Firefighting, Air Force dreams reflect grounded attitude of wrestler
For a guy from Big Sky Country, it seems only fitting that he dreams of one day becoming a pilot.
In the meantime, North Idaho College wrestler Kyle Sweedman has been grounded and has helped his team to a 9-3 record heading into the National Junior College Athletic Association National Tournament on Feb. 24 and 25 in Rochester, Minn.But his plan of wrestling in college did not always exist.
Sweedman thought he was going to go to firefighting school in Missoula after graduating from Libby High School, even though he knew he had the ability to wrestle at the college level his senior year.
At the time, NIC was the only college he had considered attending. His decision to join NIC’s national wrestling powerhouse came last minute after a brief talk with head coach Pat Whitcomb.
“I just decided my life was going somewhere else, but then somehow I ended up here again,” Sweedman said. “It just turned over, so I was like all right, I guess I’ll come wrestle.”
Sweedman is a 19-year-old redshirt freshman this year wrestling in the 174-pound weight class. Last season, he was a redshirt which meant he practiced with the team but did not participate in any tournaments except for open tournaments, which allow redshirts to compete.
Redshirting has been a way for wrestlers to gain another year of college-level experience.Sweedman won more than 100 matches in his high school career.He wrestled at 112-pounds his freshman year, hit a growth spurt and wrestled in the 171-weight class his senior year.
Sweedman participated in other high school sports. His freshman and sophomore years he ran cross-country, his junior year he played soccer and his senior year he played football for Libby High School. Wrestling was the only sport Sweedman participated in all four years of high school. He has been wrestling since he was about five years old.
When he is not on the mat, Sweedman said he enjoys the outdoors.
“Back at Montana, I liked hiking and stuff like that, but I haven’t really gotten into that here because I don’t know the area that well,” Sweedman said.
Sweedman is a general studies major but plans on attaining a bachelor’s degree in the business field after his time at NIC. After acquiring his bachelor’s, Sweedman said he might want to become a pilot in the Air Force.
He has not given up on firefighting either. He said he may pursue being a firefighter later on in life.
Sweedman has another year of eligibility left at the junior college wrestling level. He has yet to decide whether he is going to take advantage of it.
“I haven’t thought that far ahead yet,” Sweedman said. “I got a little time.”
