The Wall of Fame at Legends Stadium has gained a new face.
Flathead High School wrestling coach Jeff Thompson was inducted to the Legends Wall of Fame at a ceremony during the crosstown basketball game on Feb. 16. Thompson was the sole selection by the Wall of Fame Selection Committee for the 2023 induction class.
“With coach Thompson, it really starts with the culture he creates at Flathead,” said Flathead High School Activities Director Bryce Wilson. “He just embraces every kid. He walks the halls and anytime he sees an athletic kid, he’ll tell them to come out and try wrestling.”
A three-time state champion at Great Falls High and a collegiate wrestler at the University of Minnesota, Thompson coached the Brave Brawlers from 2000-2008, building a program that produced 107 state placers, 48 state finalists and 13 state champions. Flathead won Class AA state titles in 2004, 2006, 2007 and 2008, and was ranked 10th nationally in 2008. The National Wrestling Coaches Association twice named Thompson the organization’s regional coach of the year.
“When the team was nationally ranked, I figured this must be the result of some intense, really hardcore conditioning and practices,” Wilson said. But when he popped into the wrestling room after school one day, he was surprised at what he found. “The kids were just playing games and having fun. They were drenched in sweat, clearly working out hard, but they didn’t even know it.”
After nine seasons at the helm, Thompson realized the nature of coaching had taken away from his life as a father and husband, and in 2008 he decided to step down. He still helped with youth wrestling programs but his days leading the high school team were over.
Until they weren’t.
In 2016, Thompson decided he was missing a piece of his life and after an eight-year hiatus stepped back into the role as a high school wrestling coach.
Since taking over as the head Braves wrestling coach again, Thompson’s athletes have claimed six state championships, including back-to-back titles for both the boys and girls teams in 2021 and 2022.
Flathead was an early adopter of girls wrestling when the Montana High School Association sanctioned the sport for the 2021 season, fielding the largest team in the state and immediately mirroring the success seen with the boys’ program. Following last year’s double championship, Thompson was inducted into the Montana Coaches Association Hall of Fame.
“The longevity of Coach Thompson and his success with our wrestlers, that’s not an easy feat. It’s really a year-round job, it’s getting kids to tournaments outside the high school season and sacrificing a lot,” Wilson said. “It really speaks to the passion he has for the sport and as a coach, and that passion becomes ingrained in the athletes and in his assistant coaches. It’s truly one of the great traditions of Flathead High.”
During the spring of 2004 the School District 5 Flathead High School Trustees voted to change the name of Rawson Field to Legends Stadium. With the outstanding students, athletes, teachers, coaches and administrators in School District 5, the board of trustees believed that the creation of the Legends Wall of Fame would be an effective way to recognize many individuals who have made a significant contribution to the local school community.
Inductees are chosen based upon the following criteria: Service to community; excellence in leadership, academics and teaching in the Kalispell School District; outstanding athletic accomplishments in the Kalispell community and beyond; accomplishments at Legends Stadium and on the playing fields and courses of District 5 high schools.