After early heartbreak, Orion Thivierge has forged a spectacular and dominant Blue Pony wrestling career

One state championship would be more than enough for any high school athlete. Two state titles would put your name in your school's record books. But Orion Thivierge is going for the trifecta.

Winning three straight Class A state championships is now the final mission in an incredible high school wrestling career for the Blue Pony senior.

"Just being able to be a three-time state champ is not something a lot of people have the opportunity to do. Even just having the opportunity is something that I'm very blessed with," Thivierge said. "I think experiencing that one more time would mean a lot to me."

While Thivierge has dominated this season and gone on a run through the past three years, it has not always been easy for him. His freshman year, he went to the state tournament and reached the semifinals. But he was unable to close the deal as he lost several close matches in a row to finish sixth in the tournament. Even though he had plenty of years left, it was a disappointing end to a promising freshman year.

"It was heartbreaking for the whole family to see that look on his face," Orion's father Tyson Thivierge, the longtime head coach of the Montana State University-Northern Lights said of Orion's freshman state tourney. "You never want to see your kid in pain and I know emotionally he was in a lot of pain."

While Orion was heartbroken by the loss, he initially used it as motivation to get himself ready for next season.

"I told my dad, 'I'm never going to lose in there again and Saturday night next year, I'll be wrestling," Orion said. "There were some times where I didn't want to do it anymore, but I stuck with it and I had great partners that pushed me and friends that made it fun."

Even with his drive, Thivierge still struggled after the loss. He did not wrestle through the spring and most of the summer. As the Pony wrestling season approached, Thivierge even considered moving on from the sport. But he had a long talk with his head coach Beau LaSalle and they were able to work through things to get Orion back on track.

"We just had a long talk about what his goals were and where his head was at," LaSalle said. "Basically just getting his head in the right space. When you have high expectations at a young age and you don't reach those, it takes a toll on you mentally and I think that's where he was at, and then he came out of it."

Orion still faced adversity during his sophomore season. But a turning point came at the Rocky Mountain Classic when he defeated Duane Otto II of Lewistown who had earlier gotten the best of Thivierge. After that match, Thivierge went on to win his first state title.

"He finally got himself mentally healthy and since then, he's just taken off," Tyson Thivierge said.

Through the years, Orion has made his mark on the HHS wrestling program. Along with dominant regular seasons, he has won two straight state titles. In his senior season, he has a record of 31-1 and has already taken first in the Eastern A Divisionals wrestling in the 170-pound weight class. Along with his performance on the mats, Orion has been a leader for the Ponies, so he will sorely be missed once he is gone.

"His sophomore year, he stepped into one of those leadership roles and he continues to do that and puts in the time," LaSalle said. "Kids like that that come along, they're hard to replace and they mean a lot to your program, and he's meant a lot for the last four years."

As Orion's wrestling career has taken off, his father has been the head coach for the Lights at the same time. With his dad coaching the Lights, Orion feels like his world has gotten bigger.

"It's awesome because it's like always having an extended family," Orion said. "All those guys, I can pick their brains about anything wrestling, anything else that I want to and they're always there for me."

However, Orion's wrestling career and Tyson's coaching career do cause some scheduling issues. Last year, Orion was in Miles City competing for a state title while Tyson was in Wichita, Kansas, for the NAIA wrestling championships. While Tyson was able to get a break to stream his son's championship match, it has not always been easy missing his son compete.

"It's been difficult. I've missed a lot of his high school wrestling," Tyson said.

But this year, the Lights will be off this weekend when Orion competes for a state championship in Billings. The Lights do have a dual against University of Providence Thursday night, but once that is over, Tyson will head straight to Billings to be there Friday morning. With this being the final weekend of Orion's high school wrestling career, both father and son are excited to be together for it.

"It'll be awesome. I know he enjoys it and he helps me relax a little bit," Orion said.

"It's going to be fun," Tyson said. "If he goes out and competes hard and he feels good about his competition, I don't care about the results, I just want to see him happy."

As a wrestling coach, Tyson has tried not to be overbearing and tried to let his son build a legacy for himself. Orion has asked for help as the two have discussed and watched matches together but Tyson is proud to see how his son formed his own path.

"I've always just wanted to be the dad and we've had a great working relationship that way," Tyson said. "It's been fun to see him develop. He's his own person. I never wanted him to think that he had something to live up to or have a shadow over him all the time. This is his performance, this is his career and he's made the most of this."

Orion has not chosen a college yet to continue wrestling. Wherever he goes, he hopes to reach the same levels of success he had as a Pony. And as he looks back on his career at Havre High, he will know that he made the most of it.

"It's been fun and there's been a lot of ups and downs with it," Orion said. "It's crazy how fast it goes by and you don't really realize it. But when you take a moment to actually look back, it's a lot of memories and a lot of good times."