Depth and quality.
Those are the two key attributes that Jefferson High School wrestling coach Troy Humphrey believes will give the team an edge going into the winter season — one that has become like no other due to COVID-19. Competition begins Jan. 2 against Choteau and Fairfield.
On the first day of practice on Dec. 7, Humphrey said 21 kids turned out — giving JHS a larger roster than most schools in the state, as they usually have from 9-10.
“It’s a huge advantage,” he said of the team that can easily fill the 13 weight classes with wrestlers to spare, giving the team the depth it needs.
“We’ll be pretty darn competitive this year and have been for a number of years,” he said.
The Panthers compete in the B/C class.
In addition to depth, the team also has several returning stars, to include junior Leo Anderson, who has already placed twice at the state level, as well as being All-Conference.
“He’s my headliner,” said Humphrey of Anderson, who placed fourth in state as a freshman and third as a sophomore.
This year, he’s working toward that number one spot, said Humphrey.
Anderson plans to wrestle in the 103 pound weight class.
Also returning this year are three more All-Conference wrestlers — senior Dominick Davis at 113 pounds, senior Matt Riehl in the 285 pound weight class and sophomore John Armstrong at 138 pounds.
Davis and Riehl also have brothers on the team — Christian Davis and Joey Riehl.
Humphrey said the Davis boys are twins and can be competitive with each other.
They wrestled the same weight class as freshman, but as they’ve gotten older, Christian has gotten a bit heavier and will wrestle at 120 pounds.
What the returning All-Conference wrestlers have in common is a good deal of experience through youth programs where they learned the fundamentals, said Humphrey, adding that while youth participation is helpful, any freshman can come in and be competitive as upperclassmen.
This year the team has eight freshmen and all have experience from youth programs, such as Little Guys Wrestling, said Humphrey.
“That’s a plus too … your future looks bright when you have that many freshmen,” he said.
Last year’s team also had three girls. But Gracie Olds has since graduated, and the other two have opted to do full-time remote learning so they won’t be competing, said Humphrey.
So far this year, no girls have signed up, but Humphrey hopes that changes as this is the first year that the Montana High School Association will implement its two-year girls wrestling pilot program.
Humphrey also feels fortunate to have the coaching staff that he has — Travis Schulte, Justin Clement and Nick Workman. Both Workman and Clement are JHS grads.
Clement was on the squad during Humphrey’s first year of coaching during the 1998-99 school year.
Humphrey describes Schulte and Workman as the coaches who are young and agile enough to still get down on the mat with the students, while he and Clement are the “big teddy bears … like papa in the wrestling room.”
Humphrey said the teams’ biggest rivals are Broadwater and Whitehall, as both have large rosters and are able to fill most weight classes, as well as having talented athletes.
With the former Southern BC division, Jefferson, Whitehall and Broadwater were consistently in the top four out of 14 teams. With the new divisional format these schools should be near the top out of 23 teams, said Humphrey.
When it comes to preparation, wrestling differs from other team sports, such as football, because the emphasis is on the individual wrestler, said Humphrey.
A football team will prepare for the offensive and defensive schemes of their opponent, but in wrestling, beyond certain techniques, the mind set is enhanced to let everyone know that these are rivals and school pride is at stake, said Humphrey.
A preview of the wrestling season would be incomplete without mentioning the ongoing pandemic — especially for a sport with so much personal contact. Each match lasts six minutes and wrestlers are literally wrapped up with each other during that time.
When it comes to wrestling during a pandemic, “a lot of people see that and kind of cringe,” acknowledged Humphrey.
But he believes that those in the wrestling world, well, “we’ve got this.”
The sport has always grappled with staph infections, ringworm and other skin conditions. As a result, cleaning protocols are already baked into the sport, said Humphrey.
The MHSA has decided that the schools will only wrestle dual matches, no big tournaments, with a maximum of four teams competing in one day, said Humphrey.
Between matches, there will be cleaning protocols in place, he said.
The team is already inherently divided by weight classes, which are their own form of “pod,” he said.
In the case there arises a need for contact tracing, it’s already known what “pod” that particular athlete was in, said Humphrey.
The team has also changed some of its conditioning protocols, such as no longer running up and down the staircase leading up the wrestling room, which called for everyone to touch the handrails.
JHS is also requiring all athletes to wear masks during practice, except when they are exerting themselves such as when performing drills. This pertains to all winter sports including cheer.
But Humphrey is resigned to the possibility of the team being quarantined, or another team suffering the same fate.
“That will be part of the season,” he said, adding that there is risk involved, but compared it to the football season where players tackled each other.
Humphrey is also emphasizing the need to wear masks beyond the school day and avoiding high risk areas.
Despite the risks this year, Humphrey is glad to be back on the mat.
“I still love it. These kids make it so much fun. That’s our number one goal. First and foremost we need to have fun,” he said.
