Flathead High MT: Changing Kids' Lives
Changing Kids’ Lives: Flathead High School MT
By Coach Jeff Thompson & Bill X. Barron
Where northwest Montana touches Canada lies Kalispell, home for Flathead High School and the valley’s wrestling club. Under the leadership of Coach Jeff Thompson, the high school has won seven boys and one girls AA high school state championships, had ten top three finishes, and has had four nationally ranked teams while competing in the large school division.
Jeff Thompson, a former 3X state champion for Great Falls High School MT (1991) and high school All-American (2nd, Junior Nationals), wrestled at the University of Minnesota where he was an All-Big Ten Conference wrestler and a member of the 1994 Minnesota Team that was the #1-ranked team in the country.
Flathead won both the boys and girls 2021 state championships with only a handful of seniors (three boys and two girls). In 2004 and 2008, Coach Thompson was a regional National Coach of the Year. An Ironman finisher in 2016, Jeff is a secondary school business teacher who enjoys mountain biking and hiking in his free time.
“Every day in our wrestling room is going to be a brawl, and you are guaranteed to get in a great workout,” describes Jeff. “I am blessed with one of the best coaching staffs in Montana, if not the NW United States. We have four Division 1 wrestlers coaching, along with some fantastic NAIA & NCAA national qualifiers, former Flathead wrestlers, and a female coach. That is pretty unbelievable for a small town in NW Montana.”
“Just the same, I honestly think our secret sauce is FUN,” states Thompson. “Our wrestlers just love to hang out with each other. I think we really don’t have any hotrod athletes. Our wrestlers just love to come to practice every day and compete with their friends. The more fun they have, the more they will want to travel and get better.
“They are the definition of a family. Every club practice starts with a game of speedball along with yoga once a week. We actually encourage our wrestlers to play in the pool, play hacky sack, and even have teammates give each other mullet haircuts on trips. These kids just love to work out and practice every day.
“We also encourage our wrestlers to coach each other and support their Flathead family on and off the mat in the competition arena. We live in NW Montana, so every major competition is a 10-plus hour adventure in the club vans. Our wrestling success is a byproduct of just hanging out with their wrestling buddies. Really!”
Thompson believes that effective teaching is about “making a connection and building relationships. I eat lunch in my classroom, where kids join me to talk about wrestling and life. This is a huge wrestling community. Our kids are well-respected because they are just as passionate about the sport as in giving back through community leadership.”
In essence, FVWC’s club philosophy is that “there is more to life than wrestling but wrestling better prepares you for life. In all honesty, our goal as a club is to help turn boys (girls) into men (women), using wrestling as a vehicle in this process. Nothing gets you better for success in life than the sport of wrestling. Life is tough just like wrestling.”
This year’s team included the student body president, three of the four student class presidents, and many other student council officers who are wrestlers in our club. Most wrestlers play a fall high school sport as well as watch and support their teammates in other activities. Each year they place United States flags on Kalispell’s main street and at the cemetery for Memorial and Veterans Days.
The Flatland Valley WC fields tough wrestlers at every level of the program. Ranked youth include Kellen Downing 12U 74 lbs. and Hunter Arriga 12U 86 lbs., as well as incoming freshmen Aiden Downing 106, Gannon Wisher 120, and Dane Lake 126. Current college wrestlers are Tucker Nadeau (West Virginia), Payton Hume (Providence), and Brendan Barnes (Minot State).
State high school returning placers include Logan Stansberry 6th 120; Cade Gardner 4th 126; Fin Nadeau 3X state finalist, 2nd VA Beach 145; Anders Thompson 4th 152, Western Region Champ; Cade Troupe 4th 152; Jace DeShazer, state F/G champ 170; Noah Poe-Hatten 2nd 170, Fargo 3rd 16U Greco; Asher Kemppainen 2nd 138; Gabe Lake 3rd 160; and Chase Youso 3rd 205.
Flathead’s state champion girls team also returns six placers: Hania Halverson 3rd 113, Lily McMahon 3rd 120 (Oregon), Trinity Bolvin 6th 126, McKenna McCarthy 5th 145, Boston Howell 6th 170, Lucy Libby 6th 205.
“We want our wrestlers to be successful on the mat,” continues Jeff, “and we go to great lengths to make that happen. Many wrestlers in our club want to wrestle at the next level. Our wrestlers are willing to sacrifice a lot of their precious time to travel out of state in order to reach that national level in all three styles.”
“Montana has struggled on the national scene the last few years since we have been focusing so much on folkstyle wrestling vs. freestyle and Greco. In the 1990s, we would send 5-10 Montana high school wrestlers to Division I programs each year on average due to our success at Junior Nationals.
“Now, we can barely field a full team for Fargo.” To counteract this trend, FVWC attracts wrestlers year-round by focusing on freestyle and Greco in the spring and summer, in addition to traveling out of state for several national tournaments, such as the 2021 RMN Aztec Warrior Championships, where the Montana club brought home the overall team trophy.
Although this was their first RMN event, Thompson says: “The kids are already addicted to the great show, the really tough level of competition, and the top-notch awards. They loved that the event was super-fast paced without a lot of waiting around. RMN runs a highly organized, first-class experience.”
“It is my belief,” Jeff elaborates, “that to be successful in this sport, you need two things besides athletic ability. You need great coaches and great workout partners. In the Flathead Valley Wrestling Club room, you can’t run from competition. We literally have dudes up and down the weight classes.”
“At the same time,” cites Jeff, “our philosophy is to take it slowly with our youth. Youth focus on just practice and local tournaments. Nine out of ten things we say to our wrestlers are positive. As they get older, we increase the mat time and competitions. Eventually they learn to practice on their own initiative.
“Most of our wrestlers don’t hit the regional or national events until about 7th grade. As the wrestlers get to high school, it’s full throttle, practicing 10-11 months and upwards of 100 matches a year.”
Cautions Coach Thompson: “Burn-out in the sport of wrestling is so high. We’re a team-first school. Success breeds success. We really want the wrestlers to improve, so we focus just on the basics, until they are mature enough to truly love the sport for themselves. You have to be self-driven to be successful in the sport.
“The motivation to attend practice, cut weight, go for a run, and get in a lift has got to come from your heart. You need that inner drive to be the best that you can be. It happens when kids get up at 5 am for a run or put in an extra 100 push-ups. The secret sauce is where kids learn to do it for themselves and move beyond the parents’ ego.”
“I worked the J Robinson Wrestling Camps in college,” cites Thompson, “and just fell in love with coaching wrestling and giving back to this amazing sport. I was also coached by the legendary Bob Zadick in Great Falls and saw how many kids' lives he influenced over the years.”
Jeff concludes: “I love winning and am ultra-competitive, but in reality, the goal is to change kids’ lives. I’m in the kid business and just want to help these young wrestlers find the work ethic, drive, sacrifice, and passion that this amazing sport has given me. I would not be the man I am today without this crazy sport!”