Four (Or More) Time State Champions in College = Montana

 Like Minnesota, finding information on Montana's four time state champions was a breeze. As far as names went anyway. As to where they wrestled at in high school, that was a bit more confusing. I will say that I am confident I have all of the names and the years correct, but I'm not as confident on the schools. If I have any of the high schools wrong, please let me know & I will get it corrected to the correct high school. 

Gene Davis 

Montana's first four time State champion, Gene Davis won his titles from 60'-63'.  Collegiately he competed for Oklahoma State where he won an NCAA title in 1966. 

Jim Darlington 

Representing Ronan, Jim Darlington won Montana High School State titles from 73'-76'.  Collegiately he competed for Oklahoma where he spent most of his career battling injuries. Nevertheless he did win a BIG 12 title in 1979. 

Colin Lybeck 

Colin Lybeck of Chester won Montana High School State titles from 74'-77'.  He did not wrestle in college. 

Tim Mayer 

Winning four Montana State titles form 79'-82' for Arlee, Tim Mayer from what I have been able to find did not wrestle in college. 

Matt Campbell 

Competing for both Havre as well as Missoula Hellgate, Matt Campbell won four Montana High School State titles from 79'-82'.  His collegiate career was a rather unique one.  Competing for Nebraska, he took back to back 4th place finishes in 1983 & 1984. He then decided his collegiate wrestling career was over going into the Marines. Once his time in the Marines was up, he discovered that he still had one year of eligibility remaining. He enrolled at Montana State Northern & won the NAIA title in 1993. 

T.J. Campbell 

T.J. Campbell won Montana High School State titles for Have & Kalispell Flathead from 84'-87'.  Collegiately he competed for Minnesota. 

Bill Zadick 

Representing Great Falls, Bill Zadick won four Montana High School State titles from 88'-91'. Competing for Iowa collegiately, a BIG 10 runner-up & 5th in the nation as a junior in 1995, he would win both the BIG 10 & the NCAA title in 1996. 

Chris Currier 

Chris Currier won four Montana High School State titles from 90'-93' for Colstrip.  Collegiately he competed for Colorado State Pueblo where he was a three time All American. A NCAA Division II champion in 1998 as a junior, he was an NCAA DII runner-up in 1999 as a senior. He placed 7th in 1997 as a sophomore. He also won two Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference titles as well. 

Mike Zadick 

Like brother Bill, Mike won four Montana High School State titles for Great Falls (94'-97').  A three time All American he was 3rd in 2001 as a junior, placing 7th in both his sophomore & senior seasons. He was also a BIG 10 champion. 

Eric Dunmire 

Eric Dunmire won four Montana High School State titles for Butte from 95'-98'.  He began his collegiate career at Northern Iowa where he was an NCAA qualifier. Transferring to Montana State Northern, he was 3rd in the NAIA's in 2002. 

Chris Nedens 

Representing Hardin, Chris Nedens won Montana State titles from 98'-01'.  He had a rather unique collegiate experience. After a redshirt & a freshman season at Nebraska, Nedens transferred to North Idaho where he was the NJCAA champion in 2003. He transferred back to Nebraska, but unfortunately neck injuries kept him off the mat for the remainder of his career. 

Beau Malia 

A representative of Billings Skyview, Beau Malia won four Montana High School State championships from 01'-04'.  Collegiately he wrestled for Oregon. Unfortunately during his time at Oregon, the Ducks discontinued their wrestling program, so he did not get to wrestle an entire collegiate career. 

Joe Lauer

Another representative of Billings Skyview, Joe Lauer won four Montana State High School titles from 01'-04'.  I don't believe he competed in college. 

Cole Dallaserra 

Cole Dallaserra won four Montana High School State titles from 03'-06' for Butte. Collegiately he competed for Wyoming where he was a West Regional champion as a senior in 2011. 

Jesse Obergfell 

Sidney representative Jesse Obergfell won Montana high school state championships from 04'-07'. From what I could find, he did not wrestle in college. 

Ryan Leonard 

Winning four Montana High School State titles for Simms from 05'-08', Ryan Leonard competed for Providence in college. 

