Huskies’ Klassen goes full speed ahead in whirlwind ride

Colton Klassen is healthy and ready to play football.

    Colton Klassen expected to write a classic injury comeback story, but world events had different ideas.

    Back on October 26, 2019, the star utility offensive player for the University of Saskatchewan Huskies football team went down with a gruesome dislocated right ankle near the end of the first quarter of 22-9 victory over the University of Alberta Golden Bears at Griffiths Stadium. The contest closed the regular season for both sides, which meant Klassen wasn’t able to play in the Huskies two post-season games.

    The graduate of Saskatoon’s Holy Cross High School Crusaders football team hit the comeback trail with great focus and determination.

    Miraculously at the beginning of March, he recovered to the point he was ready to attend CFL scouting combines.

Colton Klassen (#7) with his Huskies teammates on Oct. 26, 2019.

    At that point, the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic took hold in North America causing massive shutdowns to occur starting on a big scale on March 11 and 12, especially in the sports world.

    “Looking back on it, I’m trying to be positive with it, because I know everyone is kind of going through the same thing right now with there being no season,” said Klassen, who stands 5-foot-8 and weighs 200 pounds. “I know individually from the point I got hurt until now it definitely went a way in which I never thought it would, and I don’t think anyone would ever imagine happening.

    “I’ve been lucky with my recovery. It has only been eight almost nine months since I’ve had surgery. It is amazing how quick the body can heal once you put the work in and put in the time.”

Colton Klassen leaves Griffiths Stadium after being injured on Oct. 26, 2019.

    Ignite Athletics held testing in late March and Klassen ran the 40-yard dash in under 4.6 seconds which showed the incredible progress he had made. On April 30, he was selected in the eighth round and 69^th overall by the Montreal Alouettes in the CFL Draft.

    He hasn’t been able to report to the Alouettes as the CFL season still hangs in limbo due to the pandemic. That development hasn’t deterred Klassen from his training.

    “It is unfortunate that I didn’t get the chance this year at least yet to go to a CFL camp or get to go and show what I can do,” said Klassen, who caught 37 passes last season for 456 yards and two touchdowns and was named a Canada West Conference all-star. “I’m definitely feeling good.

Colton Klassen returns a kick on special teams for the Huskies.

    “The big thing now I think with myself and any athlete right now is just trying to stay positive and stay mentally safe and healthy and just try to be as positive as we can be given the situation that we are in.”

    Still, the bumps kept coming.

    On June 8, U Sports cancelled all its fall national championships including football, and the Canada West Conference cancelled play in all team sports for fall because of the ongoing battle with COVID-19.

    Just nine days into July, it appeared Klassen would lose the potential opportunity to return to the Huskies for his fifth and final season of eligibility. U Sports had at first decided to continue to enforce its age cap rule for football, and due to the fact Klassen would be 25-years-old as of Sept. 1, 2021, he wouldn’t have been eligible to play.

Colton Klassen, right, secures a catch in traffic for the Huskies.

    On July 27, U Sports announced it was launching a review regarding its eligibility policies for football and ruled all players who would be 25-years-old as of Sept. 1, 2021 would be allowed to play in the 2021 campaign. That meant Klassen could play his final campaign for the Huskies in 2021.

    After again riding the roller-coaster this time because of the age cap issue, Klassen couldn’t believe how many different adversities had piled up, but he still wanted to focus on the light at the end of the tunnel.

    “This year has just kind of been a punching bag in the face,” said Klassen. “First of all the injury and then everyone has their personal stuff to go through, so there is a lot of personal stuff to deal with after the injury and everything going forward.

Colton Klassen has celebrated a lot of big plays with the Huskies.

    “With COVID happening and stuff getting shut down and sports getting shut down, going forward with the future of my life, I don’t know if there will ever be a year or a time that will have this much negativity or so much doubt or uncertainty. If we can make it through this with everything that is going on, we can make it through anything.”

    The graduate of the CJFL’s Regina Thunder found a saving grace on June 8, when Ignite Athletics reopened after a government imposed shutdown. Klassen, who was the offensive player of the year of the Prairie Football Conference with the Thunder in 2015, was able to train again in a group setting with his Huskies teammates, who live in Saskatoon.

    He was happy to see athletes from other football teams and other sports out at Ignite too.

Colton Klassen was selected by the Alouettes in the CFL Draft.

