Wrestling - W | 12/7/2015 11:50:00 AM

BURNABY, BC - Simon Fraser University criminology student and former Clan athlete Danielle Lappage earned Canada's first wrestling berth in the 2016 Summer Olympics on Saturday when she defeated No.1-ranked Braxton Stone-Papadopoulos 2-0 in their best-of-three final.

Lappage, a four-time All-American and three-time champion with the Clan women's wrestling program, punched her ticket for the Games in Rio just 14 months after tearing the anterior cruciate ligament in her right knee.

"I don't think there is a word to describe how I'm feeling right now. More than happy, more than ecstatic. Honestly, I could die a happy woman ... after the Olympics, of course," Lappage told the Edmonton Journal. "This is the highest goal I've had in all aspects of my life and to know that I'm going is absolutely incredible."

Lappage scored six straight victories, including two victories over Stone-Papadopoulos , the number one seed and individual who qualified the 63 kilogram weight class for Canada at last year's world championships.

Lappage impressively fought back from the pool and through the third and second ranked athletes to meet the national champion Stone-Papadopoulos in the ladder final. The two matches were hard-fought with Lappage winning 6-4 and 8-2.

Lappage was overcome with excitement following the win.

"I have never felt this way before," said Lappage. "I felt confident and determined because it was a long road to get here. I didn't wrestle last year because I was injured, so it feels incredible to win."

"I've been trying to get here for over a year now, for this single tournament... I can't believe I can now be nominated to compete at the Olympics."

Lappage, the 2014 Commonwealth Games gold medallist, tore her ACL in practice just a month after she placed fifth at the 2014 world championships.

An SFU criminology graduate, Lappage used her year of recovery from injury to pursue a Master's Degree in SFU's Criminology Master of Arts program.

During her SFU collegiate wrestling career Lappage was a four-time finalist and three-time champion in the Women's Collegiate Wrestling Association and was named Co-Female Athlete of the Year in her final year. She won a Junior World Championship in 2011 and she has won World University and Pan American Games titles as well.

"Danielle is an almost perfect example of who we want our student-athletes to be," said SFU women's wrestling head coach Mike Jones. "She is competitive, she is resilient and she is a terrific student. She used her year off with injury wisely, completing a Master's Degree. I am proud that she will be representing Canada at the Olympics."

After three days of top-calibre freestyle and greco-roman competition, the Canadian Wrestling Team Trials concluded with Clan alumni Justina DiStasio being named an alternate at 75 KG and Arjun Gill winning the 97 KG weight class. Gill will be Canada's representative to try to qualify the weight class for the Olympics at the next Pan American Games.

--@SFUClan--