County athletes to continue competition

Taylor Angle has had a lot of first in her wrestling career. She was part of the first girls wrestling team at Plains High School, wrestling in the first girls state tournaments in Montana, and now is the first girl from Plains to sign on to wrestle at the college level.

Angle will be returning to her home state of Iowa in the fall to wrestle at Indian Hills Community College. Angle's family and coaches gathered in the Plains High School gym last Wednesday for a signing ceremony. Indian Hills was Angle's first choice for college, as her dad Shane, the Plains head coach, also attended college there. Coach Angle is proud of his daughter continuing her wrestling career. "It's a big avenue for her to take. I've coached her since she was 4. I'll miss her in the wrestling room. She's got a great attitude."

Angle will study landscaping and horticulture in college. She had three other offers to wrestle at colleges, but Indian Hills is close to family. Both sets of her grandparents live within a couple hours of the campus in Centerville, Iowa. The Indian Hills Warrior girls wrestling team has won two back-to-back national championships. Cole Spree, head coach of the girls' team at Indian Hills, said this is the first wrestler from Montana for their program. "She's had a ton of success in high school. Women's wrestling is so new, but Taylor has done it a lot longer than most," Spree said, adding that he was familiar with the Angle family as they are from that are. "She seems like a really great girl."

Taylor's other coach was Keaton Bannout, who also wrestled at the college level. "She's going to thrive there," Bannout said of Angle's next step in her wrestling career. "She'll find a sense of family and belonging."

Angle finished her high school career with a fourth-place finish at the state tournament in Billings in February. As the Plains girls' program continues to grow, Taylor had her sister Kenzie to help challenge her. "My sister made a really good wrestling partner." Taylor said.

Coach Shane Angle hopes his daughter moving on to college wrestling shows girls in the Plains program that there are opportunities out there past high school. "Everything she got she worked for," he said of his daughter. "She's very humble. We're so proud of her."

Other Sanders County athletes will be taking the next step in their careers as they compete at the college level.

Katelyn Christensen, a senior from Hot Springs, has signed with Carroll College in Helena to play basketball and will also be on the track team. Classmate Kyle Lawson of Hot Springs has signed with University of Montana Western to play football.

Nathan Schraeder of Thompson Falls has committed to play basketball at Rocky Mountain College in Billings. Schraeder earned all-state honors this past season and led the Blue Hawks to a fourth-place finish at state his junior year.

Wrestler Trae Thilmony, a three-time state champion and four-time state placer for the Blue Hawks, will attend North Dakota State University in the fall on a wrestling scholarship. Thilmony also was recognized as an All-American his senior year.

William Hyatt placed in the top 10 at the 2021 state cross country meet and was recognized as an all-state athlete in his senior season. He has signed with University of Montana Western on a cross country scholarship.

Also from Thompson Falls, Scarlette Schwindt will attend Dawson Community College on a volleyball scholarship. Schwindt was a three-time All-State selection for the Lady Hawks. Noxon senior Riley Richter will join Schwindt on the Dawson volleyball team. Richter earned all-conference honors her junior and senior seasons with the Red Devils.

Cade VanVleet from Noxon will also continue competition at the college level, signing with the Montana Tech track and field team.