Katie Dutchak twists up an opponent in the Huskie Open on Nov. 26.

The University of Saskatchewan Huskies wrestling squad was lucky that Katie Dutchak wasn’t quite yet ready to step off the mat.

The former captain of the Holy Cross High School team and first-year wrestler with the Dogs nearly moved to Missouri this year to take her rodeo career to the next level. However, after a bronze-medal performance in the Canadian junior wrestling finals last year — a finish that she considered lacklustre — she decided that she “wasn’t ready to be done wrestling.”

“There was a scholarship opportunity for me to go to Missouri but I chose to stay here,” said Dutchak, who would have had to give up wrestling had she accepted the offer.

She said that the atmosphere at nationals and her disappointment in not winning gold “re-lit the spark” she once had for the sport.

“It definitely pushed me to keep on going.”

Now, the first-year arts and science student balances both sports.

“I rodeo in the summer and wrestle in the winter,” she said.

This year, the late rodeo season and an injury kept Dutchak off the mat in early competitions.

At her first-ever university competition on Nov. 26, however, her skills were not rusty.

Dutchak was the only Huskie on the women’s team to take home a gold medal when the team hosted a Canada West competition last weekend in the Education Gym.

She won the 51-kilogram category by defeating teammate and fellow rookie Hannah Franson.

“It feels pretty good,” said Dutchak. “I’ve never been able to beat her before.”

Dutchak and Franson are close friends and, while in high school, trained together on the Holy Cross team.

“It’s always bittersweet being in a final against a teammate… and somebody who is like one of your sisters,” said Dutchak. “It’s tough but it’s the sport.”

Franson took home silver in the category.

Other Huskies to win gold medals were Ryan Myrfield and Landon Squires. Dylan Bray and Kathleen Kent also took home silvers while Theo Dow and Natasha Kramble won their bronze medal matches.

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Photo: Raisa Pezderic/The Sheaf