Collingwood’s first family of arm wrestling continues winning tradition
Being successful at arm wrestling is a tradition in the Wilson family.
And Sarah Wilson is carrying on that tradition.
The 31-year-old Collingwood woman recently returned from the Canadian Arm Wrestling Federation national championships with a pair of gold medals.
Wilson won the left and right championships in the 80 kg plus women’s division defeating multi-time Canadian champion Maria Petersen and Alma Keuhl.
Wilson lost in the finals to Petersen in 2017.
This marks her third national title, winning in 2014, but the 2018 event in Laval Quebec is probably the most special to date.
“This is the first time I’ve won both arms,” she said. “It was really awesome.”
Wilson has been around the arm wrestling seen since she was a kid as her father Earl, is recognized as one of the best in the sport.
Earl is the owner of more than 30 Canadian titles, and 11 world titles and is a member of both the Canadian Arm Wrestling Hall of Fame and the Collingwood Sports Hall of Fame.
Earl casts a large shadow in the arm wrestling circle and Sarah admits it adds more pressure.
“Everyone puts me on a higher level because my dad is who is,” she said in an interview with simcoe.com.
“People look at me and say, you’re going to win. And let’s say I don’t, like I did last year, it’s so heartbreaking and I feel like I’ve let everybody down.”
Sarah said she grew up with the sport, but didn’t start to take it seriously until her late 20s.
She said her dad has always been supportive and she’s used some of his techniques on the table.
“I’ve watched him since I was a kid so I pretty much adapted his style and tweaked it a little bit,” she said.
Sarah trains daily at The Centre for Squash and Wellness on High Street in Collingwood and is honing her skills on the table twice a week. She said those efforts were stepped up heading into the nationals.
“It’s not just gym time, it’s table time,” she said. “These are the best girls this country has to offer. I want to win, so you have to amp up the training
With the victories, Sarah has qualified for the world championships in Turkey but won’t be attending.
She said her goal is to win at the 2019 national championships in Edmonton and then attend the world championships.
“I want to try and make that one, because he won there so I think that would be really cool,” she said.
Ultimately, her goal is to top her dad’s accomplishments.
“That’s something I do want to do, I want to beat those records,” she said.
Earl believes she has the right attitude and ability to achieve that.
“She trains hard, she’s focused,” he said. “If you have the desire and she seems to have that, I believe she has the potential to be in those record books.”