Feature Article April 3, 2002
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Local athlete has Olympian dreamsby Will CybulskiIf HollyAnn Reilly has her way, she wants a shot at representing her country in the Olympic Games of the near future. The 18 year-old wrestler has been a resident of Kaladar since 1995, has worked at her sport of choice for the past 5 years, and has been a Central Ontario gold medalist for all but one of those five.
The North Addington Education Centre OAC student is active in other sports, but wrestling is obviously her passion. Not only does she compete; she is involved with coaching as well. In December past, she played an active role in an invitational tournament at NAEC, where athletes from Trenton, Quinte, and her own school wrestled.
HollyAnns collection of competition awards for this year alone already includes medals, ribbons and a trophy denoting first place finishes at Port Hope High School, Campbellford High School (where she wrestled two weight classes above her division), Bay of Quinte at Brighton, and Kawartha/Quinte at Lindsay.
From February 28 to March 2, HollyAnn traveled with fellow student Rosie Merkler to Thunder Bay, where they were two of 700 athletes who took part in an OFSAA (Ontario Federation of Secondary Athletics Association) competition at Fort William Gardens. There were 26 others in her class, and HollyAnn wrestled in six matches. She won the first three and then lost the fourth, which was a semi-final. She then lost her 5th match by a point, but won her final, which allowed her to bring home a 5th place finish. Competitors complete each grueling match within a maximum of six minutes, so HollyAnn says endurance can make or break a wrestler. In fact, some of the bouts only last a matter of long seconds.
This school year, North Addington Education Centre can boast of fairly high numbers of students who took up wrestling. Reilly says that the sport there started with 20 students, and eventually ended up with thirteen. Eleven of those took part in the Bay of Quinte competition at Brighton in February. Following the COSSA (Central Ontario Secondary School Athletics) event at Lindsay, HollyAnn was asked to serve as Team Captain at Thunder Bay.
Classes of competitors are based on weight increments, starting at less than 90 pounds, and going upward by ten-pound divisions to unlimited.
HollyAnn may have a number of hurdles to overcome in realizing her aspirations. She will initially be attending college, rather than university, after her OAC graduation, and that narrows her opportunities in the wrestling field while receiving her education. There are also no large facilities nearby where she can train to reach full potential, with Peterborough being the closest centre. But, she comes across as someone who has the determination to triumph over adversity, so I would suspect that her Olympic dream is achievable down the road. To that end, she hopes to open a facility in Belleville next year along with Glen Friend of Tweed. HollyAnn is confident that Friends assistance in training can help her reach an Olympic try-out level.
HollyAnn reports that, despite the amount of time she dedicates to sports, she is still able to maintain an 80% grade average. She has been offered a four-year bursary (for a total of $2,000) from the University of Windsor, which she describes as the top track and field educational institution in Canada.
Reilly recognizes the value of being a team player, asking that acknowledgment be given to student co-coach Jesse Valyear, and teacher-supervisors Steve Riley and Betty deVarennes for their parts in North Addingtons wrestling program administration. She also wanted to thank each of the teams members for their hard work and dedication, offering congratulations to all. I couldnt go anywhere without the help of the whole team, said Reilly.
Year 2004, 2008? HollyAnn, you make the Olympic Team cut, and Ill be pleased to write abut your exploits!
