GREAT FALLS — Last February at the state wrestling tournament, Madalyn Deiter was crowned as the first individual girls champion in Great Falls CMR history, winning the title at 125 pounds.
In her current title defense, she said confidence is high as she aims to repeat.
"Being a state champ, there's an even bigger target on my back and it just motivates me to work harder every day," Deiter said at CMR High School during Wednesday's practice. "All the top rankings, like at my weight class, I've wrestled them all. And so, it's given me a good look at what my brackets at state are going to look like."
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Deiter is a captain of CMR's girls team. The junior said she does her best to lead.
"A lot of them will come and ask me for advice, what I would do in like different wrestling positions, how I get ready for matches," Deiter said. "A lot of the girls on the team get like super nervous, it being their first year, just being newer to the sport."
So far, she's defending the 125 title very well.
"My closest match has been 15-3," Deiter said. "I'm ready to dominate at state."
On the boys side, Gage Allen, who wrestles at 190, is bouncing back from an abrupt end to his season following a disqualification at the Eastern AA divisonal due to an on-mat incident.
"We were in the finals at divisonals, so for the (No.) 1 seed at state, which would have been huge," Allen said. "We got in a scramble, I put him on his back. Getting close to getting the fall, we're both wrestling as hard as we can. He comes up, gets me in the face, kind of fish hooked me a little bit and it made it look like I bite him."
Allen — who has only lost two matches so far this season — said it was difficult to put that behind him.
"It would have been a tied match and I just had the kid that won state on his back. So, you know, I'm using that a lot this year," Allen said.
"I'd be lying to you if I said there wasn't like any self doubt in the back of my head about even wrestling this year after last year."
He stayed strong, though.
"Got to let it go. You know, at the beginning of the year, I was kind of using that as like a negative thing to motivate me," Allen said. "I just can't be doing that. Got to have a positive mindset, and I think that's really helped me these last few weeks.
"I'm in a really good spot right now."
The Rustlers head to Billings on Thursday for duals against Billings West and Belgrade.
