Reprinted with permission of Alberni Valley Times
Tuesday, April 03, 2007
Ashley Cross' comeback to competitive wrestling has been an inspiring one for her.
The Alberni Wrestling alumni took home a silver medal at the inaugural Inter-Collegiate Cup that was held in conjunction with the Canadian Senior Wrestling Championships in Calgary over the weekend.
Cross made history on the weekend as she became the first wrestler to represent North Island College and the first to medal for the new college program.
Cross, who is the younger sister of Port Alberni's Olympic prospect and three time national champion Travis, has not wrestled competitively in 2 to 3 years after having a stellar high school and junior career. She was a 3 time BC High School Champion for Alberni District Secondary and then went on to win the National Junior title and represent Canada at the Junior Worlds in 2003.
The pressure on training, competing and going to college in the Lower Mainland was too much for Cross and she stepped away from the sport in 2004.
This season she returned to the Alberni Valley to attend North Island College and began helping coach in the Alberni program. This of course happened at the same time as Alberni Wrestling teamed with North Island College to initiate the college's first ever athletic program with a wrestling team. Cross was the ideal athlete to build the program around.
Most of this year has been devoted to laying the ground work for the NIC program. Former Moldovan National team wrestler and 2000 Olympian Ivan Diaconu was hired as the head coach and he and the Alberni program have worked to build the foundation for a strong wrestling future for NIC.
Assisted by Alberni coach James Messenger and national team member Travis Cross, Diaconu and NIC offer an excellent opportunity for wrestlers to continue their wrestling career beyond high school.
Previously the only opportunity to do this in BC was at the very high powered programs at Simon Fraser University or Douglas College in Burnaby and Coquitlam.
"We are well positioned to have a great group of recruits next season at NIC," said Alberni Wrestling Director Tom McEvay. "Already we have had tentative commitments from several BC high school champions and other medalists. We have several wrestlers who might transfer from Douglas as NIC is a better fit for them.
"It was great to have Ashley be the first representative for North Island College wrestling. We are confident this program will grow and prosper over the next few years with people like Ivan, James, Ashley and Travis leading the way. The College has been very supportive with principal Tom Weegar a huge part of getting this thing going."
Cross had another benefit of being at the seniors this year as she was there to watch big brother Travis win his third straight national title and position himself well on the Olympic qualifying ladder.
The Cross siblings form another great story in the rich tradition of Alberni Wrestling. It appears they are not done yet.
© Alberni Valley Times 2007
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