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KELVIN GAWLEY photo

Lindsay Duncan, in character as Nicole Matthews, wrestles Matthew Hagan (stage name: Ethan HD) at PoCo Collision on Jan. 31.

A rock ‘em sock ‘em student

Lindsay Duncan strikes balance between school and life in the ring

ECCW

upcoming events

1 “BLOCKBUSTER” Feb 7 @ Russian Community Centre, Kitsilano

2 “ASA Winter Fair” Feb 21 @ Abbotsford Ag-Rec Building

3 “PAC Cup”

Mar 21 @ Russian Community Centre, Kitsilano

Source: www.eccw.com

By KELVIN GAWLEY uring the week, Lindsay Dun- can is a Langara College recre- ation management student and a supervisor at the City Centre Aquatic Complex in Coquitlam. But on the weekend, she has an entirely differ- ent name and title: Nicole Matthews, professional wrestler and reigning champion of Elite Canadian Champion- ship Wrestling.

“IT get to have an alter ego on the weekends,” Duncan said. “My Nicole Matthews persona is basically an amped-up version of myself, with no fil- ters.”

Duncan made her professional wres- tling debut in 2006 after three months of training at the ECCW Slam Academy in Surrey. She has been a rising star ever since.

Duncan held both the local women’s championship and tag team champion-

ship belts before becoming the ECCW champion.

Kathleen Danczel, a regular attend- ee of ECCW events, called Duncan “a total fan favourite [who] isn’t afraid to hold her own.”

Duncan lives in Maple Ridge and is one of Langara’s distance education student.

Striking the balance between work- ing and studying as Lindsay Duncan and wrestling as Nicole Matthews is not always easy.

“Sometimes your social life suffers a little,” Duncan said. “Sometimes when yowre on your break at work is when you do your homework.”

Ultimately, Duncan said she plans to continue her career in recreation but is not sure what she will do in between.

“It’s not so much the end result but what’s the path that’s going to get me there,” she said.

In the meantime, Duncan said she is enjoying defending her title against men twice her size (the ECCW is among a growing number of indepen- dent wrestling promotions that have intergender championships).

“She is the best girl wrestler I’ve ever worked with ... She’s ridiculously athletic,” said Dylan Miller, a 13-year ECCW veteran who wrestles under the ring name Artemis Spencer.

Dave Courtright, known in the ring as Bishop, had similar praise for Dun- can. “She has a natural charisma you can’t teach,” he said.

Duncan said that she is glad she has been able to make a name for herself while wrestling mostly close to home. She said she has thought about apply- ing to WWE (World Wrestling Enter- tainment).

“lve definitely considered sending my tapes in,” she said.

Ss

Rookies a big asset for team

New players have helped carry Falcons to victory

By OWEN MUNRO Ihe road to a repeat national cham- TPicrstio for the Langara Falcons men’s basketball team looks better than ever thanks to a strong rookie class.

There are four first-year players on the team this season: guards Montell Lindgren, Brandon Tait, Nick Jhauj and forward Abubakar Khan.

“The one thing about the rookies is they fit in really well,” said head coach Paul Eberhardt. “The deeper the bench you can have the better.”

Lindgren, a Prince George na- tive, has been fea- tured the most in the Falcons’ line- up, despite sitting out last season. Eb- k erhardt said that ABUBAKAR KHAN Lindgren had trou- First-year ble adjusting to life men’s basketball at Langara College player, Langara but came back for Falcons another season af- ter taking time to reflect. One of the biggest develop- ments in Lindgren’s game hasn’t been on the court, but rather maturing as a person.

“T think what helped him the most wasn’t even so much to do with basket- ball, it was about growing up,” Eber- hardt explained.

Athletics at Langara offer opportuni- ties for student athletes looking to transfer to a larger institution. For first-year player Khan, already a trans- fer from Western Washington Univer- sity, this is a goal both achievable and practical.

“Td like to play one more year [at Langara], go to UBC maybe and play as a three or four instead of a four or five,” Khan said.

As of Feb. 3, the Falcons are in sec- ond place in the league, and ranked fourth in the Canadian Collegiate Ath- letic Association national rankings.

XS Falcons’ Tally

WOMEN’S BASKETBALL MEN'S BASKETBALL W-D-L W-D-L 2-0-12 12-0-2

Ranked: 8th Ranked: 2nd

BADMINTON

Ranked: 1st

Disc sports gaining popularity in South Van

More students and community members are taking up sports like ultimate or disc golf

By TONY SU

f you want to pick up a new sports peso: in South Vancouver, disc

sports may be just what you’re look- ing for.

The popularity of disc sports, which generally take the form of either disc golf or ultimate (commonly known as ultimate Frisbee), is growing in Van- couver. Both sports can be played at lo- cal parks or sports fields, with disc golf courses available at Queen Elizabeth Park and Quilchena Elementary School.

“Disc golf is played like ball golf,” said Leanne Fulton, board executive of

BC Disc Sports. “You have 18 holes on a course. ... [You] try to finish each hole in the fewest number of throws.”

Fulton has seen the sport grow over her 10-year career. She said she re- members the days when disc sports events were rare. Now there are com- petitions monthly.

“Each event is sold out,” Fulton said.

Chris Ren, a computer science stu- dent at Langara College, started the Langara Ultimate Club last semester. The club competed in the Canadian Western University Ultimate Champi- onships in October 2014.

“We won [the tournament], and it

was fun,” Ren said.

Unlike disc golf, ultimate is a team sport that mixes elements of football, scoring in the end zone, and basketball, in which the player “establishes a pivot foot” to avoid travelling. Ultimate is self-refereed, so players make the calls.

“A lot of people are sportsmanlike,” said Troé Weston, a manager at Van- couver Ultimate League.

Ren said he is looking to transform his club into more of a social gathering. If there is an interest in disc golf, the club will expand.

“But I haven’t thought that far,” Ren said.

TONY SU photo Disc golfer Dennis Moffat plays at Queen Elizabeth Park, one of two courses available in South Vancouver.