Saint Francois-Xavier wrestler on winning streak

Barry Wright The lone wrestler at Sarnia’s only French-language high school is on quite a roll. Nathan McMillan of Saint Francois-Xavier has won no fewer than three major events in the past three weeks.

Barry Wright

The lone wrestler at Sarnia’s only French-language high school is on quite a roll.

Nathan McMillan of Saint Francois-Xavier has won no fewer than three major events in the past three weeks.

First, the 17-year-old won the Ontario Juvenile Wrestling Championships in Sudbury in the 46-kilogram class (he won the 42 kg class last year).

He followed that up with victories at both the Lambton Kent and Southwestern Ontario high school tournaments.

McMillan said his small school had two wrestlers to start the season, but the other one dropped the sport after the first semester, leaving him to carry the SFX banner.

He trains with the St. Patrick’s wrestling squad due to the proximity of the neighbouring high school.

The mild-mannered Grade 12 student has followed in the footsteps of his older brother, Aaron, who had success in the sport on the national and international stage a few years ago.

“I started wrestling in Grade 3,” said the younger McMillan. “My older brother was wrestling and that’s what got me into it.”

McMillan will return to SFX next year for a so-called ‘victory lap’ in an effort to improve his grades and possibly draw the attention of wrestling recruiters from NCAA schools in the U.S.

In the meantime, his next order of business is the provincial high school wrestling championships next week in Windsor, where he hopes to improve on a bronze medal performance in his weight class a year ago.

McMillan also has his sights set on competing for Canada in the international arena in the not too distant future, including potentially the Olympics.

“Yes, that’s what I’m hoping for,” he said.