Five wrestlers, five medals.

Athletes from the Cochrane Cowboys Wrestling Club shined in one of the final events of the Western Canada Summer Games, yesterday. Besides earning individual medals, they all contributed to Alberta's gold medal team performance.

Anika Fines (40kg), Jaityn Labelle (53kg), Autumn Shopa (57kg) and Zoe Adam (80kg) all won gold while Nicholas Hooper won silver in the 63 kg. weight class.

Curtis Hooper, a Cowboys coach who attended the wrestling events, says the atmosphere was charged and the wrestlers return with many lasting memories.

"The coach of the team (Owen Dawkins) built an amazing team atmosphere. We met a ton of new people. The stands were charged with so many fans. I think the experience of being in that venue and the people around them was half of what charged the kids to get to their medals. It was an intense couple of days emotionally."

Many new friendships were created by the games, both with their teammates and wrestlers from other provinces.

"The kids are all ecstatic. It was bittersweet for them leaving. They were all exhausted and ready to be done with it but none of them really wanted it to end."

The wrestlers worked hard in preparation for the games.

"The last four or five months they've been going since the trials in Wetaskiwin. They've done several camps and have done some individual training with a few of the clubs around town. The Team Alberta structure had a ton for the kids to do. You could see them take the wrestlers step-by-step through each of the camps to prepare the kids for the ultimate end to the games."

Hooper speaks highly of the Saskatchewan hosts and the entire summer games experience.

"Saskatchewan did amazing, The volunteers, the staff, the people, the way it was all put together, it was an amazing event put together by them."

Cowboys head coach Vern McNeice may have not been at the games in person, but he was there in spirit. He's proud of what the wrestlers accomplished. It's the largest delegation ever sent to the Western Canada Games by the Cowboys.

"The Western Canada Games is a catalyst for a lot of those kids. It's an ignition point. They meet friends there and it's such a fun experience. They work hard towards something and they get to reap the benefits of performing and giving their best. Win or lose, it's a great experience."

To Team Alberta's credit, all 22 wrestlers returned with medals.

McNeice, who has coached for Team Alberta in the past, says it's a sign that wrestling programs in Alberta are alive and well and recruiting members at a young enough age to give them the experience they need to compete at a higher level.

"We've got a good group of people within the province making that possible. Not all provinces share that privilege. We're in a good spot. It's good for our sports and good for varsity athletics."

In addition to strong individual performances, Alberta wrestlers combined to strike gold in the team event, winning all five of their duels. The hosting Saskatchewan team posed the toughest competition for Alberta in a matchup decided 31-21. It was the Saskatchewan teams only loss of the team event and they went on to earn silver. Manitoba came third.

Now the wrestlers have about six weeks off before the Cochrane Cowboys season begins.

"After that, I think for all five of those kids it's going to be a five-six month push for nationals," says Hooper.

Cochrane's Amy Miller also competed on the final day of the games. She came fifth in the 3,000m in a hair-splitting race to the finish line with fellow Alberta athlete Jasmine Feddema. Feddema came fourth by a mere 0.07 seconds over Miller.

In the final medal standings, Saskatchewan gained steam in the second part of the games but Alberta remained on top with 299 medals, 129 gold, 92 silver and 78 bronze.