A Voice from the Eastern Door
A Voice from the Eastern Door
Thomas Barreiro, Big Boy and Phillip Barreiro. Big Boy's donated 700 dollars.
Phillip Barreiro receiving the gold medal at the provincial tournament.
Left to right: Phillip Barreiro, Valene Gray and Thomas Barreiro. Three Feathers donated 150 dollars.
Left to right: Thomas Barreiro, Danielle Lazore, Jonathan Lazore and Phillip Barreiro. Blooming Beauty donated 500 dollars.
Left to right: Johnny Yeats, Doug Yeats, Thomas Barreiro and Nolan Terrance. This is a picture taken after the provincial tournament. Doug is the coach at the Quebec wrestling academy and Johnny is his son.
Thomas and Phillip's sister Wahiahawi Barreiro cooking and preparing for the taco sale.
Thomas Barreiro wrestling while at American University.
A pair of Akwesasne twin brothers will be heading to Edmonton, Alberta to qualify for a spot on Team Canada's wrestling squad.
Phillip and Thomas Barreiro, who are members of the Kahnawake Survival School, will attempt to finish in the top spot in freestyle and Greco-Roman tournaments, respectively on Saturday and Sunday, March 22 and 23.
Although they claimed convincing victories at the Quebec provincials, they are expecting some of the toughest competition of their careers to date.
"We're definitely not going to breeze right through," Thomas Barreiro said. "We're out for blood, but these guys are the best in Canada. We don't really know any of our opponents, but this is the highest level we've competed at."
If the brothers Barreiro win over the weekend, they will earn a chance to compete for a world championship. If they accomplish that feat, they will be shoo-ins for the 2015 world championships. If they claim victory there, they will earn the right to represent Team Canada at the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro.
For the upcoming qualifiers, their strategy is to try both styles and see which their more natural fit is. Although "we're much stronger in freestyle," Barreiro said, they have trained extensively at the Quebec Wrestling Academy and Montreal Wrestling Club, which specialize in Greco-Roman.
The Greco-Roman style focuses on upper body, leg takedowns are illegal.
"It's geared toward higher-amplitude throws," Barreiro said.
Freestyle wrestling is similar to the folk style they trained in during their years on the Massena Red Raiders and with the American University Eagles in Washington, D.C., which is part of NCAA Division I. Attacking below the waist is a part of the game. There are minor differences between folk and freestyle, Barreiro explained, but they are similar enough that the transition came naturally.
The brothers are under the tutelage of two former Olympic champions, Doug Yeats and Anatoly Bykov. Yeats has represented Team Canada four times in Greco-Roman competition. Bykov took gold in Greco-Roman wrestling at the 1976 Olympics in Montreal and silver at the 1980 games in Moscow.
"We've been making vast improvements given our coaches, they're amazing," Barreiro said.
Peter Montour guides the pair at the Kahnawake School and connected them with Yeats and Bykov at the Quebec Wrestling Academy. He will be their ringside coach at the Edmonton bouts.
"He's acted as sort of our mentor," Barreiro said.
The Barreiros almost didn't make it to the world championship qualifiers. They needed to raise $5,000 to get there and with Akwesasne community support, came up with it in a matter of days.
"We're both very thankful to the community for their support," Barreiro said.
They said their sister Wahiahawi Barriero organized a taco sale and by Monday, March 17 garnered $1,031 for their cause.
"We were only a fifth of the way there with three days to go," Barreiro said.
This is when she and Montour started a fundraising blitz and secured the rest of what they needed as grants from local businesses.
Big Boys, Blooming Beauty, Three Feathers Café and CKON all chipped in cash. Mohawk International Speedway donated season tickets for them to raffle off, but with the games so close, they will raffle them afterward and use the proceeds for future tournaments, training and seed money for an upcoming project.
"It was great ... to feel the community value you and want to see you succeed doing what you love," Barreiro said.
One of the Barreiro's long-term goals is to start an organization to give back to their home.
"In the fall, Phil and I will start a youth wrestling club in Akwesasne," Barreiro said.
Although it is still about six months from being a reality, their goal is to train children age eight through 14 at the Akwesasne Boys and Girls Club during two 90-minute sessions per week. They said the St. Regis Mohawk Tribe helped them get things started by donating a mat.
They are also helping Nolan Terrance with training. Terrance is a stand-out state champion grappler with the Massena Red Raiders. He will be competing in the juvenile nationals for 16 through 18-year-olds in Guelph, Ont. in two weeks.
"We're going to continue to work with him," according to Barreiro.
Although the Barreiros know this weekend alone will be the challenge of their lives, they are keeping their sights and spirits high.
"We'll see you in Rio," Barreiro said at the close of a phone interview.
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