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Off the mat Nation’s winningest wrestling coach lands in Kalispell by Jamie Rogers
amid allegations of recruiting violations from Owatana High in south-central Minnesota, where he had been the head wrestling coach for 25 years. Davis dismissed the accusations as a group of parents “unhappy with the direction of the program.” Rather than serve a forthcoming
presence. At the Jug Beck tournament, coaches from Spokane’s University High School glare at the referee who they have outed as favoring the other team. Coaches from Bozeman pace the edge of the mat with crossed arms and clenched jaws. Coaches from Sentinel draw all the blood into their faces and swing their hips as if the teenager in a pretzel on the mat was no more than their malfunctioning avatar. By contrast, Davis leans languidly into the back of his chair. He shouts only when his wrestler stands up too straight or doesn’t arch his back to avoid a pin, and even then, it’s clear Davis did his coaching before the whistle blew. “If you yell at the kids all the time,” he says, “they can’t hear you.” At the start of the second day of Jug Beck, Flathead is ranked 13 out of 31 teams. The Braves’ best hope for scoring points was in 160-pound senior Jacob Egley, who was seeded second coming into the tournament. But Egley lost unexpectedly in the third round, dropping him, along with all but one of his teammates, to the conPhoto by Jamie Rogers solation bracket. Bladholm, the heavyWrestling coach Scot Davis compiled a 984-149-4 record in Minnesota before weight, is the team’s last hope for a arriving at Flathead High. champion. Moments before his semifinal, Bladholm stands next to the mat shifting his has wrestled his way into the semifinal suspension, Davis retired. “I was really planning on just being re- weight from foot to foot. Nearby, Wilson match of Missoula’s Jug Beck Rocky tired,” he says. “But then I heard about Flat- bounces and stretches his shoulders. As the Mountain Classic. Dimensionally, Bladholm is an oak head...and I saw a challenge there.” He was wrestlers are called onto the mat, Davis whispers something to Bladholm. tree, and he’d be menacing if it weren’t for hired in summer 2012. The match begins, and they circle. WilAlleged scandal aside, Davis’ arrival in his dolefully slouched shoulders and wideeyed gaze. Unseeded in round one, he will Kalispell was celebrated by Braves wrestling son lunges and retreats. He is jarringly face Sentinel High’s Jaydn Wilson in the faithful. In 34 years of coaching at the high quick. Davis sits up in his chair. Though tournament’s penultimate match. Wilson school level, Davis won two Minnesota state Bladholm is four inches taller than Wilson, has bulldoggish forearms and a back like a championships, twice was named National he seems smaller and weaker and trapped. stack of bricks. A feature in that day’s sports Coach of the Year, and in 2009 was named Wilson gets underneath him. Davis tells section predicted Wilson would win his sec- coach of the Wrestling USA Magazine Bladholm to get lower. “Keep it in the ring!” ond straight Jug Beck title. But coach Davis Dream Team. He arrived in Montana with a he shouts. But Bladholm is overwhelmed. He topples and Wilson is on him, tying is unfazed. No coach—literally—has more dual-meet record of 984-149-4. high school wins in wrestling history, and When Davis got to Flathead, he set out Bladholm’s arms into a knot above his if anyone can bring glory back to the Flat- to reinvigorate a withered wrestling scene. head. His face turns red and his eyes bulge. When asked what he said to Bladholm head Braves, it’s Davis. He pats Bladholm “In order to have a successful program,” on the shoulder. The oak tree leans over Davis says, “you need … to establish a cul- before the match, Davis shrugs and frowns and listens carefully to his coach. ture. It starts with building enthusiasm.” His coyly. “That he should make it easy on himFor the better part of a decade, Flat- first day on the job, Davis brought a box of self and win,” he says. “Because then he’ll head High dominated Montana wrestling, T-shirts with “Return to Glory” printed on the only have one more match.” One of these years, Davis will be the winning seven titles, including five straight back. The student body responded. During from 2006-10. But then the program came the 2011-12 season, there were 18 wrestlers first high school coach to reach 1,000 vicunhinged, kids lost interest, and in 2012 the in the Flathead program. After Davis was tories. But not this year. At the end of Jug team finished 12th in the state tournament. hired, 44 had signed up to be on his team be- Beck, his team edges out Ronan to finish in 14th place. After that season, the head coach left for fore he even held his first practice. crosstown rival Glacier High School. “We have a ways to go,” he says. “But Davis’ coaching style is predicated on As things were coming off the rails at the idea “that all kids are different and re- we’ll get there.” FHS, Davis, 61, was dealing with his own spond to different things,” and it’s a philostumble from the top. In 2011, he retired ophy that translates to a subdued mat-side jrogers@missoulanews.com On a Saturday afternoon in a humid gymnasium, Flathead High School wrestling coach Scot Davis puts a hand on the shoulder of his heavyweight wrestler and whispers some advice. The wrestler is junior Axel Bladholm, and to the surprise of his team (and maybe himself ), he
missoulanews.com • January 24 – January 31, 2013 [9]