On his own two feet

RONAN — Tanner Mead played sports like any other kid: football, wrestling, basketball.

But Mead began to grow—and fast. His legs didn’t cooperate, and soon Mead could hardly walk, much less take the field or the mat or the court.

By early high school, Mead’s ankles had gotten so crooked that he needed reconstructive surgery on both legs. He couldn’t play sports his freshman or sophomore seasons.

Two years later and nearly 80 pounds lighter, Mead is bound for the state wrestling tournament in Billings this weekend by merit of his fourth-place divisional finish.

Already a big guy—he’s listed at 6-foot-5, 285 pounds—Mead became severely overweight after his surgery.

He came into wrestling season as a junior weighing around 360 pounds, 75 pounds over the MHSA maximum for competition. Mead set a goal to make weight for divisionals. And he did it.

“There’s nothing harder than showing up for practice and knowing that there’s no chance for competition,” Ronan coach Cory Johnston said.

“I definitely had some thoughts about whether it was even worth it,” Mead admitted.

But he kept at it, much to the awe of his teammates.

“For a guy like that to stick through it, for him to give that much time and effort to lose weight is awesome,” fellow senior Connor Benn said.

Johnston said it changed the his whole squad’s outlook.

“The first day we did sprints and he was able to do it, it was a complete transformation,” Johnston said. “You could just feel the energy was different. They felt complete. They kind of felt that they went on the journey with Tanner.”

But making weight was only half the story. Mead stayed in shape over the summer and became an integral part of the Ronan offensive line during the football season as well.

He came into wrestling season on weight and ready to contribute.

“There were things that he just couldn’t do physically last year,” Johnston said.

A fourth-place finish at divisionals was certainly a step in the right direction.

“I feel very self-accomplished,” said Mead. “I was angry that I wasn’t able to get third, but after I got out and thought about it, I was pretty happy I made it to state.”

With fellow state-bound heavyweight Michael Irvine as a practice partner, Mead has improved each week.

“There came a time when Tanner stopped saying, ‘I’m just happy to be here. I’m just happy to be wrestling,’ and he wanted to start winning,” the coach said. “You could just see the competitive fire in his eyes. … It’s changed his whole year.”

Mead said it’s a conscious effort to push himself harder.

“I’ve already been through enough,” he said. “What’s two hours of practice compared to two years? That’s the perspective I have.”