George Ferguson Column: I'm proud, and lucky to know Parker and Jase

Dear Parker Filius and Jase Stokes: First, congratulations on your incredible accomplishment Saturday night in Billings. Four-time state champions. What an amazing and incredible feat.

I am writing this column not only to honor the both of you for, not only being four-time state champions, but to tell you how much respect and admiration I have for the both of you.

I have watched the both of you wrestle, play football, become great students in the classroom and become great young men, and that has been a privilege. I have had the opportunity to know both of you, in many different ways, and that has been an honor.

Also, as both the sports editor at the Havre Daily News and as the head tennis coach at Havre High, I have had the opportunity to have a rare insight into what the two of you have gone through, and what you’ve accomplished.

In many ways, tennis is like wrestling. It takes incredible skill, incredible athletic ability and an incredible desire to work hard and sacrifice things, to not only become great, but to achieve what the both of you have achieved. Both sports are also very lonely at times. It's just you out there on the mat, or just you out there on the court. There are pressures that can be maddening. And for how you both have handled those pressure, I am truly impressed. And it's very inspiring.

At the start of my coaching career, I had the privilege of coaching Havre’s Kyle Baltrusch. In four seasons of Class A high school tennis, Kyle never lost a postseason match. Not a divisional match and not a state tournament match. It’s a feat that, in Montana high school tennis, has only been accomplished nine times, and, like the two of you, a Blue Pony was one of them.

So, from that standpoint, I fully understand what the two of you have achieved. I know exactly how difficult it was, how much time and effort you put into your accomplishments. I know the sacrifices you both made, I know the pressures you had to deal with. I’ve seen it first-hand. Knowing exactly what the two of you have gone through and seeing the greatness that comes with what you’ve accomplished, doing it with class and dignity and sportsmanship on and off the mat, as a coach, the two of you have my utmost respect and admiration.

Looking at it from a sportswriter’s perspective, again, I am lucky enough to see things in a different way. I have been covering wrestling for nearly two decades now, and have covered many special nights in the Metra. I was there to see Billings Skyview teammates Joe Lauer and Beau Malia become four-time champions together. I was on the mat the night Chinook’s Ben Stroh did it. I have felt the excitement and the electricity that comes with that magical moment.

So, being a Blue Pony, a huge fan of Havre High wrestling, and someone who has so much respect for the sports itself, I can’t tell you how thrilled it made me feel when the two of you got your moment in the Metra.

There really is nothing like that feeling when the famed Metra announcers says “A four-time state champion” as you get that medal around your neck and the bracket handed to you and the crowd rises to its feet for a standing ovation, is there? You guys know exactly how that feels now, and as a big fan of the Blue Ponies, a big fan of high school wrestling,and a big fan of the both of you, I say, thank you for letting all of us share in that moment with you.

Through your hard work, your sacrifices, through the blood, the sweat and the tears, yes, there are always some tears in wrestling, with the help and support of your great coaches and your parents and family, the two of you truly earned that remarkable moment. That moment, on top of the podium, all eyes on you, the entire crowd, not just Havre fans, not just your friends and family, but ALL Montana wrestling fans inside the grand old Metra, showing respect and admiration for what you just accomplished.

I am so happy for the both of you that you got that moment. It’s one of the greatest moments in high school sports, and I can’t think of two more deserving guys than the two of you.

All this weekend, as your moment approached, many different things were going through my mind. I remember the two of you as youngsters, sneaking down onto the arena floor, to get a closer look at the wrestlers you admired growing up. I thought about how much I’ve gotten to know the two of you, as your time as Blue Ponies progressed. I thought about all the matches I’ve seen, and the football games, and you guys hanging around the tennis courts once in a while and all of that over the last few years.

Again, it’s been an honor getting to know, write about and watch the two of you do what you’ve done.

And now, as I write this, and the both of you get to embark on your next journey, I think not as much about the great wrestlers that you are, and you are great, I think not as much about how great of athletes you are, and you are great, instead I am just thinking about what great young men you’ve become. You are what student-athletes are supposed to be. You handle yourselves, on and off the mat with class and dignity, you are fun to be around, you are leaders, good teammates, role models for younger generations of Blue Pony student-athletes, and most of all, you are genuinely two very good kids.

For that, and for all of your great wrestling achievements, I just want you to know that I respect and admire the both of you so much. It has been my honor to know the both of you for as long as I have. I'm proud to know the both of you.

Congrats, Parker and Jase, thank you for becoming four-time state champions, for making your dreams come true and, most of all, for being exactly who you are. Thank you, Parker and Jase, for representing Havre High, the Blue Ponies and our community in the manner in which you do. Thank you and best of luck with the incredibly bright futures both of you now have in front of you.