BOZEMAN — Thirty eight.
That’s the number of wrestlers in Montana that have been able to four-peat; win a state championship every year of their high school career. This weekend Bozeman High's Avery Allen has a chance to join an exclusive club.
“It’s something you want to do when you’re a little kid when you start wrestling, and I’ve looked up to a lot of those wrestlers guys that were four-timers and I just can’t wait to put myself in that book with all them guys,” Allen said.
His winning this weekend would cement Allen in state history, a moment so big it impacts his school and community that has supported him throughout the years. Allen has had a nearly perfect record throughout his high school career, but those few losses he’s faced stick with him like a true competitor. He uses them as fuel to be as a great as he can be.
“You know it helps, having that competitive mindset and wanting to win all the time, and that’s really what pushes me. When you lose like that, and learning from the losses that’s where I get most of my growth and being able to take a loss like that and get better next time from it,” Allen said.
His coach, Sean Dellwo, has seen a tremendous amount of growth in Allen throughout this season in particular. And the biggest change has been an increased presence off the mat, for his teammates, any time of day.
“Taking young wrestlers under his wing and really being a great leader for us. Kids either have they leadership quality or they don’t, and he has it, and it’s been fun to watch this year,” Dellwo said.
Next year, he’ll take the mat at South Dakota State. But for now, he’s focused on four-peating and joining an exclusive club.
