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Chinook's Ben Stroh transfers to Northern for his final season on the mat

Ben Stroh is coming home. Well, almost.

On Monday afternoon, Montana State University-Northern head wrestling coach Tyson Thivierge signed Stroh, the former Chinook high star as a transfer from NCAA Division I Wyoming. The former four-time Class B-C state champion will have just one year of eligibility, but, with the obvious talent, and experience he brings to Northern's already powerful roster, Thivierge is just fine with that.

"I'm still a little speechless about it," Thivierge said. "This is a huge deal for our program and for Northern. To get someone of Ben Stroh's talent, experience and his tremendous character, that's a very rare thing. It just doesn't happen very often. So I'm just ecstatic about this and I wish wrestling season started tomorrow."

Thivierge said the possibility of Stroh transferring to Northern came about via conversations with Ben's older brother Robert, who also wrestled for Wyoming for a time, and is a former state champion for the Sugarbeeters and head coach Perry Miller.

"I had been talking to Robert about him being a volunteer coach and just wanting to have him in our room whenever he was available," Thivierge said. "And he was all for that, and then he started telling me about Ben being on the fence about a few things, and I just said, I always leave the door open. I'm here if he (Ben) needs me, and eventually, I got the call."

And when the call came, Thivierge was on cloud nine, as Stroh, who is a two-time NCAA qualifier, will only add to a stout Northern roster, which includes a huge group of returning sophomores, as well as salty veterans like Taylor Kornoely and Tommy Cooper, all part of a Lights' contingent that finished second at the NAIA national tournament back in March.

"Really, we're a young team," Thivierge said. "We don't have many seniors or juniors coming back. We have some really good ones, but, most of those guys are sophomores. So, aside from his tremendous talent, Ben is also going to be huge for our room, and huge for the development of those young guys. All of the wrestling and life experiences he's bringing to our team, that's going to be so beneficial for all of those guys, and for our entire program going forward. So, we're so lucky to get Ben, even for one year."

Of course, the Lights are also getting a monster on the wrestling mat. Competing at 184 pounds at Wyoming, Stroh was a two-time All-Conference performer, while going 62-28 with 20 pins. Local wrestling fans also haven't forgotten Stroh's brilliant high school career, where he not only was a rare four-time state champion, but also racked up a 101-match winning streak, all by falls. He finished his four years as a Beeter with an incredible 156-2 record and a national high school record of 146 pins.

Stroh's return to the Hi-Line also cements a continuing and growing bond between Northern's program and local high school wrestling, and, on top of that, will help keep the Lights atop the NAIA wrestling landscape for the 2016-17 season, which starts in October.

"Personally, I've always wished I could coach Robert and Ben," Thivierge said. "I've always wanted to have those guys in our room, to coach them and be hands on with them. So, to be able to get one for one year, I'll take that.

"Certainly, we're getting a proven talent, a great wrestler," Thivierge said. "But we're getting so much more than that in Ben Stroh. He's a great student, a great person, with tremendous character. And we are keeping that connection with Chinook and the Hi-Line and Montana wrestling. So, there is just so many things that are great about this. It's so exciting that we can help Ben finish his collegiate wrestling career, and we're so excited he's coming home, to do it here at Northern. I just couldn't be more happy for Ben and for our program."

Happy to Come Home

Ben Stroh maybe always wondered if he should have wrestled for the Lights right out of high school. Obviously, the offer was there before he even wrestled in his final state tournament with the Beeters.

But, with his brother already in Laramie wrestling for the Cowboys, and the opportunity to compete at the NCAA Division I level, he chose to head 10 hours to the south. Now however, that burning question that lingered inside him doesn't have to be answered anymore. Now, Stroh is a Light.

"It was honestly a really tough decision not to sign with Northern right off the bat," Stroh said. "I always liked and respected Tyson, and I grew up watching Northern wrestling. So, I felt bad when I didn't sign with him. I always kind of felt like I slapped Tyson in the face not signing with him.

"But, to Tyson's credit, he never held it against me," he continued. "In fact, we talked at the very first tournament I saw him at the next season, and he would continue to talk to me and ask me how I was doing and I respected him so much for that. He's such a great person, and I'm excited to come back and have him be my coach, and I'm grateful he still wanted me to be a part of that program."

And while Stroh has been away from the Hi-Line for some time, he already knows he'll feel right at home. He says in signing with the Lights, he is reuniting with a lot of wrestlers he's known over the years, as well as his brother and Willie Miller, and the entire Hi-Line wrestling community.

"Honestly, I was ready to come home," Stroh said. "I want to come home and be around the fans and the communities that supported me through my high school career. At Wyoming, nobody really new me. I was just another wrestler out on the mat. It's not like that here. The community has so much support for all of us in wrestling. It's much more on a personal level, and I missed that. I'm really looking forward to being a part of that again.

"And I'm excited to get in the room with all those guys," he continued. "I wrestled on Team Montana and at All-Star tournaments with a lot of those guys. And lately, I just thought, why not come home and have this group be together and bring a national title back to Northern. That's the goal, and I want to be a part of that. So this is great, I'm just really excited. I'm looking forward to getting to work, working hard and getting in the room with all of those guys and being part of a great team. It's going to be a lot of fun."

 

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