by Scott Sacry
Starting this winter, Stevensville has a new wrestling room. Over Christmas, the Stevensville wrestling community, along with Athletic Director Brian Gum and High School Principal Eric Larson, got started with the process of creating a designated space for wrestling. In most communities, sports practice space is at a premium, as different sports vie for time and space in a limited number of facilities. To build a successful wrestling program it’s important to have a designated space to store mats and other equipment. Now Stevensville has this. Gum said, “It has been exciting to see the changes taking place and it allows our wrestlers to finally have their own space.”
The space not only helps the high school program, but helps the whole wrestling community. For example, the Stevensville Little Guys wrestling program was able to use the facilities this season. Stevensville had 45 little guys this season from kindergarten to 6th grade. James Muir, who is running the Stevensville Little Guys program, said, “We look to continue our growth in numbers the next few years as we now start to develop the wrestling program.” Muir continued, “It’s very helpful to have this space and the support of the community and local businesses. For example, Bitterroot Shedz sponsored all the t-shirts this year, so that and other assistance from the community has been greatly appreciated.”
The Little Guy wrestling season concluded in Polson on Saturday, March 18th. Along with the Stevensville team, the Little Guys programs from Corvallis, Hamilton, Darby, and Florence also competed in Polson.
The Stevensville wrestling room will stay active and open through May as they will have a local wrestling academy competing in AAU and USA wrestling tournaments.