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Despite having her Pan Am dreams dashed in March, Brittanee Laverdure continues to log valuable mat time for Canada on the wrestling circuit.

The 33-year-old Watson Lake native recently returned from the 2015 Pan American Championships in Santiago, Chile, April 23 to 25.

There, she earned bronze in the 55-kg freestyle behind gold medal-winning American Sarah Hildebrandt and Ecuador鈥檚 Luisa Valverde Melendres, who took silver.

Canada went on to finish first out of 14 teams in the women鈥檚 freestyle team standings.

鈥淚 haven鈥檛 travelled that much or competed a ton in the last couple years,鈥濃�圠averdure told the Star.

鈥淎s much as you train, you can鈥檛 mimic the matches and the stress and travel.鈥�

She decided to take part in the tournament at the 55-kg level, which freed her from cutting weight.

She fought four times in one day, finishing with a 2-2 record.

鈥淚 actually had four matches in the first three hours of the tournament,鈥� said Laverdure. 鈥淚 had some good matches and some bad ones.鈥�

She said the bronze medal win was somewhat bittersweet.

鈥淎s an athlete, you鈥檙e always disappointed,鈥� she said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 funny. For me, I鈥檓 OK with losses if you wrestled well. But I lost to an American and I made some mistakes. I was wrestling people that were a bit heavier than me, but if I鈥坔ad been on tactically, it wouldn鈥檛 have mattered.

鈥淚鈥檓 happy that I won a bronze. As a country, we ended up winning the title, so that鈥檚 a positive.鈥�

Following her performance in Chile, Laverdure spent a week in Montreal training with the national squad.

Next Wednesday, she heads to Greece and Germany where she will represent Canada at a couple of international tournaments.

鈥淚t will be the only tour they have before Pan Ams,鈥� Laverdure said, noting the Greece event will take place in Olympia.

Laverdure said Pan Am Games team qualification took place at nationals in St. Catharines, Ont., in March, where she lost the 53-kg gold-medal match to Brianne Barry, a 23-year-old from London, Ont.

鈥淥nly No. 1 goes,鈥濃�圠averdure said. 鈥淚t was really sad because I hadn鈥檛 lost to her and then I鈥坵as winning and got tossed in the final.

鈥淭hat is life.鈥�

Not only did the loss cost Laverdure a shot at the Pan Am Games, but it also earned Barry a trip to the world championships in Las Vegas and the No. 1 ranking entering the qualification process for next year鈥檚 Summer Olympics.

The 2015 Pan Am Games are set to take place in Toronto July 15 to 18. A total of 150 wrestlers will qualify to compete at the event.

Laverdure has never competed at the Pan Am Games.

鈥淭hat鈥檚 the one thing I was really sad about,鈥� she said about her loss at nationals in March. 鈥淚 was always second to Tonya Verbeek.鈥�

Laverdure also served twice as an Olympic alternate to Verbeek, a native of Beamsville, Ont.

The Yukoner鈥檚 ultimate goal continues to be representing Canada at the Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, in 2016.

She will enter the Olympic trials this December as the second seed in her weight class, thanks to her performance at nationals.

Laverdure is hoping for an opportunity to face Barry again in the best-of-three format.

To prepare, she has a busy summer scheduled, including events in Ontario, Spain and possibly Poland.

鈥淚鈥檓 exhausted thinking about it, but I want to have no regrets. I鈥坉on鈥檛 want to say: 鈥業 wish I did that, I鈥坰hould have done that.鈥� I鈥檓 going to do it.鈥�

Last month, Laverdure was in the Yukon, where she joined local student-athletes for a day at sports school and enjoyed a community dinner in Watson Lake.

Last summer, Laverdure took silver at the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, Scotland.

She currently works as a lawyer in Calgary.