Logan Torgison balances running and wrestling excellence

Zach Urness / Leader Staff

The message on Logan Torgison's voice mail is a bit unusual. There is no cheerful greeting, no promise of a returned call, no annoying music, nor any indication whatsoever of whose voice mail you've actually reached.

All it says is: "I'm out running."

And while that might sound a tad strange for a high school kid, especially one social enough to be nominated for homecoming king, that simple declaration is a window into the drive that has led Torgison to such a successful athletic career.

"Logan has an amazing competitive fire," explained Polson head cross country coach Matt Seeley. "He works extremely hard in every single practice and knows how to push himself better than any runner I have ever seen, especially at his age."

That Torgison is a hard worker becomes obvious when you watch him compete. Whether he's running under the autumn leaves of a cross country course or slamming an opponent to the wrestling mat, the thing that sticks out most prominently is how much power is contained in such a small package. His chest, arms and legs are so muscular that he conveys an illusion of being twice as large as is actually the case. It's not until you stand next to him in street clothes that you realize he's really only about 140 pounds.

And through that power, Torgison has become a top athlete in two very demanding, but fairly different sports—cross country and wrestling. While both sports emphasize the accomplishments of the individual within the fabric of the team, those who excel in cross country are generally beanpole-shaped athletes who don't want to add too much muscle mass, and wrestling is generally dominating by hulking Goliaths whose main goal is to inflict as much physical pain as possible. Of course these are generalizations, but the differing demands of each sport make them an interesting choice.

"They are the two most satisfying sports for me," said Torgison. "I just love the feeling you get from running, the runners high, every time you go out. It's similar in wrestling because when you beat an opponent, you feel like you're on top of the world. I just love pushing myself to see what I can overcome."

And in a sense, Torgison has been on top of the world athletically — well, almost. He recently wrapped up his final year for Polson cross country with a divisional title and a second place finish at state—coming in second only to Laurel's Patrick Casey who didn't lose a race in two years—and capped a career that saw him finish in the top three at state every year since he was a sophomore.

Torgison has been even more dominating on the wrestling mat, where he is the defending state champion in the 135 pound class and has placed in the top three at state every year since he was a freshman.

Nearly all of his success, whether on the mat or the track, can be attributed to hard work. To prepare for cross country in the summer, for example, Torgison said he runs a whopping 50 miles per week. Most people don't run 50 miles the whole year. In fact, according to his coaches, Logan's biggest problem is that sometimes he works too hard.

"The biggest challenge for Logan is to back off on easy days to ensure proper recover from hard workouts," said Seeley. "For three straight years, he has run every single race to win, never settling for just a high finish. Even against more accomplished competition, Logan takes risks and goes for broke. He is never intimidated or afraid to run himself into the ground."

But his current challenge, morphing himself from an all-state runner into an all-state wrestler, is one of the larger challenges he faces each year.

"Running is both a good and bad thing in getting ready for wrestling," said Torgison. "It's good because your in such good shape from running that you never get tired, but I have to do a lot of weight-lifting to catch up with everyone else."

Torgison said that he has been active athletically his entire life, much of which is thanks to his family's encouragement.

Sports is not his only dimension, however, as he also enjoys wrestling minds with opponents on the chessboard.

"I get made fun of a lot," he said of his membership in the Polson High School chess club, "but it's similar to wrestling in how strategic it is."

Logan is also a member of National Honor society and plans to go to college, although he has not yet decided where, or which sport he may pursue.

"It still depends on the upcoming season," he said of his choice between running and wrestling, noting that he has an interest in physical therapy or business as an area of study.

For the moment, however, Torgison is content to focus his nearly unstoppable will on becoming a back-to-back state wrestling champion. The only problem is that he will need to record a new message for his voice mail.

"I'm taking people down," should do it.