Kujala wins way to NAIA finals

by John Hamilton

The greatest wrestler in Plains High School history, Russ Kujala has also proven himself to be quite a competitive runner.

A senior cross country runner for the University of Montana Western in Dillon, Kujala won fourth place in the Frontier Conference Championships at Hickory Swing Golf Course in Great Falls Saturday and will now make plans to compete in the NAIA (National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics) National Finals in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, Nov. 16.

If Kujala manages a top-30 finish in Cedar Rapids, he will be awarded All-American honors as well. Kujala observers have learned to never underestimate him as he makes his final strides towards athletic glory.

A standout wrestler while growing up and attending public school in Plains, Kujala also earned All-State honors in cross country and several State B medals in the distance runs while competing in track and field for the Horsemen.

Wrestling was always Kujala’s main claim to fame in high school however, as he became the first Plains wrestler to ever win two State B-C individual championships, winning the title at 132 pounds his junior year in 2014 and claiming the 145-pound crown in 2015.

Kujala and Rodney Bybee, who won State titles at 138 and 145 pounds for Thompson Falls in 1974 and 1975, are the only multiple-time State wrestling champs in Sanders County history.