Jessica Fitzgerald of the University of Toronto Varsity Blues wrestling team captured the 67kg gold medal at the Ontario Open Senior Championships on Saturday, November 22 in Guelph, Ont.

The competition, which includes varsity, club and international competitors, is considered to be the toughest provincial championship in the country. Three Blues wrestlers competing at the event garnered top-six finishes.

As one of the favourites coming into the competition, Fitzgerald seemed bothers by the pressure in her first match and narrowly escaped with the win.

However, the Bancroft, Ont. native kept her nerves in check and pulled it together, dominating the last few matches to take top honours.

"Jessica's success last year came as a bit of a surprise to everyone but me,” said head coach Micahel Quinsey. “This year she was the one to beat, but in many ways that makes it tougher to open up and do what you have to do to win.”

Despite the gold medal performance, Fitzgerald is still focused on improving her skills.

"This was a good event for me,” said the fifth-year Pharmacy major. “My next step is to refocus and work on the parts of my game that aren't quite where they should be."

On the men's side Shujon Mazumder (Toronto) won his first provincial medal, finishing third in the 55kg division.

“Shujon has a very tough weight class,” said Quinsey. “Fortunately this year he has some very good training partners and has shown a lot of improvement in a short time.”

The third U of T wrestler to finish in the top six was Toronto native Matt Fruchtman who placed fifth in the 96kg category.

"Matt is a wrestler who came to U of T with almost no wrestling experience,” added Quinsey. “It's tough to play catch up in this league but his hard work and dedication is starting to pay off.”