ZULULAND wrestler KleinJan Combrinck has received South African Wrestling’s 2015 Sportsman of the Year award at the SA Wrestling gala awards evening held at the weekend.
The 20-year-old’s achievements last year included a training camp in Germany, finishing fifth at the Polish Cup international wrestling tournament, winning both the junior (U20) and senior divisions at the SA Championships, winning silver (U20) and bronze (over 20) at the African Championships in Egypt, competing at the Spanish Grand Prix event and training camp in Madrid, finishing 13th at the Junior World Championships in Salvador (Brazil) and claiming second place at the All African Games in Brazzaville.
The talented youngster won four gold medals at the SA Championships in the junior, senior and President’s divisions,
He has won the SA Championships an impressive 27 times.
KleinJan started wrestling at the age of seven and has never looked back.
He is rated as one of the SA’s best wrestlers and has been competing internationally from the age of 15.
He has made the SA team for the last six consecutive years.
Wrestling highlights that standout in this young man’s impressive career include winning gold at the 2012 African Championships and placing 8th at the 2012 World Championships.
In 2013, KleinJan placed third at the Commonwealth Championships in the over 20 division at the age of 18.
A bad knee injury will, however, prevent him from wrestling competitively this year.
But he will be back on the mat at the end of the year as he still has more goals to achieve in the future.
These include competing at the 2018 Commonwealth Championships (Australia), 2020 Olympic Games (Tokyo) and 2022 Commonwealth Championships (South-Africa).
