It’s that time of year, Cascades fans. Rarely does a month contain three sports that are all needing major wins for their seasons at UFV. January is significant for basketball and volleyball, as February will be their hopeful playoff debuts in 2020. Wrestling has started to peak, as the wrestlers are approaching the Cascades Classic, UFV’s home tournament which will be crucial for those wishing to attend and compete in the conference championships and nationals. Add a potential Olympian for Team Canada in Brad Hildenbrandt and the UFV Cascades are off to the races.
Basketball has had quite the season so far for the men and women at UFV. The women’s team is sporting a better team than it has in some time, with an incredibly talented rookie class that has powered UFV through some tough games. Add the veteran leadership of players like Taylor Claggett and you’ve got a playoff team. Claggett’s season has garnered praise from many and it has been nothing short of deserved, as she continues to compete for and break records.
The men’s basketball team has seen some changes from last year, but the changes seem to be helping the team grow. Though the team lost some players, the 2019-20 edition of the Cascades has been fun to watch. Parm Bains and Matt Cooley have really stepped up, putting up big numbers and complementing other players like Sukhjot Bains, who has also shown improvement in his shooting. With a recent groundbreaking win over the UBC Thunderbirds, the UFV men’s basketball team is looking like they are peaking just in time for the playoffs.
Volleyball has struggled a bit this year, but don’t let that fool you. The Cascades are getting ready for their switch from the PacWest conference to the Canada West conference. A step up in competition might be the fuel that the teams need going forward. The women’s team has seen somewhat of a dropoff since last season, but that’s just what the record shows at this point. The men’s team has seen a pretty dramatic turnaround if you consider what their record was last season. At 2-22, they lifted themselves up and now sport a record of 5-12. Yes, it might not be a record the team wants, but improvement matters, and veteran players such as the fourth-year libero Carter Bronson bring a lot of energy and leadership to the new group.
Despite UFV postponing the wrestling program for the 2019-20 season, the Cascades wrestling team has continued through tough times to have multiple medalists at the conference tournaments so far. Highlighting the squad is none other than Brad Hildenbrandt, who is having a year for the ages. Hildenbrandt is looking to become UFV’s first-ever varsity athlete to go to the Olympics. He won the Canadian Olympic trials at heavyweight for Greco-Roman wrestling, booking a ticket to the Pan-Am Olympic qualification tournament that will be held in March in Ottawa. Hildenbrandt will need to finish in the top two to move to the national team, but should he succeed, UFV will have its first Olympic athlete from the Cascades.
The verdict: UFV’s midseason performance should be seen as improved overall. There seem to be dips here and there among certain programs, but the highs are higher than the lows are low. New coaching staff, new teams, and new outlooks have 2020 looking like a big year for the Cascades.
