STRONG ARM.
Professional arm wrestler Ashley Maher takes on an opponent at the Ontario Provincial Arm Wrestling Championships at Barrie on Saturday, May 5. Maher emerged from the competition with a silver medal, and has qualified to compete in a national tournament in British Columbia in July.
It was yet another winning weekend for Bracebridge’s own mother and son arm wrestling team.
Professional arm wrestlers Ashley Maher and Jakob Chilton went elbow to elbow with challengers from across the province at the Ontario Provincial Arm Wrestling Championships in Barrie on Saturday, May 5, where the pair once again upheld their medal-winning reputation in the sport. Maher emerged from the tournament with a second-place finish, while seven-year-old Jakob came home with a bronze medal in his weight class.
Coach Joey Costello said Maher’s victory at the Barrie tournament has qualified her for yet another challenge this summer.
“This qualifies people to go to British Columbia in July for the Canadian championships,” he said.
Although Costello said arrangements can’t be made to have Jakob join his mother at the Canadian National Arm Wrestling Championships this year, the young arm wrestler has already made plans to compete in the tournament when it arrives in Timmins next year.
“British Columbia’s too far and he needs to have a bit more training before he goes to that calibre of an event,” Costello said.
This year will be Maher’s second time competing at the Canadian National Arm Wrestling Championships. Maher will also be defending her championship reputation, after having walked away with a gold medal from the same competition last year.
“It’s harder every time,” said Costello.
Maher, however, has proven her grit and winning spirit before. She won the national tournament’s gold medal last year despite having suffered a devastating injury to her left arm at a previous tournament about six months earlier. The setback left her unable to perform even simple tasks like tying her shoelaces with her left hand for several months.
Nonetheless, Maher quickly bounced back after receiving eight screws and one metal plate in a surgical operation to her left arm. Enduring a regimen of rigorous training, Maher also followed up her success at the 2011 Canadian National Arm Wrestling Championships with a trip to Kazakhstan last November, where she represented Canada at the World Arm Wrestling Championships.
Maher’s comeback gained further momentum in early April this year, when she won a pair of bronze medals at the Mike Gould Class arm wrestling championships in Toronto. Jakob, who was arm wrestling professionally for the first time in that same tournament, also emerged with a bronze medal in his weight class.