people bigger than him.
The local judoka maintained his amazing season-long undefeated streak at last weekend’s Mid-Canada Martial Arts Championship in Thunder Bay, winning gold medals in two weight classes that were higher than what he normally competes in.
Catholique-Bruyere went to the meet expecting to fight in his usual 81+ kg division, but arrived to find no other competitors at that weight had entered.
Not wanting to waste the trip, he signed up for the 90+ kg and 100+ kg divisions—and wound up getting a case of triple vision.
His opening match in the 90+ kg group was against Thunder Bay’s Callum Thomson, whom Catholique-Bruyere beat by pinfall.
It then was on to the final, where he garnered another pinfall victory over Thunder Bay’s Ron Cameron. That ended up being the first of three matches between the two, who also were both taking part in the 100+ kg division.
Catholique-Bruyere downed Cameron on points in their first meeting at the higher weight class, and then by the luck of the draw, faced Cameron yet again in the gold-medal match.
But again, it was no contest, as Catholique-Bruyere used a lightning-quick leg throw maneuver to close the match and earn him his second title of the weekend.
Next up for Catholique-Bruyere is the junior nationals in Toronto on July 5-6, although current concerns relating to the SARS illness there may see the meet moved to Guelph.
< *c>Ice interest
Judo is not the only sport holding future promise for Catholique-Bruyere, who also is looking to make an impression in the hockey arena.
The hulking forward, who also spent time on the blueline for the Muskies this past season, recently attended an amateur showcase camp in Vancouver, which had a bundle of junior-level scouts on hand.
His West Coast performance has drawn letters of interest from teams in the Western Hockey League and Ontario Hockey League, as well as some Tier II Junior ‘A’ teams.
Catholique-Bruyere will stop off in Thunder Bay on his way back from the junior judo nationals to practice with the Midget ‘AAA’ Northern Hawks, and then will travel with the Hawks to play in the Source for Sports ‘AAA’ Hockey Challenge in Brandon, Man. on July 16-20.