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The Canadian Champion, Tuesday, March 8, 2005-17 sleblanc@haltonsearch.com -Rejuvenated Ferrier golden once again Wins second straight OFSAA title to lead EC wrestlers to team silver es v '4, Photo by GRAHAM PAINE Veteran Spartan Gary Ferrier is ail smiles while proudly displaying his two OFSAA gold medals. By STEVE LeBLANC The Champion he Spartans' champi- onship dynasty may be over, but their record- breaking ways live on. Finally de-throned by fellow power- bouse Hagersville after an unprecedented five straight OFSAA team titles, E.C. Drury's wrestlers had to settle for silver this time around at the Brampton Centre for Sports and Entertainment. But second-place honours weren't exact- ly tough to take. For one, the Spartans headed into OFSAA with a smaller contin- gent and were never really favoured to win again. And tvo, their collective silver set a new record for consec- utive team medals - eclipsing the old mark of seven they'd shared with H a mi i 1 t o n ' s Bishop Ryan. "No gold this year, but I can't be any more satisfied with the end results," said head coach Larry Jaroslawski after an adversity-rich tournament that Drury's Kevin Ilwas included bim Derek Anderson o being presented a bronze-medal compe leadership in sports award from OFSAA. Drury capped the roller-coaster ride by taking four of five matches in the finals Friday to edge Monsignor Doyle of Kitchener by three points. The biggest of those victories belonged to Gary Ferrier, who upstaged a previously unbeaten Kyle Bershantsky of Sarnia with a 12-2 superiority decision to punctuate a 5-0 run and become the Spartans' first two- time OFSAA champ. The win was ail the more sweet given that the 64-kg. grappler had been strug- gling this year and last month failed to MEMBER OF THE Msn's Rail Hockey OflMU 0FE e_________________ ONTARIO BL BKY 5 ASSOCIATION Fini 0111ef1l S oiCt@iS Lnguo la Milton www.haltonbhtl.ca • Safe & fun league • Weekly player awards • Milton arenas • Provincial Championships • Week night games * Team registrations only $1799 , Internet stats For more information please contact.. (905) 616-9153 * Email: ballhockey@allstream.net medal at provincials for the first time in his career. "It feels great. This was my best tourna- ment of the season and fortunately it hap- pened to come at the perfect time," remarked a jubilant and physically-drained Ferrier, just moments after his golden tri- umph. Jaroslawski said a return to his bread- and-butter leg attacks and move up to the 64-kg. ranks combined to bring Ferrier back to top form. "Gary's back to using his speed, and when he just keeps shooting nobody can stop him." Employing his trademark all-out approach to the mat, Ferrier grabbed an early lead in the finals and put things away near the end of the first round - scoring about a handful of take- downs along the way. Drury may well have made it a clean sweep in the finals had it not been for a scoring miscue that inad- vertantly gave Kevin Iwasa- Madge's early points to competi- tor Derek hoto by GEORGE BESHIRI Anderson of a-Madge (left) battes Central Elgin in f Central Elgin in one of two battles fMton. for bronze. The Spartans' 51-kg. OFSAA retumee wound up getting pinned with just l1 seconds remaining, but as Jaroslawski points out, the early error "completely changed the way he wrestled the rest of the way." Moments later, Alan Moffat would give Drury its first of two individual medals of the day. finishing an impressive 7-I cam- paign by blanking Ajax's Trent Boughner 2-0 for 57.5 kg. bronze. "This is great, it was definitely my toughest match ail year" he said after- wards. • see DRURY on page 18 loin fellow Milton hockey players at Front Line Hockey School I Pre-Season Day Camps for ages 6 to 14 years Vie Johnston's Arena Streetville www.fronflinehockeyschool.ca or ca ios-as8-2734 -- --6- - . go/ P -sw 0ýJ,