21 hours Ago By Perry Bergson
Recent immigrant Taras Fisun has experience on the Ukrainian national wrestling team: Now he’s hoping to add a freestyle Canadian championship to his growing resume. Read this article for free: Already have an account? As we navigate through unprecedented times, our journalists are working harder than ever to bring you the latest local updates to keep you safe and informed. Now, more than ever, we need your support.
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Recent immigrant Taras Fisun has experience on the Ukrainian national wrestling team: Now he’s hoping to add a freestyle Canadian championship to his growing resume. Read unlimited articles for free today: Already have an account? Recent immigrant Taras Fisun has experience on the Ukrainian national wrestling team: Now he’s hoping to add a freestyle Canadian championship to his growing resume. His 32-year-old brother and head coach Stas moved to Canada in 2022, with the 17-year-old Taras following in September 2024.
Their hometown is now under Russian occupation. The brothers, who now live in Brandon, will head to Calgary next week for the Canadian wrestling championships. “I’m happy because I very want this competition and very want to have first place,” Taras Fisun said.
“It’s important for me because I want to go to university. I need first place.” Taras Fisun, right, poses for a photo with his older brother Stas, who has trained him in freestyle wrestling since he was five.
The brothers, who emigrated to Canada from Ukraine, will head to Calgary next week for the Canadian wrestling championships. (Perry Bergson/The Brandon Sun) Taras is going to school, with the hope that wrestling will land him a scholarship and potentially a spot on the national team. He’s already made a quick impression in his new country, winning the provincial championship a month ago in Winnipeg when he beat a national team member in under 30 seconds.
Taras began wrestling when he was five under the guidance of Stas, who had taken up the sport in 2000. Their father was a high-level coach. “First time when I went, I didn’t like it,” Taras Fisun said.
“I don’t know. I was very small and I liked football (soccer). From year seven to 10, my brother said to me every time ‘Football is not for you, not for you, wrestling is good,’ and in 15 years I liked to wrestle.
It’s my life right now.” Stas said it didn’t long for him to show promise. “I started teaching him to train and he showed good results,” Stas Fisun said.
“He was on the national team in Ukraine.” With the Ukrainian national team, he attended the Tallinn Open in Estonia, the world’s largest youth wrestling tournament that drew more than 1,000 competitors. He finished third in the 80-kg weight class for wrestlers born in 2007 and 2008.
Taras said his success comes from one place. “I think hard work, hard training,” Taras Fisun said. “He trains a lot,” Stas Fisun added.
“His life is wrestling. Every day he trains and tries to be better. He keeps going step by step.
” Taras had 12 kilograms or 26 pounds to drop to make weight. On Thursday, the stocky teenager was within a single kilogram of his goal. Stas chuckles when asked what his brother does well on the mat.
“Everything,” Taras Fisun said. “He’s good because I started teaching him when he was five years old. The first time I showed him easy movements, not something that was hard, and a lot of conditioning like pushups and pull-ups.
In Ukraine there is a very high competitive level. There are schools teaching it in every small town. It’s a lot of people, and there are competitions every two weeks, small competitions like 150 people.
“In every weight class there are five or 10 guys at a high level. You never know if you’ll win or lose when you compete with these guys, but you improve very fast and grow up very fast because every time you find somebody who is better than you. When you go to sleep, if you lose you’re thinking about it and want to win next time.
“He has goods takedowns and good conditioning, good breathing, good power, speed.” Taras Fisun takes down his older brother Stas as they train at WAMMA Brandon on Thursday evening. Taras is competing in the Canadian wrestling championships in Calgary next week.
(Perry Bergson/The Brandon Sun) The Canadian wrestling championships in the U15, U17 and U19 age divisions are being hosted by Alberta’s Tsuut’ina Nation on the southwest corner of Calgary. There are 55 wrestlers entered in the men’s freestyle 80-kg U19 division from across the country. Up to a dozen weight classes are available in each weight class, with Greco-Roman events also being staged.
The athletes arrive in Calgary on Wednesday, with medicals and weigh-ins on Thursday. The event then runs from Friday to Sunday. It’s open to Canadian citizens, Indigenous persons registered under the federal Indian Act, individuals with permanent resident status or refugee status and anyone with an approved international student permit.
WAMMA Brandon owner Chris Kading said it’s not every day that an accomplished coach walks into your gym looking to train. Stas said he had a wrestling background the day he walked in and joined the jiu-jitsu class. “We all knew immediately that ‘Oh, this guy is special,’” Kading said.
“We found out after the fact that he ran his own gym in Ukraine and was on the Ukrainian national wrestling team as well. He had a lot of background and a lot of experience and had been coaching his brother Taras since he was a young child.” Kading noted wrestling in Ukraine is like hockey in Canada.
They start at a very young age, and if they make the national team over there, they actually get funding from the country. “It’s obviously a bonus when you have athletes this coming to your gym,” Kading said. “In this particular case, I wish I could take credit for these two athletes but I can’t.
They’ve gained all that experience on their own. We’re actually going to benefit from having them here.” The appreciation is mutual.
“This place is very good,” Taras said. “We have very good coaches and good people. It’s a very good gym.
” “In Canada, it’s very friendly people,” Stas added. “We really like this and appreciate it.” » pbergson@brandonsun.
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