QB Anton Amundrud was on the cusp of becoming a teenager when an even younger kid on the football field recognized him as an influential figure in their hometown.
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“We first were teammates for one year in peewee, when I would have been nine turning 10, and Anton would have been 12,” Xander Pierce, now 21, recalled in November.
There was something special about the athletic Amundrud, an astute Pierce noticed at the time. As they grew older, and later played high school and university football together, Pierce often spoke about his role model.
Now, he and many others are extending their best wishes to Amundrud, the star University of Saskatchewan Huskies’ quarterback whose cancer diagnosis was revealed in November on the Saskatoon campus.
“I feel like I say it all the time, but Anton is one of those guys I’ve always looked up to and idolized, and wanted to be just like,” Pierce said about his former teammate with the collegiate Huskies and the Lloydminster Comprehensive High School (LCHS) Barons.
“The situation he’s in right now is obviously very tough. I’m rooting for him and trying to get in contact with him a little bit. I hope he’s doing well.”
Amundrud, 23, has been diagnosed with a form of cancer called lymphoma. His sickness forced him out of the U of S lineup partway through the U Sports season, which continued as the host Huskies defeated the Queen’s Gaels 22-11 in the Mitchell Bowl and advanced to the Vanier Cup national final against the Montreal Carabins. Montreal went on to win that game 30-16 in Regina.
As news broke that Amundrud is tackling cancer, it became clear in the early going that he can count on boundless support from back home
in Lloydminster.
Former teammates and coaches from the Border City are among the many people rallying behind Amundrud.
“We are sending our best to Anton and his family,” said Kieran Link,
who coaches the LCHS Barons. “Anton oozes charisma and is incredibly tough. He’s ready to face this challenge head-on.”
FORMER BARON ‘A NATURAL LEADER’
Although it’s been five years since he graduated from the Barons, Amundrud is still remembered as one of the best football players ever to come out of Lloydminster.
“He was our quarterback the last time we won the provincial championship,” Link said. “He’s a natural leader, tough, competitive and fun to be around. He was a Canada West (conference) all-star this year, even while missing several games. Anton is a consummate teammate, and the entire country is behind him in this fight.”
His current team, the Huskies, fought for a U Sports national championship, albeit with heavy hearts and without one of the nation’s most dynamic university quarterbacks.
The Huskies played the latter part of the fall without Amundrud, a fourth-year pivot who had stepped away from the team five games into the season.
Just during their playoff push, his Huskies teammates learned of Amundrud’s cancer diagnosis and that he would begin treatment immediately.
The news not only hit his own team hard, but also the greater football community across Canada.
In the Bridge City, the Saskatoon Hilltops had just celebrated winning the Canadian Junior Football League championship on Nov. 9 on their home turf. The Canadian Bowl champions include two Lloyd boys in Pierce and
Ryden Gratton, the hero in the national junior final.
Gratton, another graduate of the Lloydminster Comprehensive football program, kicked the winning field goal with just 28 seconds left as the Hilltops defeated the previously unbeaten Okanagan Sun of Kelowna, B.C., 21-18.
Gratton and Hilltops receiver Pierce are a few years younger than Amundrud, but all three of them were teammates for one high school season with the Barons.
Pierce also played alongside Amundrud for two years with the Huskies, before joining the Hilltops in 2024.
Gratton and Pierce, current U of S students, have looked up to Amundrud as a football role model from their high school and their home community.
“It’s a terrible thing,” Gratton, 21, said about Amundrud’s health setback. “I can’t believe that’s happening to him. It’s so sad. I mean, everyone knows he’s a great football player, but he’s an even better person. I knew he was super sick, because obviously he didn’t dress the last few games. (Before then), he was starting quarterback there and had a really good year.”
Amundrud’s conference-best numbers this season included 14 touchdown passes, no interceptions, and an average of 321 passing yards per game. He led the Huskies (later 10-2) to a 4-1 start.
Amundrud, six-foot-three and 210 pounds, attended the Saskatchewan Roughriders’ CFL training camp this year. Those Roughriders just won the Grey Cup in mid-November, defeating the Montreal Alouettes 25-17.
A GoFundMe account was established in support of Amundrud and his family. Within the first week, more than $62,000 had been raised through donations, many from former teammates and coaches and community members in Lloyd.
Read more: Year in review: A look at events in March 2025
