KALISPELL — The intensity is mounting in the final weeks of the wrestling season, including at Kalispell Flathead.
After losing some key seniors from last year, coach Jeff Thompson says this year’s boys team was not fazed by the added pressure.
“Kind of came in with not super-high expectations from around the state,” Thompson said. “I think we on paper didn't look like we were a team to contend, and man we just we showed right away that we're one of the top dogs.”
The seniors at Flathead have seen what it takes to reach the mountaintop, and this year seniors like Lane Chivers took it upon himself to show the rest of the team the championship mentality.
“As a senior this year it really felt like a big responsibility to keep the pressure on and keep going towards the state championship,” Chivers said. “As a team looking forward to just wrestling the best you can and wrestling consistently, really just climbing the ladder the whole year.”
On the girls side, the expectations are just as high with many wrestlers expected to place in the state tournament.
Despite this pressure, girls coach Amber Downing says the team has taken a lighthearted approach to helping each other improve throughout the season.
“They're a super fun positive group they always try to find, find a way to get along,” Downing said. “It's a competitive sport. Sometimes your partner isn't always doing everything you want them to do or you're just going to get sick of your buddies. So they do a good job of mixing it up and keeping it light, they're fun to work with”.
With the team getting along, senior wrestler Bridget Smith says that will help the team perform at their best when state comes around.
“All of us are capable of wrestling and doing the best we can. It's just mindset,” Smith said. “We put in the work, we put in the time, we put in the hours, you know, all that. It's the mental part that will get us to the edge of winning, winning all these tournaments.
Although the boys and girls are separate wrestling teams, they do practice together. Thompson has a simple message for every wrestler to end the season.
“Smile, let it fly, smile, let it fly. Enjoy it, man,” Thompson said. “That's kind of been our philosophy going in these last weeks here of going to state and divisionals.”
The state wrestling tournament begins Thursday in Billings.
