Connor McNeice didn’t return with a medal from the world junior wrestling championship but he did gain valuable experience.

Making his first appearance at the junior world championship in Trnava, Slovenia, Sept. 17-23, he lost a preliminary round, 9-2, against Rohit Rohit, of India, in the 65 kg weight class.

Vern McNeice, his father and one of the coaches of Team Canada, says Connor was initially disappointed, but upon reviewing film realized he’s wasn’t too far off the mark.

“The competitor was better than him that day but he also recognizes he’s really close,” says Coach McNeice. “That’s the exciting thing because you want to go back and try to win the thing.”

“We broke it down and looked at his performance. He had some good scoring opportunities and did score on a beautiful takedown but he got caught in a short period of time that his opponent was able to capitalize upon and obtain eight points in a matter of about 30 seconds.”

India’s team came fifth overall in the world championship. Russia won gold, the States silver and Iran, third.

“That’s the positive. He knows he’s really knocking on the door and absolutely can compete not only with the marginal countries but the very best ones.”

Canada brought nine wrestlers, five men and four women. They returned with a silver, a fifth-place finish and two 10 top performances.

“It was a bit of an above average performance for Canada. We’re competing against the very best in the world. In all of the countries from Eastern Europe, wrestling is like hockey.”

This was Vern McNeice’s first world championship on the Canadian coaching staff.

“It was the first time I’ve been able to step into that role and it was fantastic. You never stop learning. It’s just an amazing sport. There are different things being done by different people around the world. It was a lot of work but I really enjoyed the opportunity.”

Wrestler McNeice is taking some downtime to focus on studies and relax. He may be competing in the U of C’s Dino Invitational and in November hopes to compete in an elite tournament at Simon Fraser University tournament in Burnaby, B.C.

Having just entered his first year at the University of Calgary, McNeice has one year remaining as a junior. This was only his second competition in that age group. In August, he won bronze in the Pan American championship.