Oceania gold means Waikato wrestler is closer to Commonwealth … – Waikato Times

REXINE HAWES

Last updated09:00, April 3 2017

Rexine Hawes

Michelle Montague won gold at the Oceania Wrestling Championships in Tahiti.

Matamata woman Michelle Montague is one step closer to her goal of making the New Zealandwrestling team to compete at the 2018 Commonwealth Games.

The Hamilton Hawks wrestling team member has just returned from competing in the Oceania Wrestling Championshipsin Tahiti - bringing homea gold medal.

Winning at the Oceania competitionmeans she qualifies for theCommonwealth wrestlingchampionships coming up soon.

Montague travelled to Tahiti with the New Zealand wrestling team last month, winning all three of her matches, in the 75kg weight range.

Her family, who own the Matamata business Viking Kayaks, went to cheer her on.

"They were pretty excited to be there," she said.

"It was a big learning experience for them too."

Montague was one of 27 wrestlers to compete for New Zealand and they joined nine other countries at the champs.

It was an eventshe had trained hard for.

Dealing with the heat upon arrivalwas something new and continued to be a challenge throughout the competition.

"It was like 38-40 degrees every day."

She said the wrestling arena also lackedair conditioning, which made the heat even more intense.

However it didn't deter the young woman, who finished all three rounds undefeated.

Montague's first match was against an Australian woman, whom she was hoping to wrestle against.

In wrestling, a winner is determined by a pin, or points. Matches can last from 30 seconds, up to six minutes.

She won the first match 10-0.

"She was my biggest challenge, I was looking forward to wrestling her the most.

"I thought it was good to face her first, so we couldn't watch each other."

Her second match was against another New Zealander and the third against another Australian.

Montague saidthe pressure ofthe heat began to mount by her third fight.

"It followed pretty quickly after the second match, so Iwasn't engaged."

She went to the prize giving feeling confident the gold was her's.

With her family watching, she stood on the podium and accepted her medal.

"It was a good sense of achievementand my family was pretty proud," she said.

Montague shared the glory of gold with other members of the New Zealand team, many of whom dominated their weight classes.

In total, New Zealand won 16 gold, 10 silver and two bronze in freestyle and seven gold and two silver in Greco-Roman (for men only).

Montague'sfocus is now preparing for the Commonwealth championships on the Gold Coast later this year.

The top six competitors will qualify for the Commonwealth Games in April 2018, also on the Gold Coast.

She may also have a European wrestling tournament mid-year.

Montague's long-term goal is to compete in mixed martial arts (MMA), of which wrestling is one component.

She has already competed and won a few MMA tournaments in Auckland.

She trains and competes in jiu-jitsu through Core MMA Gym in Hamilton and works out five-days-a-week at Fitzone Matamata to keep in top shape for tournaments and the approaching rugby season.

-Stuff

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