SUPERIOR - Superior Bobcat wrestlers Anthony Parkin and Bridger LaPierre recently returned from the Disney Duals All-Star tournament in Florida, where they competed against top wrestlers from around the nation.

Prior to leaving for Florida, Parkin and LaPierre had a week of intensive training where they competed against the top wrestlers in Montana in order to be seeded for the tournament. Both earned spots on the All-Star Team by winning their duals at training, but when they arrived in Florida and began competing it was immediately clear they wouldn’t be facing any easy opponents.

“It was an eye-opener,” LaPierre said. “It made me realize how hard you have to work if you want to go to college and wrestle.”

“It (the competition) is completely different when you’re at a national level,” Pakrin added.

Over the four days of the tournament the two faced-off against top-ranked high school wrestlers from across the nation and the two both said that testing their mettle in that situation was ultimately beneficial.

“Getting to wrestle a whole bunch of kids from around the nation, the experience of that, was really great,” LaPierre said.

Parkin, who won the state championship this year and will return to the mat for his final season this winter, agreed with LaPierre that the experience gained in Florida was beneficial.

“It ain’t easy,” Parkin said. “You gotta work hard.”

The duo is also extremely thankful to the community as a whole for helping them get to the tournament.

“It was really nice to feel that support from everyone,” Parkin said.

“Everybody was super supportive of us,” LaPierre said.