DESTINY FULFILLED

When talking about great athletes, a lot of times it’s said that they have “it,” without really knowing what it is referring to. But whatever “it” is, Parker Filius has it in bunches.

That so-called “it” factor alludes to talents and skills that are simply unmeasurable. One can measure height and find out weight on a scale, but how do you assess heart, passion, desire and competitiveness? How can you know if someone truly has what it takes to be a champion?

It’s a question that has fooled talent evaluators in every sport and at every level. But when it comes to Filius, it would take a fool not to see it.

“What sets him apart is his competitiveness,” Montana State University-Northern wrestling head coach Tyson Thivierge said. “And he’s a nerd. I’m going to flat-out call him a nerd. He studies wrestling, he watches wrestling, he talks to wrestling people, he watches them, I mean, the kid is a coach’s dream. You are never going to have to worry about Parker because he is always going to do the right things, inside the room and outside of it. He’s an all-around class act.”

It may seem funny to call Filius a nerd, but when it comes to wrestling, it’s true. He may be a technician on the mat, but he’s also a master tactician and that’s one of the reasons beating him has proven to be so difficult.

“Being a four-timer (state champion) really has nothing to do with the level that Parker is on,” Thivierge said. “He’s on that level because he’s a sponge. He eats, sleeps and breathes wrestling. He wants to be the best and that’s what sets him apart from everyone else. He doesn’t just talk the talk, he does everything he can to walk the walk.

“Parker, you can’t faze him. You can’t rattle him,” Thivierge added. “And if you do, he’s back to the drawing board. He looks at every match and just takes it one match at a time and doesn’t get too hyped up about it.”

The incredible mental and physical prowess Filius has on the mat, has served him well over the years. At his first state tournament, despite going in as the No. 2 ranked wrestler in Class A at 138 pounds, Filius captured his first state championship. Since then, he has put together a record of 125-8, plus two more state championships.

“My freshman year the semis and the finals, those were probably my toughest matches at the state tournament,” Filius said. “In the semis, I beat a pretty tough kid from Corvallis. I ended up getting a major (decision) but it was a tough match. Then in the finals, I beat a pretty tough kid from Sidney. I don’t know if I was supposed to win or not. He had made the finals I think three times, but I got an early takedown and was able to get a fall in the second period.”

During his state tournament career, Filius has gotten quite a few wins by fall. As a freshman, he got three in an average of 2:47. As a sophomore, he won three of his four matches by pin, and it took him just 58 seconds on average to do so. Then, as a junior, he got two pins in an average of 43 seconds, as well as two technical falls, in which he outscored his opponents 37-5 in just more than five minutes of wrestling.

“My goal is just to take it one match at a time,” Filius said. “And try to score as many points as I can.”

Part of what makes Filius so good is that he’s never satisfied. He’s always looking for his next challenge. That drive to succeed is something that he’s had for a long time according to his mother, Kari Filius.

“He impresses me on how much he works all the time,” Kari Filius said. “He’s just never satisfied. At home, him and Scott (Filius) talk wrestling all the time. He just never quits. At night, when we are all getting ready for bed, he will say, ‘Oh, I’ll get to bed, I just need to watch one more match.’ It’s been like that and it’s like that all the time. He just loves wrestling, and I’ve never seen anyone like that. He just never gets tired of it.”

Kari Filius said it used to be her husband Scott Filius, Parker’s head coach, that could never stop talking about wrestling — now it’s her son.

“Even Scott will get sick of it sometimes,” she said, chuckling. “And Scott was the guy that we we would be sitting there saying ‘Do we have to talk about wrestling?’ And now even Scott will say something like, “I know Parker, I need a break.’ (Parker) is just over the top and he’s just never gets tired of talking about it or doing it. It’s just crazy. I've never seen anyone like that.”

For Parker, his love of wrestling goes back a long time. Yet his affinity for the sport, didn’t always translate to success, at least not early on.

“That’s the funny thing,” Kari Filius said. “He started out when he was 5 and he loved it, he had fun, but he lost a lot when he was 5 and 6. I’m not sure if he just didn’t quite understand it, but Scott would always ask him if he had fun and Parker would say ‘Yeah, I had fun,’ but he lost a lot. Then, all of a sudden, he got more motivated and figured it out and started working harder.”

After that, Parker started winning more, but as he did, he sought out more challenges, too.

“When he was around 7, 8 and 9, he won a lot more, but he still lost,” Kari Filius said. “But Scott always made sure, if he was undefeated in Montana, he would take him somewhere where someone could beat him and then he would know he still had work to do. Scott didn’t want him to think he was great and could beat everybody, and to Scott’s credit, I think that’s one of the things that has really helped Parker see that there is more out there.”

While Parker Filius started to show his promise in grade school, middle school was when he really started to blossom. It was also when he started dreaming big.

“He went to North Carolina when he was in eighth grade for the Super 32, that was his first big tournament,” Kari Filius said. “He did really well and took fifth, but he still wasn’t satisfied. But that’s when he really started doing the extra things and working really hard. And I don’t think he ever told Scott, but he told me in eighth grade that he wanted to be a four-time champion.

“I told him that was a good goal and I didn’t want to discourage him, but I knew that was a high goal,” She added. “But he has had those goals since around eighth grade and that’s kind of when I started thinking, he could be something.”

Of course, it’s one thing to set goals, it’s another thing to achieve them. And when it comes to achieving his goals, there have been two things that stand out for Parker Filius among the others: his desire and his work ethic.

“I have had some really good kids over the years,” Scott Filius said. “But the thing that has set Parker apart is that he really took ownership of his wrestling at a very early age. He has been very self-motivated to be a student of the sport. A lot of times, you will get kids that are hard to coach for one reason or another, and he can be a pain as well as anybody, but generally, he’s asking questions and pushing the envelope with technique far above what we have set for everyone else.”

Some people are just made to do certain things and it seems ,with Parker Filius, he was made to wrestle.

“He just loves it and has set big goals for himself, Kari Filius said. “He told me when he was a sophomore he wanted to be a D1 (NCAA Division 1) wrestler and then an All-American and a national champion. When he has a goal, I believe in him that he’s going to achieve it.”

While Filius has already achieved his goal of getting a scholarship from a division one school in Purdue, which resides in the Big Ten, he can achieve another goal this weekend in Billings, one he set out to get a long time ago.

“Right now, I think it would mean a lot,” Parker Filius said. “But next year, I will just be a freshman in a new program and the new kid on the block and what I did in high school isn’t going to matter.”

His college career is fast approaching and his days as a Blue Pony are numbered. Yet he still has four matches to go and plenty left to do.

“I will be happy for him,” Kari Filius said. “But it will be sad, too. We have been doing this for 12 years. I don’t know if Scott feels the same way, but it will be kind of hard. But I will be happy to see him achieve what he has wanted for so long.”

As far as how Scott Filius feels, he said simply: “Ask me once it’s over.”

For Parker Filius, he’s ready for the end, too. Not just to achieve one of his biggest goals, but to get onto the next one, like always, Filius has a destiny. He’s already fulfilled some of it. He’ll fulfull more of it this weekend, and then a collegiate destiny awaits.

“It flew by pretty quick,” Filius said. “It feels like I was just a freshman. But (being a four-timer) would be a great way to end my high school career, it will be a lot of fun.”

Achieving one of your dreams, in front of the thousands who will watch finals night at the Metra sounds plenty fun and for Parker Filius, there couldn’t possibly be a better way to spend a Saturday night.