By some accounts, Tuesday afternoon’s football practice for Thunder Basin wasn’t as good as some of their others. In fact, senior Terren Swartz called it a bad practice, comparatively.
“But I was out having fun,” he added.
Just before that football practice Swartz made a phone call as a current Thunder Basin Bolt in multiple sports. He hung up a future Wyoming Cowboy.
Minutes before preparing for Friday’s football regular-season finale, Swartz committed to wrestle at the University of Wyoming. That ended a college decision that was six months in the making.
“It feels really awesome,” he said. “Big weight off your shoulders, really.”
Wrestling coaches started reaching out to Swartz after the 2018 National High School Coaches Association Nationals in late March. Swartz advanced to the quarterfinals in the national championships at Virginia Beach, Virgina, which was enough to gain interest from various colleges. He considered all of them equal until Wyoming came calling. Looking back, that’s when his decision had actually been made.
People are also reading…
UW head coach Mark Branch and his staff checked in with him through the months to come. Swartz admitted his love for the state of Wyoming and the pride of wrestling for the brown and gold played a prominent role in his decision. He also had connections between coaches and wrestling clubs with current Wyoming wrestlers. One of them used to be a Bolt and an old sparring partner.
“Trevor Jeffries, I’ve been wrestling with him since 3 years old,” Swartz said. “It makes it a lot easier and a lot more comfortable with those guys there and especially with Trevor being there.”
Jeffries announced his commitment to wrestle for the Cowboys back in May.
Jeffries and Swartz were both standout wrestlers growing up on the club scene in Wyoming. They both made their respective impacts at the high school level immediately. Jeffries made the championship match in each of his first three years, even winning the state title in his junior season. During that same stretch Swartz, who was a grade behind Jeffries, took fourth and second in the state tournament.
They both elected to jump ship for the new Thunder Basin High School last year. Swartz was apprehensive about the decision at first but Jeffries vouched for head coach Mikah Kadera. They were familiar from wrestling through Laramie connections on the club scene.
“I didn’t know about him so I was kind of skeptical,” Swartz said. “Then, last year, halfway through the summer we got close wrestling at Fargo.”
Spending the summer together helped bring them all together, which paid off on the mat in the winter. Swartz and Jeffries each won state championships last season and Thunder Basin finished third as a team.
Swartz anticipates a better senior season. His future coaches at Wyoming also want him to focus on his final season before talking about future obligations.
In the meantime he’s been a force on the football field for the Bolts. He’s the team’s top tackler and leads the state in tackles for loss (14). He’s helped provide power on the line for a team that stands in a three-way tie for first place going into Friday’s home game against Laramie.
And that’s what Swartz has focused on. Even if the day of practice may not have been as good as others along the way, the next day can remedy that. The fall is a small window where he’s not wrestling. And after the football season is over he’ll return to the mat for more. He’ll once again wrestle at 197 pounds for the Bolts — the same weight he plans to wrestle at for Wyoming.
Swartz had fun at Tuesday’s practice. And with the stresses of a college decision out of the way, those good times can keep rolling.