Local judoist wins bronze at Winter Games

Jared Catholique-Bruyere won the bronze medal in the under 74-kg division in judo at the Ontario Winter Games in Sault Ste. Marie last week.
Catholique-Bruyere, 13, one of the top judokas in the region, won one match against two losses.
He beat Chris Weatherby (Northern team) but then lost to the David Harrington (Southwest) and Cgseiji Ishiguro (Central East) while competing against juvenile-aged competitors (15-16).
Catholique-Bruyere next is preparing for a meet in Steinbach, Man. in a couple of weeks. He then will compete at the University of Manitoba in May and Calgary later in the summer.
“It was a great experience for him,” said his father, Wallace.
Meanwhile, the Northwest regional squash team, which includes four local players, lost 5-3 to Niagara for the bonze medal at the Winter Games.
The fourth-place finish was the team’s highest ever.
The four Fort Frances players–Drew Allan, Steven Krag, Sarah Noonan, and Megan Canfield–each lost their respective games against Niagara by 3-0 scores.
Bob Tkachuk, who travelled with the team and whose wife, Mary-Beth, was the manager, said their contingent played well despite each being swept in their final games.
“The other players had more experience. They’ve played longer and against better competition,” said Tkachuk, adding the Thunder Bay players picked up their three wins against Niagara.
“It just shows our guys will have to travel more to play better competition more often,” he noted. “But we were very pleased with their performance. They all tried hard and it was a great experience.”
The Northwest region came out of their pool–which included the Western, Ottawa, and Southwestern regions–in second place and then played Toronto (tops in the other pool) in the semi-finals.
Against Ottawa, Krag won his match 9-5, 9-5, and 10-9 while Noonan beat her opponent by scores of 9-5, 9-1, 7-9, and 9-0.
Toronto beat the Northwest team by a 7-1 score in the first playoff series. Jill Skogberg of Thunder Bay picked up the lone Northwest victory.
The Western region went on to win the gold medal, with Toronto picking up the silver.
The Games attracted close to 3,000 coaches and athletes, making it the largest amateur event in Canada.