While much of Team Alberta has arrived in Winnipeg for the Canada Summer Games, their wrestlers haven't hopped on a plane just yet.

You could say it has been an intense summer of preparation, but really this team has been two years in the making with over 20 camps held in preparation, says Team Alberta coach Vern McNeice, also head coach of the Cochrane Cowboys wrestling club.

Still, the push is on right now and it's been nonstop training since the Team Alberta trials were held in the spring. Following camps in both South Dakota and Jasper, this week you'd find them at the University of Calgary refining their techniques. That's being followed by a final taper session of Aug. 2. A few days later, they're Winnipeg bound, where they will continue to prepare for their Aug. 9 to 11 bouts.

Connor McNeice and Hunter Smith, of the Cochrane Cowboys, are among the 11 Alberta men's competitiors and there are another three Cowboys preparing as stand-ins should any injuries occur prior to the games.

That has been the case for one Cochrane wrestler, Brendan McKeage, 17, who has suffered a knee injury and won't be able to compete.

"He was one of the favourites to win it," says McNeice. "Bad luck, poor guy, he hurt his back last year in a year when he was probably would have favoured to win the world trials and go to the world championships. The year before that he broke his arm at the Western Canada Games. So it will be good for him to have the summer off and heal up before he starts at the University of Calgary. He'll do well there and we're super proud of him."

Connor McNeice is competing in the 65kg class. He has been to the Canada Games before as a spectator to watch his older brother Callum win silver in the 46kg weight class in 2013.

"I was there watching him, so it's kind of cool to have the opportunity to go and compete there, too," says McNeice.  "It should be a good experience."

This spring, McNeice won his fourth consecutive national title and is a Pan-Am champion.

Hunter Smith is in the 85kg event and with the help of his grandfather Larry Hulgaard has been regularly travelling from the Rocky Mountain House area to pursue his passion.

It has been about four years since he gave the sport a try and its the intensity of the sport and the endurance it entails that keeps him on the mats. 

Smith has back-to-back bronze medal performances at the nationals and is a two-time Alberta champion.

While Connor Pointen isn't attending at this point, he's been training alongside for most of the summer. When the team was in South Dakota, he was in Japan for a 10-day camp with wrestling coach Mike Dunn. 

"It was amazing experience," says Pointen, who's going into grade 11 at Bow Valley High School. "The culture, hospitality and wrestling there is just phenomenon."

Also on the alternate list are brothers Elijah and Isaiah Springer and they, like Pointen, play a big role in the team win sought, says McNeice.

"We are developing all of these kids to make them better in sport and they're all stepping up," says Coach McNeice. "A lot of these kids aren't going to the games and they're still coming out to practices to help out their buddies and try to give us the best chance of a team success at the games."

McNeice admires the dedication of the wrestlers and other athletes earning a spot in the summer games.

"A lot of people don;'t understand what these kids are going through to get there. They're training vigilantly. Most of them are on weights and  completing cardio sessions and training sessions and watching their diet. When all the others kids are going to movies, partying or hanging out, these kids are going to bed early so they can get up and train in morning. It's a credit to all of them."

Also participating from Cochrane are diver Ashley McCool, who also competed in the 2013 Canada Games, rower Brielle Thorson, who is a member of the Queen's University rowing team, and swimming coach Alexx Diep.