BELGRADE — Three wrestlers from Belgrade won state championships over the weekend. Senior Carter Schmidt and junior Mason Gutenberger both repeated, while sophomore KyLee Lindsley made history as the first girls state champion in program history.
Schmidt is a North Dakota State commit. This year he beat Billings West’s Jesse Aarness in the final. He went through one of the most intense seasons of training this year to get to that moment, but it all paid off.
“It was a lot of consistent work. I was wrestling six, seven days a week," Schmidt said. "And then there were days right after high school practice I went to my club and just worked with other coaches on stuff I needed to polish up.”
Lindsley was excited about etching her name in program history, along with being a trailblazer for the next generation of girls coming to the program.
“I had the dream of being Belgrade’s first girl champion since I was in sixth grade. It’s always been something I was looking forward to," she said. "It just stands for a lot because I know a lot of the younger girls coming in, you can do it. That's something that people can look up to and look forward to.”
Both Gutenberger and Lindsley will return to the mat next year for the Panthers to run it back another season. As Schmidt gears up to head to NDSU, he is sad to leave a community that became home but excited for what he wants to accomplish in his next chapter.
“I hope to see myself on top of that podium at Nationals, NCAAs, so I’ve got a lot of work to do, but I plan on being one of North Dakota State’s first national champions.”
If he’s proven anything so far, it’s that he can get it done.
