Verbeek, MacDonald and Fazzari capture gold at international competition

ST. CATHARINES, Ont. - Brock University wrestlers Tonya Verbeek, Jessica MacDonald and Michelle Fazzari all captured gold at international events this week.

At the Cerro Pelado-Granma in Cuba, MacDonald posted a 2-0 record to capture gold at 51kg. She posted victories over Canada's Genevieve Haley (W 3-2, 1-0) and Canada's Vanessa Brown (W 0-1, fall). At 59 kg, Fazzari also was 2-0 as she defeated Cuba's Lisabdra Ramirez (W 3-0, 4-2) and Canada's Amanda Gerhart (2-0, 1-0).

At the Kyiv International in the Ukraine, Verbeek posted a 4-0 record at 55kg to place first overall. She defeated Mongolia's Byambatseren Sundev (W 0-2, 2-0, 6-0), Russia's Valentina Brik (W 6-0, 6-0), Uzbekistan's Lilya Shakirova (W 4-1, 3-1) and Ukraine's Natalya Synyshyn (W 0-2, 1-0, 1-0).

For the Brock men, Jake Hergenhein placed third overall at the Cerro Pelado-Granma going 1-1 at 55kg with a victory over Switzerland's Urs Wild (W 1-0, 3-0. His lone lost came against Cuba's Luis Ibanez (L 0-3, 0-4). At 66 kg, Ryan Weicker lost to USA's Destin McCanley in his opening match (L 2-3, 2-1, 1-1) in Cuba.