Kelsey Raab came oh so close to winning a gold medal at the 2011 National Wrestling Championship in Windsor, Ont.
Raab entered the tournament in the 70 kg weight division along with four other of the best cadet girls in the country.
The April 7 to 10 tournament was set up as a round robin.
In her first and only match on April 8, Raab dominated scoring a 4-0 win over Kimberley VanHest from Nanaimo, B.C.
On April 9, Raab faced her three remaining opponents, beginning with Jayme Batt from the ROUG wrestling club in B.C.
Raab built on her first match and walked away with a 7-0 win over her competitor.
Raab’s third match pitted her against Gracelynn Doogan of Elliot Lake, Ont. Raab and Doogan were both undefeated but Doogan had already completed three matches to Raab’s two. If Raab was going to win gold she would need to defeat the Ontario wrestler. Unfortunately it wasn’t in the stars as Doogan outpointed Raab 3-0 to win the match.
After a disappointing loss, Raab could have easily packed it in. Instead she regained her focus and defeated Hannah Laurisden of Sackville, N.S. to grab second spot.
Raab finished with a record of 3-1 collecting 21 points in the process, good for silver at the championship.