It was an exciting training session Thursday night for the Cochrane Cowboys Wrestling Club.

After many months of hard work and fundraising, the Cowboys now can truly appreciate hard work paying off.  The brand new black and yellow mats arrived and they couldn't be more proud of them.  The mats arrived just in time for the club to break them in a little bit before hosting the Alberta Open in March, where there will be wrestlers coming from all over the province. 

April Hooper, Cochrane Cowboys Wrestling Club, Fundraising Coordinator, says the bulk of the funds for the new mats came from a $10,000 grant from Bow River Edge Campground. The reminder of the cost was covered from another grant from Rocky View County. Hooper was very pleased with the timing of the delivery of the equipment.

"We were really hoping that it would be here before the Alberta Open so we could get used to putting together. It is a huge upgrade to what we were using before."

The Cowboys club will be showing off the new mats March 4 at the tournament.