Chris Peterson Column: Havre and the Hi-Line showed me what I'd been missing

BILLINGS — There is a saying about the Masters golf tournament that it’s a tradition unlike any other. Well, when it comes to high school sports in Montana, the All-Class State wrestling tournament is an event unlike any other.

I have to admit that before this weekend, I had never been to the state wrestling tournament at the Rimrock Auto Arena at the Metra Park in Billings, never as a fan and never as a reporter. So, as I watched the spectacle that was state wrestling over the course of Friday and Saturday, I had to ask myself what took me so long to get here?

To be honest, I have never been a big fan of wrestling. Don’t get me wrong, I have always enjoyed covering it, I just mean that I never followed it recreationally as a kid like I did football, basketball, baseball or even golf. Yet, when I worked for the Havre Daily News the first time around a few years back, I covered Havre High wrestling and grew to really enjoy the sport. It took me awhile to understand everything about it but, once I did, it was hard not get hooked.

I have respect for every single high school athlete, regardless of sport because being an athlete, no matter what the level, is not easy. It takes hard work, sacrifice and dedication. Yet, I tend to hold wrestlers in an even higher regard than most for a number of reasons. Unlike in football or basketball, wrestlers are out there on an island, alone. Yes, it’s a team sport, but it really is a team of individuals. Your teammates can’t help you when you get stuck in a cradle or are about to be pinned. They can only stand by and watch you try desperately to fight your way out. It’s man-vs-man, head-to-head and the kids that have the strength and courage to put themselves out there like that should be commended win or lose.

So as I walked into the Metra Friday morning and saw some 600 wrestlers, the best of the best, getting ready to put it on the line as Havre head coach Scott Filius said to me a short time ago, “n front of God and everybody,” I couldn’t help but be awe-struck.

The second you walk through the doors and see the thousands of fans pouring in from all over Montana, you can just feel how important it is. I’ve been to plenty of big-time sporting events — NFL games, the NCAA men’s basketball tournament, major college football and each time you knew what a big deal it was the second you stepped foot into the stadium. Friday, I got that same exact feeling when I found my way to the floor of the Metra

As the weekend continued, that feeling grew stronger. I watched as the wrestlers of Havre and Chinook and others from along the Hi-Line poured everything they had of themselves, their heart, their mind and their soul onto the mat in pursuit of victory. You could just sense the blood, the sweat, the tears and the sacrifice each individual made to get to state, which is why the victorious are so exalted and the defeated are so distraught.

Fortunately, the Blue Ponies, the team I am most familiar, with had fewer defeats than most as an incredible 13 of 16 wrestlers for Havre found their way to the podium Saturday night. Yet, even those that didn’t should hold their head high because they all scored points and for a while Saturday it appeared that the Class A state title race between Havre and Sidney could come down to a matter of just a few points.

In the end, it didn’t and the Ponies won a third consecutive state title with relative ease. I don’t mean to say at all that it was easy, Havre just makes it look that way. For that matter, so did the Chinook Sugarbeeeters, who essentially wrapped up the Class C state championship by the close of business Friday. The Beeters brought seven to Billings and placed three. Yet again, everyone played a part. Every Beeter wrestler scored points and they all got it done, which capped an incredible sports year thus far for Chinook, which also made it to the Class C state football championship just a few months prior.

In my heart of hearts, I know I will never be a diehard wrestling fan. Don’t get me wrong, I think it’s a great sport but I don’t see myself setting my DVR to record college wrestling matches anytime soon. But with that said, I’d be lying if I said that from the second the state tournament started, I wasn’t captivated. In a world where sports have become so monetized and commercialized, it was refreshing to get back to the roots of athletic competition in its truest form. Yes, the stage was big and at times the moment was even bigger but, at the end of the day, all these kids wrestled because they love it, not for fame or fortune. And when I saw a big, tough 18-year old kid smile from ear-to-ear like a little boy after winning a state title, I remembered exactly why I love sports so much.

The kids that achieved their goals in Billings wouldn’t trade that accomplishment and the feeling it gave them for anything. It’s priceless and something that can never, ever be taken away. That’s why it matters. And that’s why more than anything else, I hope my first state wrestling tournament is not my last. In fact, I’m determined to never miss it again, even if I have to pay my own way as a fan because watching all those kids compete at such a high level both for themselves and for each other, is more than worth the price of admission.