Keagin Collie was determined to climb the podium at the OFSAA championships this year in Windsor.
After capturing wrestling gold in last year’s tournament, she defeated Alexia Sherland of Sandwood Heights to repeat as OFSAA champion in the girls 67 kilogram program.
She ends hers dominating high school wrestling career on top, stating the match was special for family reasons.
Her father, Brock University wrestling coach Dave Collie, won his first OFSAA medal in the same city as his daughter’s.
“I was lucky starting a lot younger than most of the girls having my dad as my coach. It was pretty special winning gold in Windsor to end my high school wrestling career.”
Keagin will attend the University of Dayton in the Fall, but will be headed to the soccer field instead of the wrestling mat after accepting a scholarship to join its program.
Despite the change in sport, Keagin will still compete at Nationals and hopes to find a program near the university to keep wrestling as part of her life.
“I don’t think I could ever give it up completely. My love for wrestling is too strong.”
Keagin leaves E.L. Crossley as one of their most successful students on the mat. Her back-to-back OFSAA championships become tough to follow, but she hopes others will continue the wrestling tradition at the school.
“It’s a great sport to get into as you don’t have anyone to rely on but yourself,” she said. “You have complete control over what happens in a match and that’s how you really test your athletic ability.”
