With a seventh national title now under her belt, some people may wonder what's left for Yukon wrestler Erica Sharp to accomplish.

Sharp picked up her latest title at the Canadian championships earlier this month in Renfrew, Ontario, competing in the 51-kilogram class, which she said was pretty small this year. Still, her opponent in the final match was a Canadian team member at the 2004 Olympics, so it wasn't at all easy.

'It feels good,' said Sharp in an interview from her parent's home in Whitehorse Tuesday. 'It's always nice to feel like you accomplish something, but it's definitely not like the first time.

'I don't really feel like I was at the top of my game, but I wrestled adequately.'

The national scene isn't the only place where Sharp is dominating ñ� she's now getting set for her sixth trip to the world championships after a season in which she competed at events in Italy, Japan and the United States.

At the World Cup in Japan, she came in third and Canada was second overall as a team.

'It was still early in the season,' she said. 'I could have won a couple more matches. But I'm not going to beat myself up because it was a fun tournament.

'In the World Cup, you earn points for your team with every match you compete in, so it was exciting that way, to know your performance helped everyone else. It was my first time at a World Cup, so it was fun.'

At the event in Italy, Sharp finished first after wrestling fellow Canadians in both her first match and semifinal match to earn a berth in the final.

Her performances at international events this year gave her the confidence that she can improve her placing at the world championships this year, which are being held this September in Hungary, Budapest.

Her best previous placement was a silver medal in 1999, and this year, she expects a lot of tough matches. There was no worlds last year because of the Olympics.

'I want to do well at worlds, that's the thing I'm focusing on,' she stated. It'd be nice to be a little bit fitter (for worlds) and I want to work on my technical game a bit more. I'll just kind of focus on what I'm really good on and build my confidence a bit more.'

Sharp acknowledged it can be hard to get pumped for all her matches at this stage of her career, but said she keeps going because there's still unfulfilled dreams she's chasing down like a gold medal at the world championships, which has eluded her so far.

'One of the bigger challenges now for sure is to get motivated,' she said. 'It's definitely something I'm working with and I think I'll probably go see a sports psychologist to work on it.

'I guess unfulfilled goals (is why I keep going) and because this is what I do. This is a huge part of my identity. It's going to be really hard for me when I can't say I'm a wrestler anymore. I love this sport. The wrestling community is a real community.'

Now 30 years old, Sharp still hasn't decided if she will remain in the sport until the 2008 Olympics, saying she'll play it by ear.

She tried out for the Olympic team last year the first year women's wrestling was an official Olympic sport. Although she finished a strong second place in her division, she just missed out on a team spot.

'We'll see how the body holds up and if I'm still enjoying it,' she said about her future.

When Sharp is ready to call it quits, another Yukoner is waiting in the wings, hoping to achieve just as much success. Watson Lake's Brittanee Laverdure also competed at nationals, where she placed second in the 55-kg class.

'I could have wrestled better,' said Laverdure in an interview from Calgary, where she wrestles with the University of Calgary Dinos club. 'But it's good just to get more experience.

'My first two matches, I just killed the girls and then I had a senior athlete in the finals.'

Laverdure, who will have a couple weeks off the mat before she starts training for the Canada Cup in July, said she also got a chance to watch Sharp's match at nationals since her match was immediately after it.

'It was intense,' she said. 'I'm really, really happy for Erica because it's a good win for her and a confidence booster. She gets to go back to the world championships now.'

Before the worlds, Sharp will compete at a tournament in Austria next month. Right now, she is back in the Yukon until next week, visiting family and taking a bit of a break. When she heads back to Edmonton, where she wrestles at the University of Alberta, Sharp will be on the mat five days a week and doing off-mat training every day.

'It's nice to be home right now,' she said. 'I needed a Yukon fix.'