Decorated Sask wrestler launching platform to inspire wrestling’s next generation

Drive by a desire for success not only for himself but that of his community, Cole Sanderson stands among the most decorated wrestlers Saskatchewan has ever produced. From Sturgeon Lake First Nation, Sanderson began his wrestling journey as a high school student in Prince Albert, and quickly became became a regional, provincial, and national champion.

But now, Sanderson has decided to scale a new mountain: bringing his beloved sport into the mainstream.

“Wrestling has given me everything. I want to give back to the wrestling community,” said Sanderson. “I’m focused on growing the sport and giving the athletes the platform that they’ve always deserved.”

Sanderson is the owner and operator of North Wrestle – a media outlet specializing in covering Canadian wrestling tournaments and athletes with the goal of growing the sport. It’s a space that Sanderson has noticed a significant void.

“Right now, I’m the only person in the country doing what we’re doing. That was one of the main drivers – there’s an opportunity to grow the sport,” he said. “One of my core beliefs is that visibility creates opportunity.”

To fully understand Sanderson’s passion for growing the sport, and his grassroots approach to creating his own wrestling media outlet, one only needs to look at his determination within his own athletics.

Growing up in Sturgeon Lake, Sanderson lived on reserve with his parents, who were survivors of Residential school. At 12 years of age, he moved in with his grandmother in Prince Albert. While attending St Mary High School, he was convinced by a persistent classmates to give wrestling a shot. A sport he had no prior interest in. After the first few practices, his interest remained tempered.

“At first I didn’t really love it. It was very hard but I kept showing up to practice and eventually it turned into an outlet,” he said. “My coaches really encouraged me. The community kept me in it during those early days.”

Sanderson competed in a handful of tournaments before taking his first top prize at a regional tournament. After that, he was hooked and it was a steady progression upwards.

In his second year, he repeated that regional title, and added a provincial championship to his credits, and a gold medal at the North American Indigenous Games (NAIG). Continuing his trajectory upwards in high school athletics, Sanderson won gold at the national championships for Under-19, as well as multiple titles in regional and provincial wresting, and several tournament wins in Ontario.

Moving to the University circuit following high school, Sanderson became a starter for the University of Saskatchewan (USask) wrestling team in 2023, where he lost only one match all season – the national final – while also picking up gold at the Canada-West Championship. He also competed in Argentina and Japan, and placed second in the Canada Olympic trials.

Around the end of 2024, Sanderson started to think about wresting in a different, more nuanced way.

“Wrestling does so many great things for the community. It teaches you a lot of values in life – being disciplined and resilient. It shows you that you can do the hard things.”

Those lessons gave Sanderson the belief in himself to chase after his next dream. With barely a plan and no photography or videography experience, Sanderson walked into a camera store, bought some equipment, and began attending tournaments – as both a competitor and a documenter.

“I was creating content in-between my matches,” he said. “I would go to tournament, warm up for my match, compete, then grab my camera and create content for North Wrestle,” he said. “And I was still winning the tournaments while taking photos between the matches.”