    “Just seeing (co-owner and strength and conditioning coach) Joel (Lipinski) and seeing all those guys there and just seeing the positivity that those guys bring, I think that definitely helps,” said Klassen. “Definitely after quarantine and everything and the restrictions you have with seeing friends and people, when you go to the gym now, it is not just to get a lift in.

    “It is to get that social interaction aspect of your life back in. I know for me the gym right now is my life. I love going there.

    “I honestly don’t know what I would do without it or where I would be right now or what condition I would be in. Honestly, that is one of the things keeping me same right now.”

    Going forward, Klassen is working for the day he gets to play a game of football again.

    “I try to have the mindset that I am still going to have the opportunity to play football, and this virus won’t end it all,” said Klassen. “With this hitting us, this is more than just football.

Colton Klassen looks forward to the day he plays a football game again.

    “This is hitting you in every aspect of your life. I am just trying to look at it in the most positive way I can and just try to use it as a learning experience. I am just trying to stay positive and just trying to think about 12 or 13 months from now instead of just worrying about tomorrow or the day after.

    “It is just keep working and eventually we’ll be in a time I believe that is more normal than it is now.”

    If you have any comments you would like to pass along about this post, feel free to email them to stankssports@gmail.com.

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New Hilltops starting QB a student of the game

Walls groomed and ready to lead defending CJFL champs

Jordan Walls will lead the Hilltops as starting QB in 2017.

    Jordan Walls is pumped he will finally get the chance to apply what he has learned.

    For the last three seasons, Walls was the understudy to Saskatoon Hilltops starting quarterback Jared Andreychuk and watched Andreychuk build a legacy in the Canadian Junior Football League. Andreychuk led the Hilltops to three straight CJFL championships over the past three campaigns and posted a perfect 9-0 record in the post-season as a starting quarterback.

    Coming out of Saskatoon’s Tommy Douglas Collegiate, Walls was aware players don’t normally step in and become the starting quarterback with the Hilltops. He knew he could eventually be the starter one day, if he could learn and show what he learned in the chances he received in practices and games.

Jordan Walls drops back to pass.

    Walls admitted he had a pretty good role model to watch playing behind Andreychuk and was keenly watching the veteran signal caller in all situations.

    “He (Andreychuk) was always calm,” said Walls. “He never got too excited. He never got too down.

    “He handled himself in pressure moments very well. He just knew how to handle it and how to make the big time throws.

    “I think when you watch from the sideline you learn to see the game from a different view. You get to learn behind Jared (Andreychuk), which was good for me and good for my development. To have the reins now, I am excited to go.”

    At the Hilltops Alumni Game last season, Walls started that contest and gave a glimpse of what he could do. He threw the ball well all over the field and using his eyes to move defensive backs to get receivers open.

    It took a great play by defensive back Joel Lipinski, who is a former member of the University of Regina Rams and the Saskatchewan Roughriders, to get an interception off Walls. After Walls was pulled, the Alumni team stormed to a 41-10 victory.

    During the regular season in 2016, Walls completed 24 of 31 attempts for 245 yards, one touchdown and four interceptions stepping on the field during mop up duty.

    At the Hilltops Alumni Game on Thursday at Saskatoon Minor Football Field, Walls showed solid command of the offence playing the first half, which the Alumni team won 16-14. The 21-year-old signal caller throws the ball with some good authority despite being smaller in stature standing 5-foot-9 and weighing 155 points.

Jordan Walls throws downfield on the run.

    Hilltops head coach Tom Sargeant said his team is pumped to have Walls leading the offence and his teammates rally around him.

    “We are excited,” said Sargeant. “Jordan is the guy. He has done everything that we’ve asked him to do.

    “He can make all the throws and all the reads, so now it is just game experience. He just got to keep playing. We have got to get him good situations and good calls.

    “He has to trust the calls. He has to trust himself, and he has to make the plays.”

    Sargeant said there are still some fine tuning things the coaching staff needs to help Walls out with. The veteran sideline boss is confident good things will result as constant improvement is made.

    “He (Walls) has a real strong arm and is accurate,” said Sargeant. “Our job is just to give him a better understanding of what he needs to do and how he needs to do it.
    “When that takes place, you’re going to see this offence blossom, and we anticipate making a lot of plays this year.”

    Walls, by his own admission, said he is working on his vision on the field.

Jordan Walls fires a pass downfield from the pocket.

    “It is getting there,” said Walls. “Obviously, we have a lot of talented players on this offence, and they get open and they find the holes.

