More than 600 turn out for wrestling tourney
There were no championship matches, there were no medals awarded and there may have been a slight feeling of unfinished business for many of the Little Guy wrestlers at last Saturday's flood-interrupted Bill Zadick/Les Gutches USAW Open at Glacier High School.
But most still walked out the door smiling, clutching their autographs from the 2006 freestyle World Champion and 1996 U.S. Olympian.
More than 600 wrestlers entered - from as far away as Billings, Challis, Idaho, Spokane and even Illinois.
For their efforts, they got to meet two of the sport's best.
Zadick is a four-time Montana state champion and a two-time All-American for the University of Iowa. He capped his career at Iowa in 1996 by winning the NCAA championship at 142 pounds.
After retiring from competition in 2008, he was named the resident coordinator and assistant national coach for USA Wrestling. He serves as the liaison between USA Wrestling and the U.S. Olympic Training Center in matters pertaining to USA Wrestling's resident athlete programs. Among his other duties are coordinating educational and professional development opportunities for the wrestling resident athletes, and assisting with coaching.
Gutches' accomplishments include winning the Dan Hodge Trophy as the nation's best college wrestler in 1996, becoming the NCAA champion in the 177-pound weight division in both 1995 and 1996 and earning All-American status in 1994, 1995 and 1996 at Oregon State. He was a member of the 1996 United States Olympic freestyle wrestling team and currently works as director of program development for USA wrestling.
They gave a short clinic before the tournament, then stayed through the day to visit and teach.
"We showed real basic technique, things that work at every level of wrestling," Gutches said of what the two taught during the clinic.
"We came here to try to grow wrestling and to give kids an opportunity to compete and learn. This is just a way to give back. Bill and I both experienced people giving clinics when we were growing up," Gutches said.
"We talked to them a little bit about being good students, good athletes and good citizens.
"One of the great things about wrestling - it really teaches a lot of lessons ... how to compete, how to build a work ethic, how to face adversity," he added.
In addition to the clinic, Gutches and Zadick talked with the kids about college opportunities - and what college coaches are looking for in terms of quality individuals.
"I was really encouraged by the (600 wrestler) turnout," Zadick said.
Zadick doesn't recall seeing that many kids at tournaments during his high school days in Great Falls (1988-91).
"Maybe the state tournament had 600 kids," he said.
"What the numbers show is there are a lot of people wrestling. Wrestling is alive and well and I'm encouraged," Zadick said.
"We are going to produce a lot of elite human beings," he said.
"It was great. Everybody was real excited. I think people got a good feel for what USA Wrestling can offer," said Kalispell Wrestling Club coach Rich Vasquez.
Vasquez - the USA women's representative for Montana - ran into Gutches during a convention last summer in Colorado Springs. The two chatted and Gutches agreed to come to Kalispell.
"I don't know how many autographs those guys signed," he smiled.
"We prepped it pretty hard. More kids knew (Zadick) because he's a Montana guy," he said.
"People got to see the level of competition and what USA Wrestling can offer each wrestler as well as each club," he said.
"There's so many opportunities for these kids, if they want to go get it. I think our area has room for a lot of growth," Vasquez said.
"It wasn't me that got this (tournament) going. Bozeman was involved. Butte was involved. It was really nice to have it supported. We got great support from the rest of the state and we have great support from our community," he said.