Thivierge, Johnston-Robbins enshrined in MSU-N HOF

Every athletic journey is unique. But when it comes to the athletes that succeed and make something of themselves, just about all of them overcome adversity and former Montana State University-Northern wrestler Tyson Thivierge was no different.

Back in 1998, Thivierge arrived at MSU-N as a talented, but young wrestler. He had never won a state championship and before long, the freshman from Clarkston, Washington, was ready to call it quits and go home. Yet, Thivierge, with the help of his teammates, decided to stay and the rest, as they say, is history.

"I was ready to quit and go home," Thivierge said Friday night during the Northern Athletic Hall of Fame Ceremony. "But then a couple of the guys on the team noticed I was going my own away and they took me in. They showed me what coach (David) Ray was trying to get done with me."

What Thivierge accomplished after making the decision to stick with the Lights is pretty incredible. He was a member of two national championship teams and is one of just four Northern wrestlers to be a four-time NAIA All-American. Thivierge wrestled for three national championships as a Light, winning back-to-back titles to close out his collegiate career.

However, the list of Thivierge is achievements is even longer than that. When his time at Northern was done, he was the leader in victories with 136 and he was tied for the school record with points with 53. As a senior, he also earned the Most Outstanding Wrestler award at the NAIA National Tournament, following a 46-3 finish to his senior season that included 25 pins.

"It's an honor to be inducted," Thivierge said of his enshirement into the MSU-N Athletic Hall of Fame. "I want to thank the Alumni Foundation and those that nominated me. It's a tremendous honor and it has brought up all sorts of emotions."

Thivierge, who was inducted into the Northern Hall of Fame last Friday night in an on-campus ceremony, was joined by DeLayne Johnston-Robbins, a former All-American for the Northern Women's basketball team. Johnston-Robbins, who played for the Skylights from 2004-2007, started her career at the University of Montana, before transferring to MSU-N to finish her career.

In her time playing for the Skylights, Johnston-Robbins was named First-Team All-Frontier two times and scored 1,153 points in addition to 728 rebounds. She was introduced by current Skylights head coach Chris Mouat, who said Johnston-Robbins was instrumental to MSU-N reaching the Sweet 16 the NAIA National Tournament in 2006.

"DeLayne is still one of the best post players that we have had in my time at Northern," Mouat said. "She is still someone that I talk about and mention as someone that our players should strive to be like."

Johnston-Robbins was introduced by Mouat, and Thivierge was introduced by former Northern head wrestling coach and fellow MSU-N Hall-of-Famer David Ray. Both Ray and Thivierge offered stories about their time together at Northern, which also coincided with other Northern greats like four-time national champion Turk Lords, Kyle Fisher and other such as national champion Mark Lane.

"All of the success that I had during my career was because of the guys that I had in that room," Thivierge said. "I was able to win a national championship because of my teammates and my coach. I felt like they had a part in me winning a national championship. Our teams fed off each other. We pushed each other and we competed together. We all shared a common goal and knew what it took to reach our goals. That is something that can't be replicated and it was special to me and to us alone. It's something that I will cherish forever."

While Thivierge earned induction into the Hall of Fame due to his accomplishments as a wrestler, including being part of NAIA national championship teams in 1999 and 2002, he is also putting together an impressive resume as head coach of Northern wrestling, a role he assumed in 2008.

Since then, Thivierge has led the Lights to a top-10 finish at the NAIA National Tournament nine times in 10 years. He also has coached 34 individual All-Americans and four national champions.