Landon Squire

“Live and die by the throw.”

That’s the motto fifth-year wrestler Landon Squires uses when he is grappling for the University of Saskatchewan Huskies wrestling squad.

“When you throw somebody you are trying to pin them on their back, but if it’s not done right you can potentially fall onto your own back,” Squires explained. “When you go for the throw you can instantly win or lose the wrestling match.”

This all-out attitude has served Squires well in his wrestling career. He joined the wrestling team at Walter Murray Collegiate when he was only 14 years old. Three years on the high school team led to three consecutive city championships and two provincial championships for the Saskatoon-born Squires.

In 2008, Squires made the jump to the university level and has since dominated the 90-kilogram weight class. His resume is filled with non-conference tournament medals, including the bronze he won at the Huskie Open Nov. 24. These tournaments helped prepare him for conference and national finals each season. Squires has won back-to-back Canada West conference gold medals and claimed the silver medal at nationals twice.

Now in his last year of university eligibility, Squires says he will be working harder than ever to get back to the Canadian Interuniversity Sport final to add a national gold medal to his trophy case.

“I’m looking forward to CIS this year and hoping I don’t have the curse of second place,” Squires joked. “I know I just have to keep calm and be mentally ready for the final when I get there.”

Squires cites the love of competition and intensity of the sport as his main reasons for taking up wrestling.

He hopes that these same attributes will help him in his future endeavours.

Squires will graduate at the end of this year with a BA in regional urban planning. He has already completed a cultural mapping plan for Saskatoon’s community services sector. The project plots important information for cultural sites in Saskatoon. He hopes his presentation of the plan will help leverage him into the industry.

“I like to take initiative and have the power and leeway in my work, so I see myself hopefully being a partner in a firm,” Squires said.

When he gets a break from wrestling and planning his future, Squires tries to avoid throwing people around and enjoys the intellectual challenge that board games offer.

“If there is a weekend where some of the team is free, the wrestlers will come over to my place and play Settlers of Catan,” Squires said.