Four Cochrane Wrestlers Qualify for USports Nationals

 After earning two gold and two silver medals at the Canada West championship in Abbotsford, B.C. four alumni of the Cochrane Cowboys are preparing for the national USports championship.

Both Callum McNeice and his younger brother Connor struck gold at the western universities championship, while Aidan McKeage and his younger brother Brendan claimed silver. All are well known Cochrane Cowboy alumni who have many national and international championships under their belt.

It was Aidan McKeage, of the Golden Bears, and Callum McNeice, of the Dinos, competing in the gold medal match in the 76 kg weight class. Unfortunately, McKeage had to withdraw about a minute into the match because he inflamed a previous knee injury from a gold medal performance at an earlier Golden Bears tournament.

Still, they may meet again. Both are determined and skilled athletes who want to leave it all on the mats and walk out of the nationals with gold dangling from their necks.

Vern McNeice, head coach of the Cowboys who is also assisting with coaching with the Dinos, says it's a shame they are competing in the same weight class but it does bring back memories.

"Gosh, I can remember the first time those two boys wrestled, 14 years ago I think it was. James McKeage was in one corner and I'm in the other corner and we have these two skinny little kids wrestling with the same passion that they wrestled each other this weekend."

"In another way, you'd almost like them to be all in different weights all the time because you love all these kids that you've spent years with and our families have spent a tremendous amount of time together and have been close friends since they were little boys. They have to wrestle off sometimes and I guess that's just the way it is."

Callum McNeice won gold at Canada West last year in a different weight class and was named Canada West's Male Wrestler of the Year. He feels comfortable in his new and heavier weight class.

"There'll be a lot of really tough guys for sure. Everybody has pretty high goals and I'm excited to test what I have been training for all year."

"I'm feeling great. We've been working for this all year. Definitely, the work has paid off and there's nothing left for me to do now but to wrestle."

He said it was unfortunate McKeage reinjured his knee in their gold medal matchup and wishes him a speedy recovery.

He's also proud of the performance of his brother, Connor.

"It was good to see a first-year wrestler win Canada West. He was pretty sick through the tournament so it was good to see him pull through and get that win."

While happy with the win, Connor knows he can perform better at full health. Just after the tournament, he was diagnosed with pneumonia.

"I rested up until I had to actually wrestled and then I just went out there and tried to wrestle smart, knowing I wasn't exactly at my peak."

He says the Dinos have been a key part of his success at the university level.

"I think just having good training partners and really good coaches that are dedicated to making me better has been helpful. Having that support all year round and having such a great support system in Calgary is a big advantage to me."

He's pumped about competing in his first USports national championship.

"I've wrestled a lot of these guys before and just excited to go out there and hopefully perform to my best potential. I'm just excited to leave it all out there, especially being at home."

After battling through injuries for several years, Brendan McKeage has been in good health this season. He was able to upgrade his bronze to silver in the 61 kg weight class and feels strong heading into the USports nationals. 

"Over the last four years, I've had trouble being on and off with injuries so it's nice to be consistently wrestling for the whole year."

He wants another crack at his year-long rival Nathen Schmidt of the Golden Bears. Their matchup at Canada West came down to the last few seconds and was the latest in many close battles.

"I'm hoping to meet him again and hope to get him in the final and finally beat him."

Having the tournament in Calgary is great, he says, especially being able to sleep in your own bed, but he has no intention of being distracted by the hometown crowd.

"Walking into it I'm not looking at it any differently than any other wrestling tournament. It's a job I have to do. There's still a guy with two arms and two legs I have to take down and I'm not putting any unnecessary pressure on myself."

While disappointed in having to withdraw from the Canada West finals, which he won last year, McKeage is proud his the Golden Bears team squeezed ahead of the Saskatchewan Huskies by one point to win the men's Canada West title. He's now focusing on rehabbing his knee to quench his thirst for gold after winning silver at last year's USports nationals.

"We won the title and all but it's a little bittersweet that I wasn't able to win an individual gold but hopefully I get Callum again at USports when my knee's a little healthier."

In November, McKeage was part of Canada's U23 team in the world championships hosted by Romania.

"Being on the team with some of those more experienced guys gave me a lot of little things to think about and a lot of little changes to make day-to-day that will help me continue to be at that level. As well, it was valuable to see how everyone else in the world competes and prepare for their matches. It really cemented what I have to do going forward."

McKeage has been enjoying a good season, winning in both the Golden Bears and Dinos tournament. He's hoping to cap it off with a win at the national championship.

"It's been a fairly good season but definitely looking forward to letting it out at USports in front of an almost-hometown crowd."

He's impressed with the budding talent in the ranks of the Cochrane Cowboys and saw some of them in action while refing at a recent Edmonton tournament.

"I had a lot of the Cowboys on my mat so it was cool to see the younger generation taking on the mantel. They were performing outstandingly."

Vern McNeice says he's proud of the Cochrane Cowboy products and believes they have continued to advance their skills thanks to solid university programs.

"We gave them their grassroots start, but the reality is they all have great coaches on the teams they represent and, to their credit, they have all jumped on board and continued to progress."

"We're hoping they compete well. They sure have proven they can in the past against this calibre. Everyone's excited. We just have to get them all healthy."