With a regal, yet condescending wave and a look of disdain etched across his face, Prince Akeem greets his public.  Not surprisingly, often showered with a chorus of boos, he has cemented his status as one of the top villains for Midget Wrestling Warriors and on most every card where he appears in North America.  In fact, if your only opportunity to know him is through his performances in the ring, you might not realize what a personable guy he is and what an interesting journey he has had in professional wrestling. Born in Winnipeg, Mike Reid was introduced to the mat scene after attending local cards promoted under the banner of Premier Championship Wrestling.  After his very first outing he became a regular at the matches, attending the shows with his College classmates until he worked up the nerve to ask about how he could get involved.  Training under Winnipeg mainstay and Japan’s Smash Wrestling alumnus Mentallo, when the first opportunity arose to do some touring, Reid abandoned his Civil Engineering studies to hit the road. His introduction to road life?  A seven week tour of the harshest Canadian winter climate in the arctic in February 2003. It’s hard to track down a lot on the early career of the ring headliner who now sports a crown to the ring, but that’s not because of a lack of appearances.  Reid discovered that while he was in demand as an attraction among one of the few active little people in Canadian wrestling, because he hadn’t established his name before he hit the road, every promoter seemed to have a different idea for him.  In Winnipeg he was dubbed ‘Mike Hammer’, in Calgary he was adorned in a sweater vest and tagged with the name ‘Mikey Banks’, a play on the popular Alfonso Ribiero character from the Fresh Prince of Bel Air. His career was reignited when he received a call from Dan DiLucchio about joining the roster for Midget Wrestling Warriors, a touring troupe that allowed him to hone his craft against some of the best active wrestlers in the division, and establish his own identity.  In the two years since, wrestling by the name Prince Akeem, he has battled the likes of Short Sleeve Sampson, Robbie Araujo and Shovelhead Chuck in matches across Canada and into the U.S., including an appearance at Las Vegas’ Gold Coast Casino on a star-studded card this spring. Prince Akeem, who has been from coast to coast in Canada, surprisingly has yet to wrestle in Brandon, a situation he will correct on July 14 when the Midget Wrestling Warriors take over the Manitoba Room at the Keystone Centre.  The only Manitoba stop on this tour, it’s the nearest that his hometown fans in the River City will be treated to.  It is expected that a convoy of fans may be traverse the perimeter to visit the Wheat City next week. Tickets are on sale at the Keystone Centre box office and are available online at tickets.keystonecentre.ca

The following players have been announced as representing the Andrew Agencies League at the Senior AA Provincials in Stonewall from July 15th-17th. Name Positions Team Matt Degagne P, IF Brandon Cubs   Keith Van Wellegham P Brandon Cubs Eric Zamrykut P, IF Brandon Marlins Eric Lypps C Brandon Marlins Dustin Asham IF Candian Tire Cardinals Joel Krentz P, IF Candian Tire Cardinals Luke Whelpton P, OF Candian Tire Cardinals Kevin McNarland C, OF Candian Tire Cardinals Adam Hartman P, IF Candian Tire Cardinals Kurt Wallace IF Candian Tire Cardinals Brody Pinkerton P Candian Tire Cardinals Jeff Neufeld OF Candian Tire Cardinals Clark Whelpton C Candian Tire Cardinals Jason Rae OF Joe Beeverz Young Guns George McNeill IF Joe Beeverz Young Guns Sean Dryden P Joe Beeverz Young Guns Mike McFadden OF Rivers Comets Buddy Mayert P, IF Rivers Comets Darren Whelpton IF, OF Rivers Comets Ryan Shaw P Rivers Comets Kyle Kostesky P, C Rivers Comets Head Coach Aaron Tycoles, Rivers Comets Assistant Coach Chris Campbell, Joe Beeverz Young Guns  

Canadian Wrestling's Elite has become the hottest Canadian destination for the hottest professional wrestlers on the planet and that trend continues with the official signing of Ring Of Honor Star The Beer City Bruiser! The Beer City Bruiser is one of ROH's hottest stars right now and arguably the most unique in the history of the storied promotion breaking all molds of what an ROH star is envisioned by most to be. At 300lbs The Beer City Bruiser not only displays incredible strength and power but breath taking athletic feats never seen before from a man his size. Sept 22nd-October 2nd The Beer City Bruiser makes his CWE debut on The Destined For Greatness Tour joining fellow ROH Stars Lio Rush and Jason Kincaid as well as 2x TNA World Champion & WWE NXT Alumni Ethan Carter III. Trained by the legendary Harley Race, The Bruiser has developed a reputation much like his trainer as one of the toughest men in the business and has used that toughness to become a semi finalist in the 2015 ROH Top Prospect Tournament and just over a week ago winning the 2016 ROH Tag Wars with partner and CWE star Silas Young ensuring the duo an upcoming ROH World Tag Team Championship match against fellow CWE Alumni, Christopher Daniels and Frankie Kazarian, The Addiction. The Beer City Bruiser can be seen on the following dates, Sept 22nd- Yorkton, SK Sept 23rd- Prince Albert, SK Sept 24th- St. Albert, AB Sept 25th- Calgary, AB Sept 26th- Regina, SK Sept 27th- Reston, MB Sept 28th- Brandon, MB Sept 29th- Gladstone, MB Sept 30th- Winnipeg, MB Oct 1st- Thunder Bay, ON Oct 2nd- Fort William First Nation, ON For more information and upcoming tour announcements visit www.cwecanada.ca  

