BILLINGS — Torie Jamieson’s wrestling curiosity likely never would have ignited without a previous injury. She was coming off shoulder surgery two summers ago and her surgeon just happened to be the father of Charlie Klepps, Billings Senior’s new girls wrestling coach.
“He (Dr. Klepps) said, ‘Why don’t you wrestle … you seem like a pretty good athlete and we need someone at your weight, and you should come try it,’” Jamieson recalled to MTN Sports.
So, she started from ground zero her junior year and now is wrestling strong as a 165-pound senior for the State AA champion Broncs, who are aiming for a repeat team title.
One of the favorite attacks she's learned is the Hi-C.
“You kind of go down to your knee — it stands for 'high crotch' — you kind of stick your arm up in their leg then double off and kind of tackle them,” Jamieson explained.
As good as she’s become at wrestling — Jamieson placed third last year in her inaugural season — she's best at track and field. She owns the past two State AA discus titles, and draws similarities between the two sports.
“With core, you’ve got to be agile in both sports," Jamieson said. "I’ve learned a lot (on) how to move my body better in wrestling and that’s definitely transferred over to track, like spinning in the circle.”
Paige Gershmel, wrestling at 138 pounds for Senior, is blown away by her multi-talented teammate.
“Torie is one of those freak human beings. She’s so smart, she always wants to learn, whether it’s in a book or a sport," Gershmel said in awe. "She’s so athletically gifted, obviously … state champion in discus when she was a sophomore, junior, going to be a senior.”
The story gets better. Jamieson has always dreamed of attending an Ivy League school and now she has a discus deal in Ithaca, New York, where she'll be throwing at Cornell University.
“It’s kind of rural, it’s really gorgeous," Jamieson said. "There’s hundreds of waterfalls within 10 miles of campus. I really like to be outdoors and there’s a lot of opportunities to do that out there, so I’m really excited.”
Gershmel can only laugh when she recalls learning about Jamieson's college plans.
“I don’t know how it happened," she said, "but she was like, ‘Yeah, I can’t decide if I’m going to go to Cornell or Yale.’ And I’m like, ‘What a problem to have.’"
Jamieson says she's eager to study biological sciences and one day become a pediatrician. But on this particular day, her goal is to become a state wrestling champion at 165 pounds.
