BY AARON CRECES
Alex Moher is no stranger to overcoming odds, working through several injuries before taking the gold for his weight category at the Ontario junior wrestling championships.
Now he’s training for the Canadian juniors, which are being held in Edmonton from March 19-23. It’s something which could catapult him from Canada to Uzbekistan for the world championships if he wins.
The second-year Conestoga College woodworking student decimated the competition in the 55-kilogram weight category on the weekend of Jan. 25-26, despite having to train through several injuries.
“It can be frustrating,” Moher said. “You can deal with injuries by training with different moves, adjusting your style … There are ways to train around injuries, but it’s tougher.”
Training once or twice a day, every day of the week, Moher said there’s nothing like seeing weeks of practise and hard work come to fruition. He said it’s a lot better to practise moves in a real match setting, that way you get to test yourself against real competition.
“It’s fun knowing that practise is a lot different from reality,” he said. “Using a move you’ve practised for a while successfully is an accomplishment.”
The Kitchener resident said he considered his gold medal at the Ontario Federation of School Athletic Associations championships in 2012 to be one of his most memorable successes.
“The OFSAA tournament was a big deal,” he said. “I’d say that’s one of the best wins I’ve had.”
“A lot of people hate losing more than they like winning,” said the 19-year-old.
Moher has said his eventual goal is to qualify for the Olympics in 2016, as wrestling is set to return to the Summer Olympics that year.
He said wrestling is still an important part of the sports world and that he was glad to be able to see its return to the Olympics, and possibly compete in it.
“I love the sport because it’s exciting and pretty technical,” the wrestler said. “The best thing about it is how it affects people’s lives. I’ve never seen someone step into the wrestling ring and not come out a better person.
“A lot of people in wrestling say that there are only two kinds of wrestlers – winners and learners.”
What is Journalism?