Wrestling’s popularity is growing in Cochrane. Between the Cochrane Cowboys club program and St. Timothy School’s success in high-school wrestling, there’s a definite map to the mat of success in town.
But where does it lead?
For Cochrane’s Loeppky twins, to the next level.
Matthew and Austin Loeppky, graduates of the St. Timothy Thunder wrestling program, are at the University of Calgary grappling with Canada’s best collegiate wrestlers in Canadian Interuniversity Sport.
The eldest of the wrestling Loeppkys – younger brothers Ryan and Brendan are Cowboys and Thunder – Austin and Matthew also wrestled with the Junior Dino program because the Cowboys were just starting out as they finished high school.
The 19-year-old Cochranites are in their second year at U of C and are in Cochrane regularly, helping the Cowboys and Thunder with training and tournaments.
“It’s going well,” says Austin, who wrestles in the 60-kilogram weight class. “I’ve been at three tournaments so far. One at the U of C. One at the U of S (Saskatchewan) and one at Winnipeg. At U of C I got second. At Winnipeg I got third. And U of S I got fifth. It’s been good.”
For Matthew, university wrestling has been more of a study in injury rehab. He broke his elbow at the start of his freshmen year and is nursing a serious knee injury in his sophomore season. He still has five years of CIS wrestling eligibility left.
A student of the game, Matthew has been keenly observing the university wrestling landscape. It all comes down to the skills being taught by Cowboys and Thunder coaches Vern McNeice and Andy Macri.
“It’s fundamentals,” Matthew imparts. “If you’ve got the fundamentals down, it’s something you can build off. The other things (shots, throws) come as an accessory, almost, to the fundamentals.”
And fitness is key.
“It’s such a fast-paced sport that if you don’t have speed and cardiovascular endurance, you’re done,” Austin surmises.
Neither were done when they aged out of high-school and club-level wrestling. Quite the opposite.
