KALISPELL — Reigning two-time state champion wrestler Kaura Coles is picking up right where she left off in her previous seasons dominating the competition for Kalispell Glacier.
Growing up in a family of 11 kids, it seems like she was destined to excel at wrestling.
“I have seven brothers, so it was kind of handy because we're always playing around and fighting with each other,” Coles said. “So learning to wrestle helped with that.”
For Coles, wrestling runs in the family, as Glacier head wrestling coach Ross Dankers discovered when Coles and her brother enrolled at the school.
“Two years ago I got a call from a dad and he said, 'Hey, we're moving to the Flathead Valley, you know, my kids are wrestlers and we're homeschooled and we do PE for our kind of our physical activity,'” Dankers said. “And they came in the room and it's like, wow, these kids, they're pretty tough.”
Those kids hold each other accountable as well. Kaura’s brother Nikola, who also won a state title last year with Glacier, says everyone in the family is held to a high standard.
“We push each other. If there's some days where I'm not going as hard, my brothers, they'll feel that and they'll be like, come on, you've got to pick it up,” Nikola said.
That extra push from her family has pushed Kaura Coles to heights beyond high school wrestling. She took home gold at the U17 World Championships for wrestling last year.
Now with a win that big under her belt, Coles has her sights on bigger goals after she is finished at Glacier.
“I want to go to the next Olympics,” Coles said. “So I'll be 21, which it's not impossible, but I have to train a lot for that. But I think if I keep training like I am now, I'll be able to make it to that Olympics.
“Probably won't win, but I want to get there and then I want to go to the Olympics after that when I'm 25, have good results there and retire from wrestling.”
When wrestling comes to an end, Coles still plans to be heavily involved in the sport that's shaped her life.
“I want to be an inspiration for other wrestlers, especially female wrestlers,” Coles said. “So winning the competitions is a good way to build myself a platform to inspire other people.”
