Wrestler hoping to get another shot at Olympics
Brock University’s Pye has triumphed over much greater adversity in life and sport
Clayton Pye’s dream of competing for Canada at the Olympic Games wasn’t realized Sunday in Ottawa.
The Brock University wrestler was defeated by Ricardo Baez of Argentina in the 86-kilogram qualifying round at the Pan-american Olympic wrestling trials and so, for now, Pye’s Olympic dream is potentially over — a bitter pill to swallow considering what he went through just to make it to Ottawa for the meet.
“I pretty much just choked, more or less,” the Ingersoll, Ont., native told Postmedia News. “I wasn’t feeling myself. Maybe my nerves got to me a little bit. I don’t really know what exactly happened. It’s just something I have to try to figure out and understand. I literally just wasn’t thinking out there.”
Adding to his disappointment was that his mom, Sheila Shea, drove all the way from Manitouwadge, Ont., to watch her son compete, even though the event was supposed to be held without spectators to reduce the risk of the spread of COVID-19. His mom managed to get into the venue anyway. Clayton’s father, Steven Pye, watched his son wrestle online.
“It was embarrassing. My mom drove all the way here, so I wish I performed better,” said Pye. “But I’m new to the international circuit and I need to bolster my credentials and get a little more experience and, hopefully, I don’t have these mental shut downs in the future because it’s never been a problem for me. I pride myself on my ability to show up and grind it out with everybody.”
Adding to Pye’s frustration was the fact that he beat Baez at the Pan-am championships a week before the Olympic qualifier.
Still, the Marty Calder-coached wrestler has nothing to be embarrassed about. Making it to Ottawa was a stunning accomplishment for the third-year Brock University student.
Just getting back on the wrestling mat was huge.
In the fall of 2017, Pye was stabbed in the chest by a housemate. The six-inch blade just missed his subclavian artery and he could have died. There was talk he would never wrestle again.
Instead, not only did Pye return to the mat, that very season he won the Ontario university championship and his first U Sports gold medal as the Canadian university champion. In December, Pye won his weight class at the Canadian Olympic trials in Niagara Falls, Ont.
So, for sure, Pye has no reason to hang his head.
“I am proud,” he said, somewhat reluctantly. “For sure. I broke through to another level this year.”
The Pan Am qualifier marked his first international event for Team Canada.
“I got two national titles this year at two different weight classes and I’ve come back from pretty crazy things. In no way am I upset with what I’ve already accomplished, but you always want more,” he said.
“I’m going to learn from my mistakes here and move forward.”
If the global COVID-19 situation improves over the next few weeks, a last-chance Olympic qualification tournament will be held in June in Sofia, Bulgaria.
Pye plans to be there.
Jordie Steen was destined to become an outstanding athlete.
Steen, of Tecumseh, Ont., and Amar Dhesi of Surrey, B.C., punched their tickets to the Tokyo Olympics by making it to the semifinals at the Pan-american Olympic wrestling qualifier in Ottawa on Sunday.
In total, two Canadian men and two Canadian women qualified for Tokyo in freestyle wrestling. For the 28-year-old Steen, getting through in the 97 kg weight class continues a long line of family success in international sports. His father, Dave, won bronze in the decathlon for Canada at the 1988 Seoul Olympics. Steen’s mother, Andrea (Page) Steen, ran hurdles for Canada at the 1984 Olympics. His great-uncle, David Lorne Steen, was a shot put gold medallist at the 1966 Commonwealth Games and his grandfather, Don Steen, was Canadian decathlon champion in 1956.
Steen defeated Luis Miguel Perez Sosa of the Dominican Republic 13-2 in the 97 kg semifinal. The top 2 finishers in each weight class move on to the 2020 Olympics, which are scheduled to open July 24.
Dhesi, 24, qualified in the 125 kg weight class by pinning Charles Merrill of Puerto Rico in his semi, making his first trip to the world stage as a member of Team Canada since winning gold at the 2014 world junior championships.
Canadians Erica Wiebe and Danielle Lappage qualified for Tokyo on Saturday. Ottawa native Wiebe, the reigning women’s heavyweight Olympic champ, defeated Genesis Rosangela Reasco Valdez of Ecuador 6-0 in the 76 kg semi. Lappage of Olds, Alta.., won her semi by technical superiority 10-0 over Leonela Aleyda Ayovi Parraga of Ecuador in the 68 kg division.