Two local athletes are returning from Toronto over the December 12th and 13th weekend having struck gold at the Ontario Kickboxing Championships. Cherish Miller and Laura Perrault, representing Steel City MMA were both victorious in their divisions, earning the right to compete at the national championships in May.

Miller, a 17 year old who attends Central Algoma Secondary was a double gold medalist. After defeating Hannah Munroe of York Muay Thai in the 55kg Intermediate (age 16-18) division by referee stoppage, Miller moved up to the adult division where she defeated Isabella Ruffalo of Hook Up Muay Thai In Toronto in a closely contested bout.

Perrault also fought a highly competitive bout in the Senior +70kg gold medal final. Matched up against defending national champion Gladys Dietrich of Hannover’s Golden Dragon Martial Arts, Perrault used all three rounds to earn a hard fought referees decision.
The Steel City MMA athlete, who faced some adversity leading up to the Ontario Championships in the form of broken toes suffered in training, was happy with her performance: “Beating a national champion, with the adversity I was facing, I’m pretty happy. There’s no way I was losing that fight. I can’t wait to do it again”.

Steel City head coach Brent Fryia spoke highly of the two athletes’ performances with “I couldn’t be happier with how they performed. They both ran up against tough competition and they rose to the occasion. Great effort by Laura and Cherish.”

Next action for the Steel City MMA team is the Brampton Cup, one of the premier boxing tournaments in Canada, in February, and the Iron Grip Invitational Jiu Jitsu tournament in March.