Danielle Lappage took home the gold medal for Canada in wrestling at the World University Championships in Pecs, Hungary, on July 10.Lappage, who competed in the 63-kilogram weight class, defeated Amanda Hendey of the United States by a score of 7-2 in the championship match.However, her route to gold was not an easy one.Lappage said the most difficult match of the day was in the quarterfinals against Valeriia Lazinskaia of Russia, whom she considered the most formidable opponent there.“She was just the hardest person at the tournament, I think – the toughest girl. I've wrestled her twice before. She actually beat me last time, which was in February,” Lappage said.From there, Lappage defeated Haruna Uehara of Japan before clinching the gold medal against Hendey.“It feels good to accomplish something that I wanted to accomplish,” she said.After the victory, Lappage, who is currently completing a master's degree in criminology at Simon Fraser University, celebrated with some McDonald's ice cream.Her next destination will be the Commonwealth Games, held from July 23 to Aug. 3 in Glasgow.After that, she will compete at the World Championships in Uzbekistan in September.Until then, Lappage will continue to train, watching videos of her matches with her coach.“Just fine-tuning everything I guess and staying confident and positive going forward,” she said. “I'm watching my matches for the weekend and see what I did well and can improve on.”In May, Lappage qualified for the Canadian national wrestling team at World Team trials.She said she hopes her recent success will carry over to upcoming competitions.“I don't know if it's momentum necessarily but the confidence and belief in yourself more so, I'd say,” she said. “And those victories help you think that way.”[email protected]
