Tremblay Takes Gold

SportsDavid Kaufmann — Published April 5, 2011

David Tremblay of the Concordia Stingers wrestling team has decorated his trophy room with his third straight CIS national title, all while helping Concordia get its first as a team since 1990.

On Feb. 26, Tremblay took down Gaston Tardif of the hosting Lakehead University in Thunder Bay, Ont., capturing the gold medal. This made him extremely proud to be a Stinger.

“To win it for the team, it was awesome to bring back a banner to the school because we’ve been trying for a few years and have always come a little short, but this year we finally got it,” he said.

Tremblay’s high success rate can be traced back to his high school days, when he won the nationals three times. By the time he graduated, he was already a top prospect in the country.

“Basically, when I was in grade 12, I was already a top recruit for all the big universities,” he said.

Being an individual champion has come second nature to him. Since joining the team in January of 2009, coping with living the life of a wrestling success-story is something he and his family are no strangers to.

Tremblay first stepped onto the mat at L’Essor High School in Windsor, Ont., when his father convinced him to join. “I started wrestling there because my dad was the coach,” he said. He has another family connection to the sport—his younger brother is also a high prospect in wrestling. “My little brother is going to be coming here, living with me, and going to Concordia,” he added.

Before every tournament, Tremblay usually does a series of drills, which condition him to act with intent to successfully pin down his opponent. When he’s fighting for the championship, he works hard to stay focused.

“My goal is to try to stay relaxed, to enjoy the moment, to try and put on a good show, to try different techniques, and to try to look at the coach in the corner. All this is going through my head at once,” he said.

While he is accustomed to grappling with higher-ranked players in Canada, he doesn’t find his competition that stiff.

“Although a lot of the participants in the CIS are the top guys, I’ve just been wrestling a lot longer that some of them, and have more international experience,” he noted.

When Tremblay isn’t shooting for takedowns, he also enjoys the great outdoors, and hands-on work.

“If I could, I would do more camping. I also like working with my hands; I used to do a lot of construction,” he said.

Currently, Tremblay is majoring in Leisure Science and plans on pursuing his talent in wrestling for the Stingers.