By Larry Moko
What a perfect going-away present.
Anthony Canuto thought that if he could win an OFSAA gold medal in wrestling last week it might be an appropriate sendoff for his soon-to-be departing coach.
Mike Varrasso will be retiring from St. Jean de Brebeuf Catholic Secondary School as a teacher and a wrestling coach in June.
That will end his 32-year career in developing student athletes.
"I wanted to try the best I could to win, mainly because it's my coach's last year," Canuto said.
Canuto came close. However, he had to settle for a silver medal in the boys' 47.5 kg weight class at the Ontario high school championships in Kitchener.
"It was disappointing I lost," he said. "I really worked hard this year. I beat two of the best people in the bracket and I was excited to go for first."
The Varrasso-Canuto combination did win a gold medal two years ago when OFSAA was held in Ottawa. And last year, in the confines of the United Soccer Centre, Canuto placed fifth.
Varrasso said it was an impressive showing overall for Canuto.
"Nobody had scored a point on him until his final match. Unfortunately, when he took an opponent down he got re-rolled at the end. He ended up on his back in a pin. It was a great match that really could have gone either way."
Anthony and his younger brother, Marco, are teammates at Brebeuf.
"Anthony really made a commitment to improve his wrestling skills," Varrasso said. "He learns a lot from winning but even more from when he loses. He's got a good attitude."
There was one other Brebeuf representative at OFSAA -- Olivia De Giorgi -- and she placed fourth in the girls' 41 kg weight class.
"Olivia is a Grade 12-plus," the Brebeuf coach said. "She lost one match the first day and then came back to win three in a row. She ended up in a close match the second day for the bronze medal. Olivia loved the competition. She had a smile on her face the whole way."
Varrasso says wrestling seems to have recovered well after the pandemic.
"The sport has really come back," he said. "A lot of programs have started to emerge with quite a few wrestlers. The skills are getting better every year."