    “You get a guy like (running back) Logan Fischer or (receiver) Sam Mike, they make your job pretty easy.”

    Before joining the Hilltops for his fourth season, Walls saw the game of football in a different light, when he became the offensive coordinator of the powerhouse Saskatoon Valkyries of the Western Women’s Canadian Football League this past spring. He was also the club’s quarterbacks coach. Walls was entrusted with helping groom the Valkyries talented and personable sophomore quarterback Alex Eyolfson.

    With the Valkyries having an elite program guided by head coach Pat Barry and defensive coordinator Jeff Yausie, who is the Hilltops defensive coordinator, Walls found a lot of what he learned in his coaching role could be transferred over to the field guiding the Hilltops as quarterback.

Jordan Walls calls signals at the goal-line.

    “You see it from a different point,” said Walls. “You get to coach with great coaches.

    “Jeff Yausie and Pat Barry, those guys have been around for ages coaching, so to sit down in the meeting rooms with them and kind of hear what they have to say really helped with understanding situations and what defences are trying to do here and there. That helped a lot.”

    Walls is looking forward to getting the regular season going. The Hilltops open the regular campaign traveling to Regina on Saturday, Aug. 12 for a 7 p.m. clash with their provincial rivals the Thunder. That contest will mark the first time both squads play at new Mosaic Stadium in Regina.

    The Hilltops are also on a quest to become the first team to win four straight championships in the history of the CJFL dating back to 1908. Saskatoon won three straight CJFL titles on two other occasions from 2002 to 2004 and 2010 to 2012, which means this will mark the third time the Hilltops will try to win four league championships in a row.

Jordan Walls (#19) is protected by running back Adam Machart (#20).

    As the season progresses, Walls said the key for his team will be to focus on the present as opposed to worrying about keeping the Canadian Bowl - the CJFL championship trophy - in Saskatoon.

    “It is daunting I guess when you start to look at the big picture of it,” said Walls. “Obviously, no one has ever done it, and we’ve had a few chances in the past to do it as the Hilltops.

    “I think you have to take it game by game and week by week and slowly work your way towards it. They are not going to be handing out the Canadian Bowl next week, so we know that and we have to stay patient.”

    If you have any comments you would like to pass along about this post, feel free to email them to stankssports@gmail.com.

Anything is possible at Ignite Athletic Conditioning

Local company makes big impact on Saskatoon sports scene

Nolan Brudehl does resistance training at Ignite Conditioning.

    At Ignite Athletic Conditioning, the goal of the staff is to make the impossible possible for the athletes who train there.

    The Saskatoon-based company is co-owned by former athletes Jordan Harbidge and Joel Lipinski, who both made an impact on the provincial sports scene. Harbidge played football and basketball at Saskatoon’s Holy Cross High School before enjoying a strong five-year career with the University of Saskatchewan Huskies men’s basketball team from 2003 to 2008.

    Lipinski, who is from Regina, played post-secondary football with the University of Regina Rams (2004-2006), the Vancouver Island Raiders of the Canadian Junior Football League (2007) and the St. Mary’s University Huskies (2008). The star defensive back moved on to enjoy short CFL stints with the Saskatchewan Roughriders (2009) and the Edmonton Eskimos (2011).

Michael Linklater works out on the squat rack at Ignite Conditioning.

    Having lived lives as elite-level athletes, both wanted to train athletes and help them achieve their dreams.

    “It is pretty cool to have a job where you get to work with like local athletes, and you just kind of like wish something like this was around when you were that age,” said Harbidge. “It is pretty cool to offer something like that to local kids around here and give them the opportunity to try to reach their athletic potential or dreams.”

    “If it is just making like their high school football team or making their U-18 team or if it is like playing post-secondary or even later like play pro, all those like small goals along the way are just like huge milestones that are just cool to see,” said Lipinski. “This job is honestly one of the best jobs you could ever possibly have.”

    Ignite was formed as company in 2010 and trained a small group of about eight athletes at the start. 

Nolan Brudehl pushed a sled training at Ignite Conditioning.

    Fast forward to today, the company is run out of its own facility on the 400-block of Lauriston Street just south of 33^rd Street, and between 600 to 700 athletes train with Ignite.

    To help with training, Ignite recently hired Donovan Dale, who wrapped up his football career graduating from the U of Saskatchewan Huskies after this past season.

