Written by Mike Treadgold

Success on the mats
The Gryphons wrestling teams were in action over the weekend at the OUA Championships in London. The men’s team won the bronze medal and the women finished fourth, while a number of Gryphons took home individual medals. Kyle Grant, Kevin Iwasa-Madge and Jake Jagas all took home gold medals with Jagas also being named OUA rookie of the year. Scott Wolowich and Allison Leslie took home silver medals and Mike Katsilas, Mathieu DesChatelets, Laura Christensen and Hilary Rafia won bronze. All Gryphon medalists qualified for the CIS Championships in Calgary in the first week of March.

Men’s ski team takes OUA silver
The Gryphon men’s Nordic ski team won the silver medal at the OUA Championships in Orangeville over the weekend. The Gryphons, who came into the event with one of the deepest teams in the province, performed admirably with a number of top ten individual finishes. OUA all-star Matti Little was fourth in the men’s 10km classic and fifth in the 15km freestyle. Ian Ritchie finished ninth in the 10km, earning him an all-star nomination as well. The men’s relay team won bronze. On the women’s side, Vesta Mather and Laura Hewitt both had top ten finishes, resulting in all-star nods as well. The women’s team just missed the podium with a fourth place overall finish.

Women fall in quarter-finals
After making dramatic improvements in the 2009-10 season, the Gryphon women’s volleyball team finally met their match in Friday’s quarter-final playoff match up against the Western Mustangs. The Gryphons, who had not taken part in postseason play in the past five seasons, were defeated three sets to none by the Mustangs, ending a very successful season. Before the game, a pair of Gryphons, Claire Sandor and Kylen Van Osch, were named first team OUA all-stars.

Gryphons fall to Thunderwolves in semi-finals
The Lakehead Thunderwolves handed the Gryphon men’s hockey team a pair of overtime defeats in the OUA West semi-finals to knock the Gryphons out of the playoffs, ending their season. The series opened last Wednesday night at the Gryphon Centre where the Gryphons executed a miraculous third period comeback to send the game to overtime, tied at three. In the extra frame, however, Andy Hyvarinen beat Gryphons goaltender Scott Van Bommel to give Lakehead the win, sending the series to Thunder Bay for the final two games. Game 2, however, was all that was needed as again, the Thunderwolves took the Gryphons to overtime where Matt Caria scored his third goal of the game, clinching the series win.