The Weekender (July 1, 2016) By: Bruce Luebke, Sports Director, 880 CKLQ Happy Canada Day everyone.  Despite some of our issues, this is the annual reminder that this is still a great country to live in.  Enjoy the Canada Day celebrations and the rest of the weekend!! The Wheat Kings released their full 2016-2017 schedule and participated in the CHL Import Draft this week.  The club managed to snag 24 of their 36 home dates on Friday and Saturday nights, which are the two best days for drawing spectators to Westman Communications Group Place.  Some of the key games: the home opener September 24 vs. Moose Jaw; November 4 vs. Seattle in a rematch of last year’s WHL Championship Series; post-Christmas games December 28 and 30 vs. Regina and Moose Jaw respectively and the last game of the regular season March 18 against the Pats.  Brandon’s schedule also includes just one 3-in-3 weekend, occurring during the club’s excursion through the B.C. Division in late November and early December. On Tuesday, Brandon selected a pair of defensemen in the CHL Import Draft.  Linus Nassen is a 6-foot-0, 175 pound Swede who was a third round pick of the Florida Panthers in the 2016 NHL Draft.  One scout says Nassen uses his quickness and smarts to control play in the defensive zone while helping generate offense via his speed and slick passes.  Daniel Bukac of the Czech Republic is a 17-year old blueliner who is eligible for the 2017 NHL Draft who some scouts project could be a Top-100 pick next June.  Nassen would be the second Swedish defenceman to suit up for the Wheat Kings (Alexander Urbom) while Bukac would be the team’s first-ever blueliner from the Czech Republic. Isabela Onyshko, a Minnedosa product that now calls Brandon home, is off to the 2016 Olympics in Rio.  She’s the first Manitoba gymnast since 1984 to be a competing member of the Canadian Olympic team.  Onyshko seemed a lock to make the team after winning 2016 Elite Canada Competition in February but still needed a strong showing at the Gymnastics Canada Rio Selection Camp, which is exactly what happened.  Onyshko will have plenty of company in Rio as her coach with the Brandon Eagles, Lorie Henderson, was named one of the coaches of the Canadian women’s team earlier this week. Onyshko is likely one of two Western Manitobans headed to the games.  Rivers’ product Toon Van Lankvelt is expected to be a member of the Canadian men’s volleyball team after helping the squad qualify in early June at the last chance Olympics qualifying event.  The roster for the Olympics likely won’t be officially set for a couple of weeks.  Onyshko and Van Lankvelt would be two of ten Manitobans on the summer Olympics squad, the most from our province in recent memory. The Rio Olympics will begin on August 5th. I thought there might be a third Westman athlete headed to the Olympics. I inquired about the status of Brandon product Dustin Schneider, who has been a member of the National Men’s Volleyball team for several years.  However, Schneider will not be off to Rio and, in fact, has decided to retire from the sport of volleyball.  I wanted to send my best to Dustin and thank him for how he represented our country and our city on the international stage for the last few years.  All the best in your future endeavors. Brandon product Leah Hextall was one of the causalities when Rogers re-shuffled the deck for its NHL coverage for next season.  Hextall had been an NHL studio host on Sportsnet in Canada since they landed the NHL contract two years ago.  Hextall quickly landed on her feet though, landing a gig to do on-ice ice level reports and interviews for ESPN during the World Cup of Hockey. Quick hits...Brandon University has applied to host the 2019 CIS Men’s Volleyball Championship, and expect to hear whether that bid will be successful in the next couple of weeks...the Provincial Lawn Bowling Championship is taking place at the Wheat City Lawn Bowling Club at Rideau Park in Brandon this weekend...  MHSAA Executive Director Morris Glimcher officially retired from his post as the school year came to a close this week, spending 40 years in the role.  I had occasion to interact with Glimcher many times over the years, and his love of high school sports and athletes was a key thing in his role with the MHSAA.  Enjoy your retirement Mo!

June 29, 2016 For Immediate Release: Brandon, Manitoba The Westman Softball Umpires’ Association will, once again, be hosting the Softball Manitoba U14 ‘A’ Girls’ Championships early next month.  This will mark the fourth straight year the Association has hosted the U14 Provincials, with this year’s event taking place July 8-10 at Simplot Park. Eight teams will be competing for the provincial title, including the Westman Magic, with this year’s event serving as a precursor to the Softball Canada U14 Girls’ Jamboree at the John Blumberg Softball Complex in Winnipeg from August 17-21. In addition to the Magic, the defending champion Manitoba Thunder, Winnipeg Lightning, Eastman Wildcats, Central Energy, Manitoba Angels, South Interlake Phillies and Smitty’s Terminators will also be in Brandon to compete at the championship. This year’s event features a slight change from past years, with the eight teams playing a complete round-robin.  That means there will be 28+ games taking place over the three days of the event. Fans and media can follow the results at http://westmansoftballumpires.blogspot.ca/ or on twitter at @U14provsbrandon.   Meanwhile, the Brandon Minor Baseball Association is also hosting the Baseball Manitoba Mosquito A Championship that same weekend (July 8-10), also at Simplot Park. Ten teams will be competing in the Championship including the Brandon Reds and Brandon Dodgers. The competition features the teams playing in two five-team pools, with the Reds in Pool One with Portage, Interlake, Rock Lake and Seine River. The Dodgers are in Pool Two with Midwest, Souris, Grandview and Altona. The teams will play a round-robin within their pool, with the top two teams then moving on to the playoff round. There will be a minimum of 23 games played during the three days of the Mosquito A Championship.  Results are at http://www.baseballmanitoba.ca/provincial_championships_details.php?id=298 For more information, please contact: Bruce Luebke  Tournament Chair (Softball)                                                                                                                          204-721-0242                           luber@wcgwave.ca Glen Simard Tournament Chair (Baseball) 204-761-5478 glensimard@gmai.com