Wade Fleming, Special to The Journal
Fighters from the Bluewater Boxing Club brought home six medals, including four gold, from the Ontario Golden Gloves Provincial Championships on Dec. 1-2.
Gold medalists at the Niagara Falls event were Nick Lord (men’s novice 64kg), Maxine DeCiantis (youth novice 51kg), Nicole ‘Vito’ Drury (women’s novice 64kg), and ‘The Whopper’ Josh Jablonsky (junior novice 70kg).
Lord’s win capped a successful 2018 campaign in which he also won gold at the Ontario Bronze Gloves in Toronto.
DeCiantis, who worked diligently to drop down to a new weight class for provincials, built on her silver medal finish at last month’s Ontario Silver Gloves tournament.
Drury, in her gold medal match, fought through a bloody nose and cut to her eyebrow that resulted from an accidental head-butt. Despite the injuries, she dominated the fast-paced fight to earn a unanimous decision.
The 18-year-old has now won three straight matches, despite competing against much older adults years because of a lack of competition among fighters her age.
With his gold medal win, Jablonsky, 16, is still undefeated with an impressive 7-0 record and three knockouts. The final was close and his most difficult fight to date, but Jablonsky won all three tournaments he entered this year and appears to have a very bright future.
Kaitlyn Clark, a multiple Ontario champion from Bluewater, earned a bronze medal after losing a disputed split decision in the semi-finals of the women’s open class 69kg tournament. Despite the controversial loss, Clark will seek to qualify for the national championship tournament at the final qualifier in February.
Kyle McRae (64kg youth novice) earned bronze after a hard-fought loss in the semi-finals, while Dylan Taylor (64kg men’s open) lost a competitive decision against a former national champion in his quarterfinal bout.
The opponents of both fighters went on to earn gold medals.
Taylor still has a chance to earn the final qualifying spot for the national championships.