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PROUD TO SERVE THE POTASHVILLE AREA FOR MORE THAN 100 YEARS

Gehls winning streak continues . . . . . . . . . . . . . pg. 2

Upcoming Gatsby Gala. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . pg. 3

Mens curling bonspiel results. . . . . . . . . . . . . pg. 7

Monday, April 18, 2016 Vol . 45 No. 16 Esterhazy, Saskatchewan, Canada

The annual Wade Dance Recital was held onApril 9 at the Esterhazy High School juniorgym. Dancers, under the direction of BelvaWade Zentner, captured the audience with theirincredible talent and grace.

Photos by Katherine Miller

Esterhazys talented youth showcased during annual Wade Dance Recital

Sage Litzenberger

Melinda Irvine

by Shelley GillespieEsterhazy High School

(EHS) student Zach Gehlcontinues his winningstreak with wins at kick-boxing, jiu jitsu andwrestling tournaments in2016, after being awardeda double gold win at theSaskatchewan Submis-sion Series 2015 in thejunior under-150 weightclass gi and no gi jiu jitsucompetitions held inSaskatoon Dec. 5, 2015.

Gehls first win for 2016was on Feb. 20 when heparticipated in theWolverine Open Elemen-tary, Junior and SeniorHigh School WrestlingTournament, held at Kil-donan Collegiate in Win-nipeg. Gehl came in firstin the junior boys 56 kgcategory, earning a goldmedal.

Zach has been continu-ing his journey to competein mixed martial arts(MMA) fight within thecage, father Ryan Gehlsaid. Wrestling is a keycomponent used withinthe battles in MMA. Zachis still training in jiu jitsuand kick boxing threetimes a week at YorktonMartial Arts TrainingCentre (YMATC), as wella few times a month inRegina at Queen CityMMA.

Gehls next medals wereawarded at two separateevents both held in PrinceAlbert (P.A.) on Feb. 27.He started the day bycompeting in the 1st an-nual SaskatchewanBrazilian Jiu Jitsu Feder-ation Inc. (SBJJF) Provin-cial Championship Finalsheld at St. Francis School.He ranked first in the ju-venile 15-17 light featherweight category, earningthree points and the goldfor team YMATC. Thisevent is also known asCOPA.

Zach won all hismatches by submission,earning the provincialtitle at light feather

weight, Gehl Sr. saidabout the jiu jitsu tourna-ment. Submission iswhere either your oppo-nent taps out or goes un-conscious from a chokeyou are applying or jointlock like arm bars andankle locks. An hour afterwinning this title we hur-ried over to another venueand Zach competed in akick boxing tournament.

The second event in P.A.was the 3rd annual Fireand Ice Open Martial ArtsTournament, held at theAlfred Jenkins FieldHouse, with more than100 competitors fromSaskatchewan participat-ing. Gehl competed in thekickboxing event and wasonce again awarded a goldmedal.

Shortly after the doublewin in P.A. Gehl and hisfather traveled to Saska-toon for the first of theopen qualifying 2016 SaskSubmission Series jiujitsu tournaments onMarch 19. Zach is the de-fending champ, and wonall of his junior 125-135category matches at thistournament by submis-sion. It was at this tour-nament that Zach earnedhis orange belt.

Sask submission seriesis a three-tournamentopen event where com-petitors earn points basedon their medal place-ments, Gehl Sr. said. Thetop point earners through-out the year end up get-ting an invite to theinvite-only one-day event.Zach is the defendingchampion of the belt inthis series.

When the series of threeis done points are totaled,and if enough points areaccumulated, the athleteis invited to participate inthe final competition.Qualifying events are alsoscheduled for June 18 andSept 24, with the finaltaking place on Dec 10.

On April 2-3 Gehl andhis dad were in Chicago

for the Chicago Interna-tional Brazilian Jiu JitzuFederation (IBJJF) Tour-nament. He won two sil-vers and two bronze,participating in the gi 159category as well as the ab-solute (no weight cate-gories) April 2, and no gi159 and absolute on April3. Although he usuallyfights at his 125 lb level,he had to move up to the159 lb. level to compete.

