(Argo Athletics Release)
GREAT FALLS – More local flavor, including a Montana State Champion, is being added to the 2018 Recruiting Class for University of Providence wrestling with the signing of Great Falls High’s Jordan Komac, and Cascade High School product Josh Pepos.
Both wrestlers are multiple-time All-State wrestlers, and Komac adds to the growing list of former Bison on the UP roster.
“You can see what we’re trying to do here. We’re hoping that there are two other big Montana kids coming down the pipe in the next couple weeks,” Head Coach Caleb Schaeffer said. “I think this is just continuing to get the momentum going and the ball rolling for more recruiting in Montana.”
The signing of Jordan Komac seemed like a foregone conclusion based on history, with his brother Jarren Komac a dual starter for the Argos, and his father Steve Komac running a Great Falls High program that now has seven members on the UP roster. That wasn’t necessarily the case though, as the two-time state champ was entertaining NCAA Division I offers for a while before deciding to join his brother.
“It’s a really exciting feeling after all the hard work that I’ve put in. I know I have a great future ahead of me. Its kind of hard to believe because it’s such a special moment,” Jordan Komac said. “I want to walk in and be an All-American, and be a multiple time National Champ.”
Among Komac’s impressive high school accomplishments are state championships in 2018 and 2017, along with a runner-up finish in 2015 and a third place finish in 2014. His overall high school record is 158-16 and he has been a member of the Montana USA Wrestling Cadet National Team and the Montana USA Wrestling Junior National Team. At the 2016 USA Wrestling Folkstyle Cadet Nationals, Komac was the national runner-up and he won the 2017 Monster Match Championship.
Komac is the third member of the Great Falls High class of 2018 to sign with Argo wrestling, joining Travis Tomei and Russell Wienholz. Not only is Komac an impressive wrestler, he was also a team captain for the Bison football team, a National Honor Society Member, and has a 3.5 GPA.
While not from Great Falls, Pepos is another local athlete to sign with UP, coming from Cascade High School with a litany of both athletic and academic accomplishments. As a wrestler, he was All-State three times, including earning state runner-up as a junior. During that junior season, Pepos helped lead Cascade to the 2017 Class C Team State Championship.
As a football player, Pepos was All-State as a senior, making First Team All-Conference as an outside linebacker and Second Team All-Conference as a quarterback. He was also the team’s Offensive Player of the Year in 2016, and Most Improved Player in 2015.
His list of accomplishments extend well beyond athletics. Academically, he has been an Honor Roll member throughout high school. In terms of extracurriculars, Pepos took first in the Business Professionals of America Region 3 Conference Small Business management contest, took fifth nationally in the Future Farmers of American Ag Comm team competition, and is an Eagle Scout.
“This school has wrestling and all of the college opportunities that I wanted, so it was a pretty obvious decision,” Pepos said. “Coach Schaeffer has built a great wrestling program and I know that he is a great coach and I want to be a part of it.”
