RIO DE JANEIRO, Brazil (CP) - All four of Canada's female wrestlers reached the podium at the Pan American Games on Thursday, but with only one gold in the mix, the team wasn't doing much celebrating.
Carol Huynh of Hazelton, B.C., was the lone member of the Canadian squad to reach the top of the podium, winning gold in the 48-kilogram class.
Olympic silver medallist Tonya Verbeek of Beamsville, Ont., was ousted in the semifinals of the 55-kilogram division and had to settle for a disappointing bronze while teammate Ohenewa Akuffo of Brampton, Ont., was pinned in the 72-kilogram gold-medal final.
Megan Dolan of St. Catharines, Ont., also captured a bronze at 63 kilograms.
"I was hoping to have at least a couple champions here, I'm not going to lie," said Canadian women's coach Leigh Vierling. "I expected all four to be on the podium but we want to be better than that."
Huynh, a native of Hazelton, B.C., dominated Ingrid Medrano of El Salvador to take the gold in the 48-kilogram class in two rounds.
"I was very confident going in," said Huynh. "And I think the result kind of spoke for itself."
Verbeek won the first round of the best-of-three semifinal bout against American Marcie Vandusen 7-0. But Vandusen took the second 2-1 then scored a 7-2 victory in the third round to secure the win. The American went on to lose in the gold-medal match after she was called for an illegal move against Colombia's Jackeline Renteria.
Verbeek easily defeated Tahamara Barron of Mexico in the bronze-medal match.
"It's hard," said Verbeek, who captured a silver medal at the 2004 Athens Olympics. "You have expectations of yourself and you know what you're capable of and when you fall short of that out there it's very frustrating."
Verbeek has beaten Vandusen a number of times in the past.
"Tonya I know will rebound," said Vierling. "She's one of those people that puts a fire in her belly."
Akuffo's match was over in a flash after she was pinned by Kristie Marano of the U.S. in the first round.
"You're disappointed because second is not exactly what I came here to do," said Akuffo. "But then I look at the big picture and it's like I have world championships coming up."
Vierling said the loss will be an important learning experience for Akuffo, especially with the world championships coming up in Azerbaijan.
"Ohenewa's got the tools to do it but she's going to have to be focused and tough and all things we expect of our wrestlers to perform," said Vierling
"She's getting there. This is a good measuring stick and in lots of ways this gives us some things to work on.
"This would have been an important stepping stone here and we're going to have to use it a lesson instead of a confidence booster," he added.
Akuffo and Verbeek said they would rather they get the kinks out in Rio than at the world championships, where there will be Olympic berths on the line. The top eight in each division will qualify for the 2008 Summer Games in Beijing.
"You're not happy, but it's a learning experience," said Akuffo. "Like anything that doesn't break me will make me stronger. That's a goal I have for myself. This is a great competition, but it doesn't qualify me for the Olympics and the world championships will. I will take this and then it's building a plan over the next few weeks."
Verbeek said she's going to try and look at the brighter side of the disappointing result.
"If you stick to that negativity it's going to hang on to you forever," she said. "You really can't. You've got to say what's done is done now move forward and look ahead.
"It's best that I make my mistakes here as opposed to worlds or in Beijing."
Canada and the United States were the favourites coming into Rio. All three bouts that the Canadians lost came against American opponents. The two countries often train together and a healthy rivalry has developed between their athletes.
"There's lots of highs and lows," Vierling said of the tournament. "We lost three matches in this tournament and they were all to the U.S. Coming in, we're two of the top teams in the world and I think we showed that. but we have performed better against the U.S."
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