Three months of early mornings, long weekends and relentless work have defined the wrestling season for Bonners Ferry’s four team captains. It’s a sport they say is among the most demanding, both mentally and physically.  

Senior Gaige Johnson and juniors Taylor Dodd, Aubree Graves and Ethan Matthews have led from the front this season, with each compiling a record with more wins than losses. 

The four have taken different paths to high school wrestling. 

“I started wrestling when I was in fifth grade, right before COVID,” Graves said. “I was very crazy and my mom thought it would be a good idea to get my energy out.” 

Dodd comes from a family of wrestlers. 

“My dad was a big-time wrestler, part of a wrestling team back in Washington,” Dodd said. “There’s six kids and five of us wrestle.” 

Matthews has practiced jiu-jitsu since he was eight or nine years old and only recently made the switch to wrestling. 

“I started wrestling freshman year,” Matthews said. “It keeps me in shape and it’s fun. I try to do it year-round now.” 

Johnson, who has wrestled since he was a toddler, said the sports demands both commitment and time. 

“It’s three months of every weekend living in a gym,” Johnson said. “Most of the time you don’t step outside. You go in in the dark and you come out in the dark. Your life is wrestling.” 

All four captains said the team’s togetherness has been strong this year. 

“I feel like our team this year is more of a family than other years,” Graves said. “We all get along, we all hang out and cheer each other on.” 

“I like hanging out with them,” Matthews said. “We’re all going through some of the same stuff and I’ve made a lot of friends doing it.” 

“The camaraderie, I’ve never experienced anything like it,” Dodd said. “It’s special.” 

While wrestling is a team sport, matches come down to one-on-one competition. 

“It’s just you and them and you’re staring at each other,” Dodd said. “You have to go out there, shake their hand, be all nice, then boom.” 

“It’s kind of hard sometimes, a little stressful knowing that it’s all up to you,” Matthews said. “But I think once you get out there, you don’t really feel the pressure.” 

“It is accountable,” Johnson said. “It’s not like football where if my team doesn’t work hard I can still fail. What I put in is what I get.” 

“I also feel like it helps you stay accountable,” Graves said. “If you’re losing, it’s not because someone else made you lose. It’s because you’re not putting forth the effort.” 

Johnson and Dodd both spoke about the life lessons they take from wrestling. 

“I think wrestling teaches you things that you wouldn’t learn anywhere else and it pushes you to the limits where you find new things about yourself,” Johnson said. “It can bring out the nasty. It brings the nasty out of me. Talk to me after losing a match and you’re going to get an unhappy person.” 

“There are definitely things in wrestling that people do not want to do,” Dodd said. “But that’s kind of how life is. I think we’re all going to be better adults because of wrestling.” 

Graves said her favorite moment of the season came at the Hellgate Girls Wrestling Invitational in Montana, when she competed while battling a severe sinus infection. 

“I lost to this girl in the semifinals because she was doing moves like biting,” Graves said. “I was kind of over it. We met back in the finals on the consolation side and I beat her in about 20 seconds.” 

Wrestlers must constantly check their weight throughout the season, making diet a key part of the sport. Dodd and Johnson said that soda and milkshakes were drinks they were missing. For Graves, it was pizza and Dr. Pepper.  

For Matthews, it was not just what he wanted to eat but how much.

“It’s 100% donuts,” Matthews said. “I’m actually doing a full dozen challenge with a friend of mine after the season. We’ll see how far I can get.” 

For Johnson, Dodd, Graves and Matthews, wrestling is demanding and requires perseverance. 

“Wrestling is definitely a sport where you have to complain,” Johnson said. “But you can’t quit.” 

    Bonners Ferry wrestling captain Ethan Matthews finished third place in the Ted Kato Memorial wrestling tournament.