Ucluelet’s Mayben Crabbe put the West Coast on top of the podium at the provincial high school wrestling championships over the weekend.
“Mayben was a rockstar the whole weekend,” Ucluelet Secondary School’s vice principal and wrestling coach Mike Rhodes told the Westerly.
“She had a lot of expectations to live up to and there was definitely some pressure, coming in as the returning champ and number one ranked wrestler but she handled it with a calm grace.”
He said Crabbe worked hard through her preliminary matches and upped her game to an impressive high level during her championship matchup.
“She made a couple great throws and capitalized on her chances to come away with the win,” he said. “It was pretty awesome to watch the score-clock count down the last few seconds and know she was going to win.”
He added Crabbe’s win did not surprise anyone because of her clear dedication to preparation.
“Mayben has worked hard and deserves all the accolades she gets,” he said.
“I’ve had lots of comments from other coaches around the province who know her and have seen her at other practices, camps, things like that and they all tell me that she’s consistently the hardest working athlete in the room. I’m super proud of her.”
Crabbe became Ucluelet’s first ever national wrestling champion last year and her hometown’s confidence in a repeat is running high as she heads to next month’s Juvenile Canadian Championships with a gold medal around her neck.
Read more in next week's Westerly News on newsstands March 15.