Palanis pin competition

Seveh Palani says wrestling on the Douglas team with her brother Aso pushes her to perform.

Aso and Seveh Palani are making wrestling a family sport one headlock at a time.

The siblings represented Douglas well at the National Collegiate Wrestling Association (NCWA) Championships held in Hampton Virginia. Aso, 22, dominated his competition in the 125lb weight class, with five wins and no losses. Seveh, 19, came out on top in the 112lb weight class, with three wins and no losses. Aso's takedown of his opponent from Marion Valley Community College can be seen at http://tinyurl.com/c6jstc (Aso is in blue).

"Performing well at a tournament like the NCWA gives us a huge amount of momentum going into the Canadian National Championships this weekend in Regina. It's a huge mental breakthrough," says Coach Steve Rose.

"It was nerve-wracking, but it does give me some confidence for the nationals, which will be 10 times harder," says Seveh, who was a returning champion at the NCWA.

While brothers often perform well as teammates in wrestling, it's less common to see male and female siblings on the circuit, says Rose. Even more unique, says their coach, is that the Palanis are Kurdish.

"You don't see many Muslim girls wrestling. The numbers are pretty slim," Seveh agrees.

She and Aso, both General Studies students at Douglas College, have a younger brother who is a member of the wrestling team at Guildford Park Secondary School, where Seveh also helps coach the girls' team.

"My brother definitely helps to push and support me. It's one of the main advantages of being on the team together," says Seveh.

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