    Originally, the company was founded by former U of S Huskies football stars Ryan Gottselig and David Stevens. Both had decorated careers with the Huskies in the early to the middle of the 2000s and were well known in Saskatoon.

    In 2011, Gottselig moved to Moose Jaw after accepting a teaching job there, and he established an Ignite branch in that centre. Stevens joined the City of Saskatoon’s fire department, but he still owns a small part of the Saskatoon branch.

    Lipinski and Stevens became friends while playing for Canada’s team at the International Federation of American Football senior tackle world championship in Austria in 2011. 

Michael Linklater lifts a dumbbell at Ignite Conditioning.

    Lipinski ended up settling in Saskatoon after that tournament and bought into the company.

    Harbidge joined Ignite in 2012 after returning to Saskatoon having been an educator and an assistant strength coach at a private boys’ school in Vancouver.

    As Stevens’ firefighting career took off, Harbidge and Lipinski bought majority ownership of the Saskatoon branch. In order to allow Harbidge and Lipinski to take off with the company, Stevens worked hundreds of hours for free at the beginning.

    As a result of Stevens’s efforts, Harbidge and Lipinski ensured the elusive and speedy former running back still had a part ownership stake in the branch.

    In running Ignite, Harbidge said there have been times the sense of accomplishment has come in unassuming ways.

    “Originally, we were all kind of like we want to train pros,” said Harbidge. “We want to train a lot of the high level athletes.

    “A lot of the most rewarding things for us have been like last year we had a kid in eight weeks lose 35 pounds and get stronger. It is little things like that where you can actually change someone’s life that was pretty rewarding.”

    Ignite has programs for athletes aged 11 and younger where the focus is on building agility, balance and coordination through game-type activities.

Nolan Brudehl works on his movement at Ignite Conditioning.

    Training programs are catered to athlete development at various progression levels all the way up to more sports specific training for professional athletes.

    The Saskatoon Hilltops of the Canadian Junior Football League were one of the first massive groups that trained with Ignite. The staff at Ignite has worked with 40 Hilltops player per year in each of the last three years.

    The Saskatoon Valkyries of the Western Women’s Canadian Football League were one of the first large female groups to train out of Ignite. At the moment, female athletes make up 40 per cent of Ignite’s clientele.

    When Ignite started, most of the other elite training companies in Saskatoon focused on hockey, so Ignite built a reputation training athletes in all other sports outside of hockey.

    Ignite has training contracts with U of S Huskies women’s soccer, Huskies men’s basketball and Huskies football. Harbidge is the strength and conditioning coach for the Huskies men’s basketball team, and Lipinski is the strength and conditioning coordinator and defensive assistant coach with the Huskies football team.

Michael Linklater works on a resistance machine at Ignite Conditioning.

    Besides the university teams, Ignite trains athletes from numerous sports groups like Basketball Saskatchewan, Ringette Saskatchewan, Saskatoon Minor Football, Canoe and Kayak Saskatchewan, the Saskatchewan Badminton Association and the local elite volleyball academy in Saskatoon.

    Along the way, Ignite is starting to pick up a handful of Western Hockey League players as well.

    “Everyone kind of tried to get hockey and train hockey, and we just went for everything else,” said Harbidge. “We started with a niche which was football. Now we’ve kind of expanded to everything even hockey.

    “We try to really rebrand ourselves as athletic trainers not just football specialists, which was kind of our brand early on. It has been such a crazy dynamic, but it has been pretty cool.”

    Lipinski said the staff at Ignite tries to take an interest in an athlete’s life outside of sports as well. It was a trait he, Harbidge and Dale all learned from the respective coaches they had along the way in their careers as athletes.

Joel Lipinski is one of the co-owners and coaches at Ignite Conditioning.

    “You end up talking about things that are actually more than like obviously just sport,” said Lipinski. “You figure out what is going on in the athlete’s life.

    “You end up kind of almost being like a councillor at this position here too. To be honest, we end up like enjoying that aspect of it like just as much as the actual training side.”

    Harbidge said it has been great to find a niche to give back to the local sports scene, and in his case, his hometown.

    “I was originally planning to be a teacher, but now I am just like a specialist teacher,” said Harbidge. “I teach every day, but I get to teach what I am passionate about.

    “I feel very fortunate. Coming home from Vancouver, I get to work with the community I grew up in, which is pretty cool too.”

    If you have any comments you would like to pass along about this post, feel free to email them to stankssports@gmail.com.