THUNDER BAY, Ont. – The Guelph Gryphons varsity wrestling program is coming home from Thunder Bay with a pair of individual national champions.
Casey Harkley, a second-year management economics and finance major at the University of Guelph, was crowned national champion for a second consecutive year in the men's 68kg weight class.
Tyler Barry, a third-year arts major at U of G, claimed gold in the men's 72kg weight class for the first U SPORTS medal of his wrestling career. The Gryphons had 16 wrestlers in action (8 men, 8 women) over the course of the two-day (Feb. 27-28) national championship event, with Lakehead University in Thunder Bay, Ontario serving as the hosts of the 2026 Wrestling Canada Lutte U SPORTS Invitational Championships. Harkley and Barry's gold medal performances were the lone trips to the U SPORTS podium for the Gryphons, who finished in 6th-place in the final team standings on the men's side, and 7th-place on the women's side.
Casey Harkley Repeats as National Champ in his Sophomore Season
A season ago,
Casey Harkley burst onto the scene as a freshman, winning a national gold medal in the men's 68kg while being named U SPORTS Rookie of the Year. Now, in his second-year at the University of Guelph, the management economics and finance major has added a second U SPORTS gold medal to his resumé, with Harkley going a perfect 5-0 in his matches over the course of the two days of competition. In the gold medal match of the men's 68kg, Harkley faced Brock University's, Gabe Blanchette, in a thrilling, back-and-forth affair. Harkley, a 19-year-old who graduated high school from John F. Ross Collegiate Vocational Institute in Guelph prior to attending U of G, dominated early on in the U SPORTS gold medal match, with Harkley building up a 5-0 lead on Blanchette. But his opponent from Brock would storm back with 8 unanswered points to take an 8-5 lead. In the closing moments of the match, Harkley would seal the victory, scoring a crucial two-point takedown with :38 seconds remaining, followed by a late point with :05 seconds remaining to tie the match at 8-8. The decision would go to Harkley, as he recorded two-point takedowns on three separate occasions in the match (compared to just two for Blanchette), giving Harkley his second U SPORTS gold medal in as many years.
Casey Harkley (Men's 68kg) at 2026 Nationals:
Rd 2 --- W vs Nathan Kowal (Saskatchewan), 19-6
Rd 3 --- W vs Zubail Dzhabrailov (Alberta), 10-0
Rd 4 --- W vs William Mitchell (Algoma), 4-0
Rd 5 --- W vs Kamrin Marotta (McMaster), 10-0
Gold Medal Match --- W vs Brock's Gabe Blanchette, 8-8
Third-Year Gryphon Wrestler, Tyler Barry, Earns First Gold Medal of Varsity Wrestling Career
During the 2025-26 season,
Tyler Barry established himself as one of the top wrestlers on the University of Guelph varsity wrestling team. Now, he is a national gold medalist in his 72kg weight class. The 20-year old from Milton, Ontario went a perfect 5-0 in his matches over the two days, with the third-year arts major holding on late in the gold medal match to defeat Chayton Valleau (Western Mustangs) by a score of 9-7. Barry, who earned a silver medal at the 2026 OUA Wrestling Championships back on Feb. 7, took control of the gold medal match late in the 2nd period with a 4-point take down and a 2-point takedown turning a 3-1 match into a 9-1 match in the blink of an eye. Western's Chayton Valleau would battle back in the closing moments with three straight 2-point takedowns, but it was too little too late, as
Tyler Barry held on for the 9-7 victory to earn the title of national champion. This marked
Tyler Barry's second time competing at a U SPORTS Wrestling Championship, and his first trip to the U SPORTS podium.
Tyler Barry (Men's 72kg) at 2026 Nationals:
Rd 2 --- W vs Takis Sembaleras (Saskatchewan), 13-1
Rd 3 --- W vs Evan Hirst (Alberta), 11-1
Rd 4 --- W vs Andre Mrkobrada (McMaster), 11-0
Rd 5 --- W vs Johnathan Sherrard (UNB), 6-0
Gold Medal Match --- W vs Western's Chayton Valleau, 9-7
The Gryphons came close on several other occasions to reaching the national podium, with
Kylee Lubbers (women's 72kg) and
Austin Murphy (men's 90kg) finishing in 4th-place. See below for a full list of results from the Gryphons varsity wrestlers at the 2026 Wrestling Canada Lutte U SPORTS Invitational Championships.
Gryphon Medalists at 2026 Wrestling Canada Lutte U SPORTS Invitational Championships
GOLD
Casey Harkley (men's 68kg)
Tyler Barry (men's 72kg)
Guelph Gryphon Results at 2026 Nationals:
MEN
Casey Harkley (Men's 68kg) --- *** Gold Medal *** (defeated Brock's Gabe Blanchette in gold medal match)
Tyler Barry (Men's 72kg) --- *** Gold Medal *** (defeated Western's Chayton Valleau in gold medal match)
Austin Murphy (Men's 90kg) --- 4
th-place (lost in bronze medal match to UNB's Koen Poirier, 10-0)
Jayden Harrison (Men's 100kg) --- 6
th-place
Cooper Feke (Men's 65kg) --- 7
th-place
Anthony Fonte (Men's 125kg) --- 7
th-place
Evan Burch (Men's 57kg) --- 10
th-place
Jaxsyn Gillis (Men's 82kg) --- 10
th-place
WOMEN
Kylee Lubbers (Women's 72kg) --- 4
th-place (lost in Bronze medal match, 10-0, vs Calgary's Clara Smithanik)
Brooklyn Glasgow (Women's 53kg) --- 5
th-place (won 5
th-place match, 6-1, over Brock's Laurence Lescadre)
Kaleigh Bruce (Women's 59kg) --- 5
th-place (won 5
th-place match, 6-1, over Alberta's Sarah Clarke)
Ava Hunyady (Women's 56kg) --- 6
th-place
Sasha Weldon (Women's 50kg) --- 7
th-place
Mariah Mixon (Women's 83kg) --- 7
th-place
Ashley Booth (Women's 76kg) --- 8
th-place
Adeline Hodgson (Women's 65kg) --- 10
th-place
MEN'S STANDINGS AT THE 2026 WRESTLING CANADA LUTTE U SPORTS INVITATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIPS
1. Brock (86 pts)
2. McMaster (64 pts)
3. Saskatchewan (49 pts)
T4. Alberta (46 pts)
T4. Western (46 pts)
T6. Guelph (40 pts)
T6. Calgary (40 pts)
8. Toronto (23 pts)
9. Algoma (20 pts)
10. Lakehead (18 pts)
11. York (15 pts)
T12. TMU (8 pts)
T12. UNB (8 pts)
14. Lethbridge (7 pts)
15. Concordia (5 pts)
16. Carleton (1 pt)
WOMEN'S STANDINGS AT THE 2026 WRESTLING CANADA LUTTE U SPORTS INVITATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIPS
1. Alberta (74 pts)
2. Calgary (73 pts)
3. Brock (68 pts)
4. McMaster (50 pts)
5. Saskatchewan (41 pts)
6. Western (39 pts)
7. Guelph (29 pts)
8. Lakehead (23 pts)
9. Algoma (18 pts)
10. Lethbridge (15 pts)
11. Concordia (14 pts)
12. Carleton (10 pts)
13. Queen's (9 pts)
14. Toronto (6 pts)
15. UNB (5 pts)
