KALISPELL — Vasquez is a familiar name in the Flathead Valley sports community.
Trae Vasquez was a three-sport athlete for the Kalispell Flathead Braves and his little sister Tilynne is the highest-placing female wrestler at the state tournament in Montana high school history.
Now their little brother Teegan is dominating on the mats for Kalispell Glacier as he's underway in his sophomore season, fresh off a state title in his first year.
Vasquez won the 113-pound weight class last year at state, but in 2021 is taking a leap to the 120 class.
"Going up another weight class is kind of nice because I get to eat a little more and get a little bit bigger and stuff like that," said Vasquez. "Definitely feeling confident about this year, feeling really good about my shots and all my heavy hands and stuff like that, and just feeling really confident with how I’m feeling and how the program is going."
While it's just his second year in high school, Vasquez has been named a team captain and it's a role he's still settling into but takes head on.
"They've always had older guys," said Vasquez. "But last year they said I showed great leadership qualities so that was pretty cool to see. Embracing that and just rallying the guys around and getting the guys confidence and getting them behind me and being able to respect me and me show them that I can be a leader."
With a family full of wrestlers it's easy to see why Vasquez is cruising in Class AA wrestling.
In a sense, Teegan is lucky to be the youngest, with the most knowledge passed down.
"My dad always taught them into it, ... I guess taught them to make me the best, basically," Vasquez said while giggling. "As they got older just always preaching to them, making him better and they really took it on themselves to make me better. Whether it's school, wrestling, they are always just trying to strive to make me better. But I'm always striving to make myself better too."
Vasquez sets his goals sky-high with another state title on his mind in 2021 and even beyond, with the coveted four state titles a possibility.
"Definitely striving for that four for four," said Vasquez. "More just focused on wrestling my style. If I wrestle my style and the way I do and how I train, it should come pretty easy and good."
