Mission Valley invaded by Sun Devils wrestlers

Mission High School wrestling coach Lyle Cronk knows very well the lessons he has learned through wrestling at the high school and college level.

Cronk, a former wrestler at Montana State-Northern, said he got to experience competing against some of the best wrestling programs in the country including Penn State, Iowa State, and Northwestern University.

“Being able to get my teaching degree really allowed me to continue to stay involved with wrestling and that has been a pretty good deal,” Cronk said.

This past week, Cronk and several other Mission Valley kids were treated to a world-class caliber wrestling camp held in Mission and Charlo that was instructed by several Arizona State wrestlers and a wrestler from Dickinson State.

The wrestlers also put on a free clinic for local wrestlers aspiring to get better on June 22 at the Charlo High School gymnasium.

“Arizona State has one of the top wrestling traditions and is one of the up-and-coming schools in the NCAA Division I,” Cronk said. “It’s kind of exciting and I love to see high school wrestlers wrestle in college. It’s just a great opportunity to have wrestlers of that caliber.”

Former Mission-Charlo wrestler Jacen Peterson, who now wrestles at Arizona State University, said he came back to his community to try to help further cultivate the quality of Mission Valley wrestling. Peterson, son of Charlo coach Jim Peterson, said he was also given that chance from previous successful wrestlers and this was his opportunity to “give back.”

“It’s really nice to get to see Cronk and the kids we worked with and its kind of cool now when he is up here helping me,” Peterson said. “I remember when I was in school, Cameron Nice or Mickey Cheff would come to town. Now I get to switch roles which is nice after growing up when there are elementary kids to talk to. “

When Peterson entered the Arizona State program, he entered a wrestling program that was in the top 100 but wasn’t breaking the top 25.

Now, Peterson, currently a senior at Arizona State, said he has had to change his “mindset” because his program is currently ranked just outside the top 10 and is competing for that dubious distinction.

“Since our program has improved, it has made a big difference,” Peterson said. “Now I go into every match and I really hope to win this match. I am expecting to win and if I don’t win, I don’t really feel like I am part of the team in any way.”

Peterson said because of the caliber and the quality of wrestling, his whole team is competing with each other just as much as they are competing against others.

“Our whole team is competing with each other,” Peterson said. “We are up against some of the best competition in the country, and some of the wrestlers that we face are some of the best in the country and the world. Our team is just working together to reach higher and higher goals.”