The Big Sandy Mountaineer -

It takes a group of hardworking kids to continually volunteer to put themselves through the rigors of a wrestling season. A physical sport that requires dedication to succeed at the highest level. Each wrestler brings their own unique style to the mat. Pushing themselves through months of difficult training while also trying to balance their weight. Knowing that if you lose there is no one to shoulder the blame but yourself.

The state of Montana has 13 boys weight divisions; 103, 113, 120, 126, 132, 138, 145, 152, 160, 170, 182, 205, & 285. You have to make weight in one of those divisions in order to compete at that weight class. Weight cutting is a part of the sport but wrestlers are not forced to lose weight. Wrestling programs are also required by law to complete a weight certification process that checks each athlete’s body fat levels to determine what weight class they are allowed to wrestle at. This prevents kids or programs from participating in unhealthy dieting practices. Dieting and exercising, when done the right way, contributes to a healthy lifestyle.

Girls wrestling is one of the fastest growing sports in the country. High School and college programs are starting to pop up all over the place. It’s been really awesome to see just how fast it has grown. The level of competition in the girls weight classes makes for some entertaining competition. The girls wrestle in 12 weight divisions; 100, 107, 114, 120, 126, 132, 138, 145, 152, 165, 185, & 235. The girls compete in an all-class state tournament at the end of the season. This means that if they win their weight class, that they’re truly the best wrestler in the state at their weight.

Tournaments require the teams to arrive at the venue hours before the event is set to start. Getting up at the crack of dawn to travel across the Montana winterscape is common for the wrestling community. The wrestlers are entered into the tournament earlier in the week using the online platform trackwrestling. Weigh Ins are held the night before and also at the end of the first day of a wrestling meet, if competing in a two day tournament. Our wrestlers compete in weight brackets filled with wrestlers from around the region. These tournament brackets can range in size with a small bracket having 8 wrestlers, while a large bracket could have over 64. Kids could have over 10 matches in a two day span. That effort requires being in shape and eating healthy. The championship round of matches are generally wrestled on a single mat where all in attendance can watch the two best wrestlers in the weight class compete. The top six places will be announced and stand on a podium to receive their awards. Team awards are also announced and received at the end of each meet.

The Eastern B-C Divisional tournament will be held in Wolf Point on the 2nd & 3rd of February. The State Tournament is always held at the MetraPark in Billings, the following weekend. The Big Sandy wrestlers are working hard and look forward to competing at divisionals and state. We hope to see you