The internationalIBJJF gi and no gi cham-pionships in Chicago wasan event of importantmagnitude for competi-tors of blue belt andhigher Gehl sr. said. Thismeant it was three beltshigher than Zach has,which required Zach tomove up two weightclasses and two years inage bracket. We had a talkwith his MMA coach MikeForster from YMATCabout this test. He(Forster) said if Zachwants to he would loanhim a blue belt so he couldcompete. A quick check ofthe kids within thebracket he was jumpinginto revealed it containedthe world champion andother world-ranked bluebelt 17-year-olds. This wasvery deep waters, butZach was game to testhimself. The two-day tour-nament was intense. Zachwould compete in both giand no gi divisions plusenter the absolute divi-sions in both disciplinesas well. The absolute is noweight classes everyoneis in one bracket. When itwas all said and done,Zach found his way ontothe podium and is proudof his efforts. Zach put Es-terhazy on the interna-tional stage again.

Gehl won a bronzemedal in the blue beltmiddle weight gi and blueopen class gi absolute, andsilver medals in blue beltmiddle weight no gi andblue open class no gi ab-solute.

His opponents laterfound out his actual beltlevel, age and weight,Gehl sr. said. They wereamazed he would take the

jump and were very sup-portive and complimen-tary about his braveryand skills. It was a greatweekend in Chicago.

Gehl is currently inGrade 9, turned 15 onDec. 5, and is the son ofRyan and Delphine Gehlof Esterhazy.

Page 2 The Miner-Journal, Esterhazy, Sask. Monday, April 18, 2016

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EHS student continues winning streak

Zach Gehl holds the town flag as he stands on the podium with hismany medals he received during the Chicago International Jiu JitzuTournament.

submitted by Lauren HearnThe EHS Grade 9 Sr.

Band recently competedat Regina Optimist Fes-tival (our Province Festi-val).

They received threeGold Ratings from the

three adjudicators. Withthe triple gold rating, theband received the Supe-rior Performance Plaqueand an invitation to Na-tionals (Music FestCanada)!

Our invitation will ex-tend for this year and

also for 2017. This year,we are already embark-ing on a very exciting in-ternational competitionin Orlando, Florida. Butin 2017, we are consider-ing attending Nationalsin Richmond, B.c.

It is an honour to be

nominated to representour province at this fes-tival. We would competeagainst the top bands inCanada. We would alsoget to hear professionalconcerts in the evenings,and get top notch adjudi-cation and advice in theform of workshops.

I believe the last timethe Sr. Band went to na-tionals was in 2000, withMr. Hyrcay. So, we arehonoured to continuethis tradition of excel-lence!

Im so very proud ofour wonderful musicianshere at EHS!

Monday, April 18, 2016 The Miner-Journal, Esterhazy, Sask. Page 3

by Glorianne KadaA few big ticket items

will be going up for auc-tion at the Gatsby Galaon April 23 in Esterhazyat the S.N. Boreen Hall.Auction items include anEdmonton Oilers jerseysigned by Connor Mc-David, a SaskatchewanRoughriders Grey Cupjersey signed by Durant,Getzlaf, Simon andSheets, a cruise ship va-cation and a golf get-away trip.

The Gatsby theme willgive the evening thatextra bit of flair. The hallwill be decorated in the20s era and ladies will bedressed up in theirGatsby gowns and vin-tage jewelry. Howeverthat does not necessarilymean that people at-tending the event haveto dress up in a Gatsbyway, explains eventchairperson JenniferBlair.

The evening is hostedby the Esterhazy SprayPark Fundraising Com-mittee. The gala featuresentertainment by come-dian Big Daddy Tazz, aphoto booth by profes-sional photographer NikiRink, live and silent auc-tions with items donatedby local businesses, anddinner catered by Blue-berry Kitchen from Ro-canville. Sponsoring thegala is Labatts and LastMountain Distillery outof Lumsden. Proceeds gotowards the installationof a spray park in Ester-

hazy. The committee ishoping to install thepark summer 2017.

We really want peopleto come out and supportthe spray park. It issomething that we allfeel very strongly about.We are a group of momsand we all have kids,says Blair. We have thepool and the pool is fan-tastic. As a mom of threekids and I also have adisabled child, we havegone to cities with sprayparks. It is much easierfor me to go there by my-self with the kids than itis to go to a pool, espe-cially with my daughterwho cannot walk.

We are hoping (thegala) can give us a reallybig kick start for gettingit installed as soon aspossible. There is toys forall ages. So I think itsimportant for people toknow that its not just for

young children. It willdraw all ages."

We are selling quite afew tables. We are hav-ing success within thecommunity. Esterhazy isalways very supportivefor the events that go onhere. We are so lucky tohave such a great com-munity and the localbusinesses are just fan-tastic. We are very ap-preciative. The town hasreally stepped up. We arelooking forward to a verysuccessful event.

Blair expresses her ap-preciation for the com-mittee members, galavolunteers, and busi-nesses who support theevent. The girls on thecommittee have