“He was the lynchpin that kept so much of this together.”

In the eyes of Eddie Penney and many others in the Newfoundland wrestling community, Randy Ralph was the key figure keeping the sport afloat before he tragically passed in 2016.

Ralph served as President of the Newfoundland and Labrador Amateur Wrestling Association (NLAWA), a coach for Team NL at multiple Canada Games, as well as head of the provincial aboriginal wrestling program. Given his impact on wrestling across the province, it’s no surprise his sudden passing had those around him looking for someone to pick up the pieces.

“Wrestling had really fallen out of favour in Newfoundland,” said Penney of the state of the sport following Ralph’s passing. “There were a handful of people that knew Randy, even his own kids who were fantastic wrestlers that were involved but it was all too sore for anybody to want to take up his mantle.” 

“It hurt a lot because it was so unexpected.”

Having been coached and taught by Ralph during his high school days, Penney largely fell out of touch with wrestling after graduation as his post-secondary studies took priority.

Fast forward a few years later, and Penney found himself teaching at Carbonear Collegiate and up to his eyeballs volunteering with after-school programs.

It wasn’t until a student by the name of Owen Harvey learned of Penney’s background in wrestling that the idea of revitalizing the sport at the school came to fruition.  
“Somehow Owen (Harvey) found out that I wrestled back in high school, that I was decent at it and I already had a good reputation and relationship with the kids at the school.”

“This kid just had so much passion and wanted to do it so badly and he reminded me of myself back when I was wrestling in high school.”

The Sentinels wrestling program returned in 2015 thanks to a single mat loaned from Wrestling NL and the shared ambition of a teacher and his student. 

Today the club exists as ‘Valley Road Wrestling’ with roughly 25 attendees attending every practice session including several Canada Games hopefuls both on the male and female side.

Rounding out the Valley Road coaching staff are former students and athletes coached by Penney.

“One really rewarding part is the alumni, for whatever reason, whether it's the team mentality, whether it's being drawn to the sport, a lot of athletes will return for wrestling practices and help out with a new batch of kids.”

“These are kids that have had the potential to achieve high levels of success in the sport and then to see them return and in part pass on what I gave them to a younger generation is a really, really nice thing.”

Although Penney is proud of the club they’ve reestablished and their showings at Atlantic and national competitions, his experience at the last Games in Niagara proved to him this crop of wrestlers have plenty more to offer than good hospitality next summer when he’ll serve as Assistant Coach for the Team NL female wrestling team.

“No longer am I happy just to be a host, no longer am I happy just to be involved. If you would have asked me this question eight or nine years ago, I would have been really happy just to give them the opportunity to be able to participate.”

As the torch is passed on and the next generation of wrestlers ensures the sport thrives in the province, one name continues to come up at every meet with regularity: Randy Ralph.

“To this day, whenever I travel with my club, I am not hyperbolizing when I say every time when I bring up his name, somebody knows who I'm talking about.” 

“He was a very central, very important figure in wrestling.”