The Badger's Den
Laura Steffler: Standing tall on the mat
Rob Boudreau
Issue date: 3/9/10 Section: Sports
Laura Steffler is your typical Brock student; she's a psychology major, lives in the Village Residence and holds down a challenging on-campus job.
She can probably also kick your ass.
Now in just her third year on the Brock wrestling team, Steffler has already enjoyed incredible success in the OUA. She won a bronze medal at the OUA Championships hosted by Brock last year, and then won gold in the Championships this year in London in addition to being selected as OUA Female Outstanding Wrestler.
"My whole [style of] wrestling has changed from last year. I don't attack off my knees anymore. It's all in my feet. I changed a lot about my whole style. I attack up the body," Steffler said. "That's something that [head coach] Marty [Calder] came up with. It gets frustrating because you know they're right; that it's not working for you."
The adjustments that her coaches encouraged her to make directly led to her winning gold and helping Brock win its 10th-overall OUA Women's Championship banner two weeks ago.
Becoming a varsity wrestler generally isn't every little girl's dream. Steffler's sporting career may have gone down a very different path had a high school coach seen her potential a little differently.
"My brother was on the wrestling team in high school and I didn't make the volleyball team. My folks told me I had to join a team, so I went with my brother," she laughed.
"There were only, like, two girls on the team who took care of me so the guys didn't pick on me."
The sibling rivalry she may have felt with her brother never transferred to the mat. He was too big to fight. But while Steffler went on to enjoy success at the OUA level; her brother took a different route.
"He actually quit and played rugby for four years. Then he decided to wrestle [again] this year."
For Steffler, wrestling was a big factor in the universities in which she chose to apply. She only applied to universities with wrestling programs, and Brock's wrestling team's relaxed approach to recruitment ultimately won her over.
"Marty was the only one who didn't go out of his way to try and butter me up. He didn't call my parents to talk," she said. "One coach would come and ask them all these questions."
Brock has arguably the most successful wrestling program in Ontario, and that too was a selling point for Steffler.
"The wrestling team doesn't really need to recruit," she said of Brock's reputation. "It in itself recruits."
Steffler is a young athlete who is only going to get better in the coming years. As the country is still coming down off the high from the Vancouver Olympics, she had to be asked about the possibility of going to London for the Summer Games.
"I'd like to go to the Olympics. [But] not 2012 though, more like 2016."
At such a young age, she probably has some more space on her trophy shelf to fill anyway.
She can probably also kick your ass.
Now in just her third year on the Brock wrestling team, Steffler has already enjoyed incredible success in the OUA. She won a bronze medal at the OUA Championships hosted by Brock last year, and then won gold in the Championships this year in London in addition to being selected as OUA Female Outstanding Wrestler.
"My whole [style of] wrestling has changed from last year. I don't attack off my knees anymore. It's all in my feet. I changed a lot about my whole style. I attack up the body," Steffler said. "That's something that [head coach] Marty [Calder] came up with. It gets frustrating because you know they're right; that it's not working for you."
The adjustments that her coaches encouraged her to make directly led to her winning gold and helping Brock win its 10th-overall OUA Women's Championship banner two weeks ago.
Becoming a varsity wrestler generally isn't every little girl's dream. Steffler's sporting career may have gone down a very different path had a high school coach seen her potential a little differently.
"My brother was on the wrestling team in high school and I didn't make the volleyball team. My folks told me I had to join a team, so I went with my brother," she laughed.
"There were only, like, two girls on the team who took care of me so the guys didn't pick on me."
The sibling rivalry she may have felt with her brother never transferred to the mat. He was too big to fight. But while Steffler went on to enjoy success at the OUA level; her brother took a different route.
"He actually quit and played rugby for four years. Then he decided to wrestle [again] this year."
For Steffler, wrestling was a big factor in the universities in which she chose to apply. She only applied to universities with wrestling programs, and Brock's wrestling team's relaxed approach to recruitment ultimately won her over.
"Marty was the only one who didn't go out of his way to try and butter me up. He didn't call my parents to talk," she said. "One coach would come and ask them all these questions."
Brock has arguably the most successful wrestling program in Ontario, and that too was a selling point for Steffler.
"The wrestling team doesn't really need to recruit," she said of Brock's reputation. "It in itself recruits."
Steffler is a young athlete who is only going to get better in the coming years. As the country is still coming down off the high from the Vancouver Olympics, she had to be asked about the possibility of going to London for the Summer Games.
"I'd like to go to the Olympics. [But] not 2012 though, more like 2016."
At such a young age, she probably has some more space on her trophy shelf to fill anyway.
Be the first to comment on this story