Five who’ve played in Guelph selected in CFL draft
TORONTO – Three University of Guelph Gryphons and a former St. James Lion saw their names come up on the Canadian Football League’s draft tracker during the league’s annual draft Tuesday night.
Picked from the Gryphons were wide receiver Kiondre Smith in the third round, 37th overall, by the Hamilton Tiger-Cats, linebacker Jared Beeksma by the Ticats a round later (fourth round, 46th overall) and defensive lineman Jeremy Kapelanski in the sixth round, 56th overall, by the Winnipeg Blue Bombers.
Wide receiver Riley Boersma, who played two seasons of District 10 high school football with the St. James Lions before moving on to prep school and then the University of Regina Rams, was picked in the eighth and final round, 72nd overall, by the Saskatchewan Roughriders.
Former Gryphon running back Jean-Paul Cimankinda was taken in the seventh round, 57th overall, by the Edmonton Elks.
Kiondre Smith
Smith caught 38 passes for 448 yards and four touchdowns for the Gryphs last season and was the team’s primary punt returner with 25 returns for 282 yards. He also had two rushes for four yards, five kickoff returns for 77 yards and four solo tackles on special teams. Smith played three seasons with the Gryphs. He had 12 catches for 164 yards and a touchdown in 2019-2020 and also scored a touchdown on a four-yard carry, his lone rush of the season. He was strictly a returner in his rookie season, 2018-2019. That year he had 16 kickoff returns for 403 yards and 38 punt returns for 401 yards and a touchdown and led the team with 804 all-purpose yards.
Jared Beeksma
Beeksma had 36½ tackles last season including 2½ for a loss of 11 yards and a sack for a loss of 10 yards. He also had an interception with a three-yard return and two breakups. In 2019, he led the Gryphs with 45 tackles, 6½ for a loss of 19 yards, two sacks for a loss of 12 yards, forced a fumble and recovered it, had three breakups and two interceptions with a total return of 40 yards. He had 11½ tackles in 2018.
Jeremy Kapelanski
Last year Kapelanski had 13 tackles in his first season as a starter. He also had three tackles for losses for a loss of 15 yards, two sacks for a loss of 14 yards and two breakups. In 2019 he had two tackles in two games of limited play. He had six tackles in 2018, two for a loss of four yards, a sack for a loss of two yards and two breakups.
Riley Boersma
Boersma hauled in 18 receptions for 285 yards and two touchdowns for Regina last year. In 2019 he had 21 catches for 478 yards and four touchdowns, two kickoff returns for 19 yards and 3½ tackles on special teams. In 2018 had had a tackle on special teams.
Jean-Paul Cimankinda
Cimankinda played one season for the Gryphs and had 36 rushes for 296 yards and three touchdowns in 2018 and also had a tackle on special teams. He was ineligible to play in 2019 and then transferred to the Ottawa Gee-Gees. Last year he led Ottawa with 76 rushes for 426 yards and a touchdown and also had three catches for 37 yards.
All are to report to their CFL squads for the beginning of training camps in about two weeks’ time. The CFL preseason is to start May 23 while the regular season is to begin June 9.
- Guelph Sports Journal