Wrestler Wrinkle suffers 5-0 loss in Commonwealth debut

By BRENT STUBBS

Senior Sports Reporter

bstubbs@tribunemedia.net

GOLD Coast, Australia — Sean Wrinkle, 21, making his debut at the XXI Commonwealth Games, suffered a 5-0 decision to Australia’s Connor Evans in the men’s freestyle 74 kilogram.

But despite having to battle the home crowd as well, Wrinkle said he was quite pleased with his performance in the match that lasted 0 minutes and 48 seconds at the Carra Sports Arena 1 yesterday. Wrinkle was the first of two Bahamians competing in wrestling. The other is Rashji Mackey, who will be in action on Saturday during the final day of competition.

“I didn’t perform as well as I wanted to because of a little medical setback,” said Wrinkle, who was nursing an injured arm that he had wrapped up. “But it was a good match. He was a tough opponent. I’m hoping that if he wins the gold. He won in the weight class above me in the last Commonwealth Games. So he has a lot of experience.”

Wrinkle is hoping that the Bahamas Olympic Committee will give him the opportunity to compete in the University Championships and if he gets to do it, he will definitely improve on his performance here.

“This was good. It’s a great event. I got a lot of support from the Bahamian team. It’s been enjoyable,” he summed up.

And he was even more particularly pleased to have his parents, Stephen and Gail, in the stands cheering for him.

“I really appreciate the effort they made to be here,” he said. “I just wished that I would have put on a better performance and won.”

Despite the loss, his father Stephen said he was proud of his son.

“We’re very proud of his performance. He came a long way. He was dominating the match until the very end,” he said. “Then an unfortunate move caused the pin. But other than that, he did extremely well. It was a very tough draw taking on the Australian in the first match. He was the world champion and Commonwealth Games champion, but he did well, he performed well.

“I think the potential for wrestling in the Bahamas is very strong. We have another competitor on Saturday and I’m looking forward to watching him perform on Saturday. We are very happy to be here to support Sean and the rest of the Bahamian team and we are looking forward to some exciting events over the next few days. We will support the team throughout the rest of the games.”

Clarence Rolle, the coach of the team, said Wrinkle certainly held his own until the very end.

“I thought the match was one that showed that the Bahamian wrestlers do have the type of intensity to compete on the world stage,” Rolle said. “I’m sure that myself and Sean are disappointed in the final outcome because we didn’t get the win, but if you watched the match, you can see that he really dominated it and had an excellent chance of getting the win.

“He didn’t get a pin and so I think we will have to go back and correct those things and you will be able to see some better results the next time he gets an opportunity to compete on the international stage. But I was very proud of him, being his first international competition. I think he represented us very well. When we correct those minor things, we will see a lot of wins in his column.”

Wellington Miller, the immediate past president of the Bahamas Olympic Committee, said when they decided to get wrestling more involved in their organisation, under Rolle as its president and one of their vice presidents, they were preparing for the opportunity to showcase the Bahamas on the international scene.

“Sean did very well. As a matter of fact, I though he won the fight,” Miller said. “He did a good job of holding the guy down, but I think he made one rookie mistake at the end and that comes with not having the international experience. But I’m very proud of him. I think if he sticks with it, he can go very far.”

Chef de mission Roy Colebrook said it’s just amazing to see the progress that has been made in wrestling.

“Sean Wrinkle dictated the whole match, but as he matures in it, I’m sure we are looking at a future world champion,” Colebrook said. “But what this does is it speaks about the mandate of the BOC to give the small federations the opportunity go on stage and show just watch Bahamians are made of.

“Today was a testimony of what we are speaking about. We want people in our country to understand that many sports, which many sports that Bahamians are competing in, can get the opportunity at making a mark in the sporting world today.”