Kootenai Klassic a true measure of Libby civic pride

Editor's note: Libby Wrestling Club president Jason Harrington was gracious in writing this report about the Kootenai Klassic tournament held last weekend in Libby.

The 2024 Kootenai Klassic was a success!

This year we had 17 teams participate, bringing about 680 wrestlers from ages 3-14 to the Libby High School gym.

Speaking as club president, Libby Wrestling Club gives a huge “THANK YOU” to all the people who volunteered their time on Friday and Saturday. 

This tournament is run and overseen completely by Libby Wrestling Club. We rely heavily on wrestling families and community members to volunteer their time and energy to make the tournament a success. This year we also received help from an Idaho team to run Track Wrestling, the computer system used to manage the event. We appreciate them more than they can imagine!

This weekend LWC wrestlers showed us they are up for a challenge. They have been doing a great job in practice and it shows each weekend. Libby wrestlers who competed worked amazingly hard, showed determination and drive, as well as showed sportsmanship and class. 

Upon talking to coaches of each age group, I was thrilled to hear how proud each coach was with their group.

Every wrestler LWC presented to the mat showed some level of improvement. A couple of wrestlers overcame timidness and were able to experience success after working hard at practice all week. Others were able to prove their attention at practice gave them an upper hand as they earned success over an opponent they have battled with before. Greenchain wrestlers, families and fans should be proud!

LWC hosts the Klassic as a primary fundraising event to support the wrestlers. We aim to keep prices low for participation, provide financial assistance to those who are interested in camps and post season competition, as well as provide continuity all the way through high school by supporting the purchase of essential equipment and facilities upkeep for LWC and Libby High School wrestling.

It’s all worth it when you see the wrestlers go out each weekend and show their improvements. They put a lot of their time, energy, and emotion into this sport and at the end of it all, we do this for the wrestlers and our community. LWC aims to do more than promote wrestling. LWC believes that character development is crucial as well. We want our kids to learn life lessons that can help them as they grow into productive adults in any community.

The weather and road conditions tried to hinder attendance, but families braved the elements and made it in time for the wrestlers to compete. It was unanimous from all clubs to work with each other and give as much extra time as possible for people to safely arrive in Libby. 

We didn’t want wrestlers to miss out on competing because the roads made them late to the gym. Thankfully, there wasn’t much of that and the tournament went as anticipated.

Libby High School was busy to say the least. Admission lines were kept short by having great volunteers help with a coaches and wrestlers line at the door. 

Concessions, run by the Dirt Ballers travel softball team, moved fast and efficiently. Shirts and hoodies were being sold as fast as the ladies could get them off the press! 

The hospitality room is known as a reason to attend the Klassic for coaches and volunteers alike! Wrestling families come together to put out an amazing spread of food and drink to keep coaches, refs and volunteers fed all day! 

The high school janitorial staff working Saturday were amazing. We are incredibly fortunate that these folks were there to help. Their spirits stayed high, and their diligence was unmatched. These are the types of things that go unnoticed if they are done well. So, it was a good thing that the only feedback was on a job well done.

Our high school wrestlers officiated all day for nothing other than giving back to the club that supported them as they made their way through the program. Table workers did an amazing job keeping their mats running which kept our timelines in place. 

Our local law enforcement patrolled the gym throughout the day while volunteers helped with basic security. So many supporters stepped up for this annual event.

We have the best volunteers and I can’t thank them enough. Their assistance and good nature make it possible to host, what I believe to be, the best event Western Montana Little Guy offers each year.

Thank you, thank you!!