COLUMBIA FALLS – If a wrestling tournament breaks out at his next family reunion, Kelly Houle should be able to hold his own.
That might not be a momentous achievement in most families, but most families don’t need separate wings of the house to store their wrestling trophies. In fact, Houle might be one of the favorites at this point, which is really saying something.
His second cousins are Toby and Micky Cheff of Ronan. Micky, a senior, is the No. 2-ranked wrestler in Class A at 152 pounds and Toby, a junior, is the top-ranked wrestler at 189 pounds. Their father Mick won multiple state championships in high school and national championships in college. There are other wrestling champions in the family as well.
Houle, an 18-year-old senior at Columbia Falls High School, is chasing the single-season school record for pins – 31, held by Caleb Schaeffer, the younger brother of Houle’s coach Jesse Schaeffer. Of Houle’s 30 wins this season, 26 have come by pin.
And Houle is wrestling with the big boys. At 215 pounds, wrestlers in his weight class aren’t known for getting pinned that often. At the Western Montana Duals in Ronan on Jan. 8-9, against opponents from six different teams, Houle recorded six straight pins in two days. He is ranked No. 1 in the state in his weight class.
“You don’t see that very often,” Schaeffer said, referring to Houle’s high pin ratio. “He knows he can turn anybody.”
Before moving to Columbia Falls in sixth grade, Houle lived in Ronan, one of Montana’s wrestling strongholds. He began wrestling in kindergarten. Then in fourth grade, for the first official time, he wrestled against his cousin Marcus Shiele. That was the first of 19 matches between the cousins, culminating in an epic overtime decision last year, which Houle won.
Now that Shiele has graduated, the cousins’ career scorecard appears to be final: Houle 19, Shiele 0. Even the talented Shiele, who placed fourth in Class A at 189 pounds last year for Ronan, couldn’t quite get Houle. But he tried mightily, particularly in that final match.
“They left it all on the mat,” Schaeffer said. “I mean, that was really exciting to watch.”
After consecutive second-place finishes at the Class A state tournament in 2008 and 2009, Houle is looking to cap off his high school career with a state title. Last year, Houle lost a 4-0 decision to Justin Graham of Libby in the 215-pound championship. In Graham’s three matches leading up to the Houle showdown, he had won with pins in :06, :50 and 2:34. Houle finished the year with a record of 36-4.
His father, Kelly Houle Sr., said Houle walked off the mat following the loss to Graham and immediately predicted a state title in his senior year.
“He told me, ‘That’s not going to happen again,’” the elder Houle said.
In 2008, Houle lost to Sidney’s Beau Melby in a 11-4 decision in the title match. He finished that season with a 32-6 record. He was 29-11 as a freshman. This year, Houle is 28-2, bringing his career record to 125-23.
One of his two losses this season was a 5-3 overtime decision to Bentley Alsup of Missoula Sentinel in early December. Alsup is one of the top-ranked wrestlers in Class AA. Houle hasn’t lost to a Class A wrestler.
Houle’s other loss was a close 3-2 decision to Jacob Trotter of Mead, Wash., in the 215-pound title match of Missoula’s Jug Beck Rocky Mountain Classic on Jan. 16. Trotter is the defending 4A Washington state champion. Toby Cheff won the 189-pound title at the Rocky Mountain Classic and Micky lost in the semifinals.
While Houle is fast and strong, his ability to dominate stems largely from his technique and positioning, Schaeffer said. Once he’s on top, he’s unstoppable. Sturdy on his feet, Houle rarely allows himself to get into an awkward position that might give the opponent an advantage. He’s only been taken down three times all year.
“One of my goals is to not get taken down again this year,” Houle said.
That innate sense of positioning is also one of Houle’s foremost strengths on the football field, said Wildcats’ football coach Bill Coleman. Despite wrestling scholarship offers from several colleges, Houle has decided to play football at the University of Montana Western. Houle is a two-time Class A all-state defensive end and an all-conference offensive guard.
“He understands leverage,” Coleman said, “which is why he was able to be really good at a position that he was a little small for. He’s a great tactician.”
And Coleman used the same words as Schaeffer in describing another of Houle’s qualities: “He has a tremendous work ethic.”
“In the offseason, he worked as hard as any kid I’ve been around in my 25 years of coaching,” Coleman said. “Just a great kid to be around and a great example for the kids coming up in our program.”
Houle Sr. credited far-ranging family support with helping mold his son into the leader and wrestler he is today. His mother Christy has attended every one of his meets except for a tournament in Las Vegas his freshman year. His sisters Addie and Tori go to as many as possible too. And even his grandmother – on the Cheff side – softens her die-hard support for Ronan wrestling when Columbia Falls is in town.
“It says a lot,” Houle Sr. said, “when you get a Cheff to sit in a Columbia Falls crowd.”