Page 61 - Flathead Beacon // 1.15.13

FLATHEADBEACON.COM
SPORTS
JANUARY 15, 2014 | 61

WRESTLING
Continued from back page

By DILLON TABISH of the Beacon

IGFORK — Bloody noses.
Bumps and bruises. Plenty of

sweat.
The cafeteria at Bigfork
Middle School is illed with ruckus most
nights as 12 young men rebuild a tradi-
tion of toughness and skill. While the
gymnasium remains home court for the
high school’s basketball teams, this is

the site of a reborn wrestling program,
a team rising from the ashes after more
than a decade away from the mat.
Wrestling is back at Bigfork High
School. After disbanding the squad in
2003 due to low numbers, the school
brought back the sport last summer af-
ter an organized efort campaigned for

its return.
Josh Feller, a math teacher who grew
up wrestling in Glasgow, lobbied for
support from the school board with the
help of others, including the strong Lit-
tle Guy Wrestling Program run by Kel-
ly Rieke that boasts roughly 50 young

grapplers. A school-wide survey found
students were strongly in favor of add-
ing wrestling, and the board went along,
also adding girls swimming, per Title
IX rules. With approval, Feller and his
staf of assistant coaches and support-
ers were tasked with raising $12,000 Wrestlers move mats
for the upstart program, which they out of a meeting room
into the cafeteria at the
did throughout summer. The school’s middle school where
booster club helped buy singlets for they practice.
meets, and the old basketball warmups
are being used, but with a new distinct
wrestling patch on each one. The old Bigfork High School
mats from the the past were dusted of head coach Josh
and now are unfolded in the cafeteria for Feller instructs Damon
nightly practices.
Maitland, left, and
Gunnar Boose as they
A month ago, Bigfork hosted its irst work on technique
dual meet in more than a decade. Last during practice.
week the team hosted another meet at
the school against Mission-Charlo. Al- GREG LINDSTROM | FLATHEAD BEACON
though the Vikings lost 48-6, it was an-
other step forward for a group of largely
inexperienced grapplers.

“The one thing I can say about ev-
ery loss that we’ve had, we haven’t made
the same mistake twice. They’re con-
stantly learning, and that’s more excit-
ing than going out and winning tourna-
ments right now,” said Feller, the new
head coach. “Day in and day out, they’re
learning something new and applying

what they learn.”
When the irst practices were held and Riley Meyer, competed in the sport ering defeats early on. The irst home ered it has the whole-hearted support
in November, the team began with more when they were younger but didn’t have match was against Eureka, the ifth- of the community behind it. The boys
than 20 participants. But pretty quickly, the opportunity when they arrived in ranked team in the state.
found that out while walking in the
the wear and tear of wrestling, plus its high school.
“It’s diicult, with everybody being town’s holiday parade after Christmas.
hardy attributes, shrank the roster. To- “It’s exciting. After 12 years we inal- new with the whole experience,” Feller “It was just crazy seeing all the peo-
day there are 12 young men competing.
ly got the program started,” said Quirk, a said. “They needed to go out and have ple cheering for these guys,” Feller said.

“I was worried that they would real- junior competing at 182 pounds. “We’re some hard matches and they have, but “That’s what I like to see. We’re a basket-
ize how hard it is and that we’d lose a lot a bunch of young wrestlers and we’ve they’re growing. “
ball school but we are getting recognized
more,” Feller said. “I’d much rather have got a lot to learn but we’re coming along Feller described the wrestlers like for the hard work these guys are putting
a group of 12 who really want to be out great.”
balls of clay that he hopes to mold into in.”
there than a larger group who is just go- “I was hesitant to join at irst because Bigfork’s style of wrestling, “aggressive The Bigfork wrestling team is host-
ing through the motions.”
I hadn’t wrestled since Little Guy,” Mey- from the get-go and strong defensively. ing a dual meet against the Flathead JV
Nate Stewart, a senior in the er said. “But I decided to try it and once I Our goal is to wrestle three periods hard on Jan. 31. It will be senior night for the
145-pound division, never wrestled un- did, I’m really glad that I did it.”
every match.”
Vikings.

til now. Two weeks ago he picked up his The team is learning the hard way Bringing back a tradition can be [email protected]
irst two wins. Others, like Vinny Quirk
and has sufered some quick, overpow-
challenging, but the team has discov-