Myla Plett of Carstairs won gold in curling along with her teammates. Plett was third on the Rachel Jacques rink from Edmonton, which also includes second Chloe Johnston and lead Halla Grunow, both from Okotoks.
The team went 5-0 over the weekend with two of the games going to an extra end.
Plett said being at the Winter Games was a wonderful experience.
“I had a really great time,” said Plett. “We got to meet a whole bunch of new people. Being bused around and sleeping on a school floor was all part of the experience. I was happy just to be there, but winning gold was very exciting.”
Plett said the competition was quite strong. But her rink played well together, despite having only been put together just before the Games.
“All the teams played so well,” she said. “We had two games go to an extra end and one game was a tie going into the eighth end. We had a tough game in the final, but we pulled through.”
Next up for Plett is the U-18 Curling Provincial Championships in Sexsmith from Feb. 26 to March 1.
Winning gold in boys' 70kg wrestling was Draeden Berry of Water Valley. Berry, who wrestles with the Cochrane Cowboys club, defeated Aidan Mann from Zone 4 in an exciting final.
Berry said the competition was quite strong. Berry’s Zone 2 team finished in fourth place in the all-around team competition.
“It was really tough,” said Berry. “Before most matches I got quite nervous because for some matches, the team relies on you for points. The final was four minutes of very hard wrestling against Aidan Mann, who had beaten me earlier that day.”
Berry said he was very pleased and a little shocked after taking the gold.
“It didn’t really hit me until I stepped off the mat,” he said. “Just to watch my team get so excited over my win really made me feel like I belonged.”
The 14-year-old, who attends St. Timothy Junior/Senior High School in Cochrane, has been wrestling at school for three years and in the club for a year and a half.
This year, he won bronze at the Western Canadian Age Class tournament in Abbotsford, B.C. and silver at the Golden Bear Invitational in Edmonton.
Next up for Berry is nationals on April 2-5 in Edmonton where he will be competing in the 66kg cadet division.
Olds’ Mary Wilson was the director of operations for the Zone 4 female hockey team that took home a gold medal.
Chris Leeming coached the Zone 5 female hockey team to a fourth-place finish while fellow Olds resident and Zone 3 female hockey player Jaecia Joyce brought home a silver medal.
Avory Redekopp of Olds finished fourth in all around team wrestling and in female 51kg wrestling for Zone 2 while fellow Olds resident Tyson Prevost finished fourth in all around team wrestling also for Zone 2.
Of the Carstairs athletes participating, Myla Plett brought home a gold medal for Zone 2 in female team curling, Haru Pearse finished fifth in Star 8 women’s singles figure skating while Skyla Grenier finished 14th in Star 6 women’s singles figure skating, both for Zone 2.
Didsbury’s Ryder Riedel’s Zone 2 team finished third in the male hockey tournament.
Bryn White and Melissa White’s Zone 2 team finished third in the ringette tournament.
Sundre athlete Trinity Praill finished sixth in the all around team wrestling event for Zone 4.
There were 1,700 competitors in 19 sports at the four-day Games.
“The skill, resolve and love of sport displayed by these young athletes at the 2020 Alberta Winter Games was inspiring,” said Leela Sharon Aheer, minister of culture, multiculturalism and status of women.
