Ruiter Wrestling Club shines at SA Championships
Club boasts four new SA Champions
Seven wrestlers from the Ruiter Wrestling Club competed in the recent South African Championships, where they represented Central Gauteng in the cadet, junior, senior and women’s categories.
The club’s wrestlers, who participated in both the freestyle and Greco-Roman styles, managed to bag a total of 12 medals – four gold, six silver and two bronze, and, according to their head coach, Dean van Zyl, the tally was the most of all the province’s clubs.
Dean also competed at the championships, and was crowned as the senior Greco-Roman South African Champion, setting an example by being the only head coach of a team in South Africa that also won a SA title.
They achieved the following:
• Dean van Zyl – Gold medal in the Senior Greco-Roman category.
• Christo Kruger – Gold medal in the Senior Greco-Roman category, as well as a silver medal in the Freestyle category.
• Patricia Theledi – Silver medal in the Senior Freestyle category.
• Machiel Grobler – Silver medal in the Junior Greco-Roman category as well as in the Junior Freestyle category. He also won a silver medal in both the Senior Greco-Roman and Freestyle categories.
• Riehan Botha – Gold medal in the Cadet Greco-Roman category as well as a gold medal in the Cadet Freestyle category.
• Neo Ginsburg – Bronze medal in the Cadet Greco-Roman category.
• Bertie Venter – Bronze medal in the Cadet Greco-Roman category.
He said, “I am very proud of my wrestlers for their accomplishments and their commitment shown. They sacrificed hours and hours of their time to practise, and their hard work definitely paid off.”
He added that wrestling is one of the most difficult sporting codes in the world, and said, “To be able to achieve on this level takes a lot of hard work, and you have to literally live by the motto of ‘eat, sleep, wrestle, repeat’.”
Dean said that his wrestlers are now busy preparing for the South African trials, for the opportunity to be chosen for the National team, and to represent the country on an international level.
Training takes place every Tuesday and Thursday from 6pm to 8.30pm at Hoërskool Bastion, and your first week of training is free.
For more information, contact Dean van Zyl on 083 644 2670.
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