Young wrestlers honored

The Wild Horse Little Guy Wrestling Club in Plains had its annual after season awards ceremony at Plains School Thursday to recognize the feats of its team.

The biggest award — the 2024 Wildhorse Little Guy Wrestling Kenny Lee Marjerrison Award — was shared by two team members, Owen Jermyn and Billyray Holotta. Marjerrison, who passed away in 2017, had been a longtime coach for the Plains High School wrestling team and the Little Guy Wrestling program. Jermyn and Holotta both went to the state championships last week. Jermyn, who competed in the junior 120-pound weight class, placed second, and Holotta, who competed in the junior 138-pound class, finished at the top.

The Plains Little Guy coaches handed out 30 awards over the hour-long ceremony at the school gym where about 120 people showed up for the event, said Jesse Jermyn, the team’s head coach.

“This was a great season. Winning is never the ultimate goal, but we were successful in more than 70% of our matches and had two-thirds of our middle and junior wrestlers in the state championship match. That's a huge accomplishment,” said Jermyn, who plans to coach again next season.

Owen Jermyn, who had 11 wins and two losses during the regular season, received three awards last week. In addition to the KLM Award, he got the 2024 Wildhorse Little Guy Warrior Award and the Montana Officials Association (MOA) Award. He had been nominated for the MOA Award by assistant coach Kyle Brown because he helped referee Little Guy Wrestling meets every weekend. Holotta, who had 20 wins and three losses during the regular season, also was awarded the Warrior award.

The other Warrior award winners were Levi Sturdivant, Gavin Brown, Kage Tuma, Jay Howell and Kiara Brown. The nominees were Dakota Holotta, Mason Goodwin, Paisley French, Remington Farthing, Colton Scarberry and Lane French.

The Wrestling Coach’s Pick went to Lewin Lang, Dillon Doble, Legend Corby, Coltyn Young and Jay Howell.

"Wrestlers were nominated by at least one coach or board member,” said Jermyn, who added that if all board members or coaches nominated someone, they got the award. Coaches included Beau French, Michael Chenoweth and Kyle Brown.

An assortment of other wrestlers were recognized at the ceremony. Jayden Grounds, who took second place at the state championship in the junior 201-pound weight class, was presented the 2024 Wildhorse Little Guy Wrestling Most Improved Award, along with Kingston Nyomo, who wrestled in the middle class. Jermyn said there was a stark difference in their wrestling abilities from the start of the season to the end.

The Comeback Wrestler Award went to Clinton Weedeman, who took second place at state in the middle 105 class. Remington Farthing, Austin Yoder, Paisley French, and Levi Chenoweth took home the Commitment Award. The Smile Attach Award went to Jagger Corby, Colton Scarberry earned the Technician Award and Kiara Brown received the Wrestling Determination Award. The Future Champ Award went to Dakota Holotta, the Calm Fighter Award went to Lane French, the Tough Guy Award to Xander Howell and the Reflection Award went to Sawyer Doble.

Jermyn said the program’s success was due to the coach’s focus on the kids’ growth and having a positive environment for the kids in our community. “None of this could be done without the support from our coaches, the Wildhorse Little Guy Wrestling board members, and the parents who support the program. We are surrounded by great kids and I'm grateful that we are able to provide them with this experience,” he said.