The Humboldt Collegiate Institute Mohawks are boys doubles provincial badminton bronze medalists after the pair of Seth Schuler and Rylan Marianchuk finished third at the provincial championships in Wilkie on May 12.
The Mohawks pair enjoyed a steady competition, finishing the tournament with a record of 3-2.
Provincials got off to a decent start for the Mohawks as they opened with a 1-1 record, thanks to a two sets to none win over North Battleford John Paul II, and a two sets to none loss to Leader.
Thanks to their 1-1 record, the Mohawks went into their final round robin encounter against O’Neill #2 knowing a win would guarantee the pair a spot in the semi-finals, while a loss would leave NB John Paul II, the Mohawks, and O’Neill #2 all tied for the second semi-final spot in their pool.
Knowing they held all the cards, the pair of Marianchuk and Schuler came out swinging in their final round robin contest, and were rewarded for their efforts as the Mohawks rolled to a two sets to none win.
With the win, the Mohawks booked a spot in the semi-final, where they took on O’Neill #1, the top seed from the other pool. Unfortunately for the Mohawks, after dispatching O’Neill #2 in their final round robin contest, they could not make it a clean sweep of O’Neill in the semi-finals as O’Neill #1 knocked off the Mohawks two sets to none (21-10, 21-19).
With the loss the Mohawks were relegated to the bronze medal final, where they were matched up with Leader, in a rematch of their round robin contest won by Leader.
With revenge on their minds, the Mohawks brought a more complete effort in the bronze medal final.
The two teams played evenly throughout the contest, splitting the first two sets to set up a winner take-all third and decisive set.
After losing a heartbreaking second set 22-20, the Mohawks regrouped quickly in set three, allowing just 12 total points in the final set to make quick work of Leader 21-12.
With the third set victory the Mohawks knocked off Leader two sets to one (21-14, 20-22, 21-12) and captured the provincial bronze medal.
With provincials now in the books, athletes across each of Humboldt’s four schools will quickly turn their focus to track, with pre-districts across the school division coming May 15 in Humboldt, Quill Lake, and Strasbourg.
