GREAT FALLS — Steve Komac has seen plenty of success as head of wrestling programs at Great Falls High and the University of Providence.
He led the Bison to three state championships, nine trophies, 39 individual state champions, and 143 state placers. After moving on from Great Falls High and taking over at Providence, he won a conference title and coached multiple All-Americans. Being inducted into the Montana Coaches Association Hall of Fame is a great achievement, but it’s not something hew was thinking about when he got his start.
“When I started this, I was 23 years old and I just wanted to coach,” said Komac. “Just wanted to give back to wrestling, keep doing what I enjoyed doing which was wrestling.”
Komac has been the wrestling chairman for the MCA Clinic for the last 19 years, and has had the opportunity to see what it takes to be a hall of fame coach. Those that came before him were an inspiration, coaches that he felt he could learn from and implement some of their tactics into his own strategies while following in their footsteps to greatness.
“Over the course of the years you see people going into the hall of fame and realize those were the coaches that I always looked up to. Those were the coaches I was trying to emulate in my career, trying to catch up in victories and successes. So I think chasing people like that, chasing competition, doing good things with kids, having fun with kids, I think that just leads to success.”
As a well decorated coach, Komac has already shown what he’s capable of but he never lost sight of why he got into coaching. Being around wrestling is fun and he is passionate about it, so it doesn’t seem as if he is ready to hang it up just yet.
“I decided a long time ago that the day I wasn’t exciting about coaching or the day I didn’t feel like I was impactful, I wanted to get out,” said Komac. “I do not want to hold kids back. I want to be in their lives in a good way and right now I’m enjoying kids and enjoying what I’m doing. I’m looking forward to continuing to do it until I’m not excited about it and then I’ll step away.”
The MCA Hall of Fame will be on July 27 at 11:30 A.M. at Great Falls CMR High School.