Hunter Azure

Hunter Azure won four Montana State High School titles for Poplar from 07'-10'.  Collegiately he competed for Montana State Northern. 

Jade Rauser 

Winning four Montana High School State titles from 08'-11' for Broadwater, Jade Rauser had a standout collegiate career at Utah Valley. A runner-up at the Western Wrestling Conference his sophomore season, he won a WWC title as a junior. His senior season of 2016 Utah Valley joined the BIG 12 where he was 3rd. To top off his illustrious career he earned All American status in his final NCAA tournament capturing 8th place. 

Tanner Sprenkle 

A grad of Billings Senior, Trent Sprenkle won his four Montana State titles from 08'-11'.  He competed for Utah Valley in college. 

Luke Schlosser  

Winning four Montana High School State titles from 09'-12' for Conrad, Luke Schlosser wrestled collegiately for Providence. He collected 89 wins & was 5th at the 2015 NAIA championships. 

Luke Zeiger 

Luke Zeiger won four Montana High School State titles for Glasgow from 09'-12'.  Collegiately he started his career off at North Idaho, finishing up at Chadron State. 

Cole Mendenhall 

Cole Mendenhall won four Montana State High School Championships for Great Falls from 09'-12'. Collegiately he competed for Wyoming. Among his credentials in 2017 he won a Reno title, took 4th at CKLV & 3rd at the BIG 12's. 

Ben Stroh 

Representing Chinook, Ben Stroh won four Montana High School State titles from 09'-12'.  He spent his first three seasons at Wyoming where he was a two time NCAA qualifier.  Winning a Western Wrestling Conference title as a freshman in 2014, he was a WWC runner-up in 2015 as a sophomore. He finished 5th at the BIG 12's as a junior in 2016. He was also a three time Reno place-winner, as well as 5th at CKLV his freshman season.  Transferring to Montana State Northern for his senior season, he won the NAIA title in 2017. 

Gresh Jones 

A four time Montana State champion for Sidney from 12'-15', Gresh Jones redshirted at Minnesota, then transferring to Dickinson State. There he was a four time NAIA qualifier earning All American honors his sophomore & junior seasons of 4th & 3rd respectively. 

Matt Weber 

A four time Montana State champion from 12'-15' for Forsyth, Matt Weber wrestled for Montana State Northern in college. A four time NAIA qualifier he was 3rd in the nation as a freshman & 2nd in the nation as a junior. 

Jarrett Degen 

Representing Belgrade, Jarrett Degen won four Montana High School State titles from 13'-16'.  After redshirting at Virginia Tech, he had a very respectable collegiate career at Iowa State. A five time NCAA qualifier, Degen was 3rd-2nd-3rd-4th-4th in the BIG 12. 5th in the Southern Scuffle as a sophomore, he was 6th at CKLV as a junior.  He collected 92 victories during his varsity career. 

Luke Weber 

A four time Montana State High School Champion from 13'-16' for Forsyth, Luke Weber started off his collegiate career at Nebraska. He then transferred to North Dakota State where he was a two time NCAA qualifier, winning the BIG 12 title in 2021 as a junior. He was also 5th at the Southern Scuffle his senior season of 2022. 

Jase Stokes 

Representing Havre, Jase Stokes won four Montana State titles for Havre from 14'-17'.  He wrestled for Montana State Northern in college. 

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The four timers from Montana are still represented well in collegiate wrestling

Sawyer Degen of Belgrade was at North Dakota State, I think he has more eligibility but I'm not for certain. 

Same with Clayton Currier of Colstrip. He was at Campbell, transferred to Montana State Northern. Not sure if he has more time on the clock or not. 

Parker Filius of Havre is at Purdue, a three time NCAA qualifier. 

Charlie Kepps of Billings Senior is at Iowa State

Jackson Currier of Colstrip is at Montana State Northern 

Martin Wilkie of Havre is at Montana State Northern after some time at Minnesota

Michael Weber of Forsyth is at North Dakota State

Leif Schroeder of Bozeman is at Iowa

Cooper Birdwell of Lewistown is at Oklahoma State

Aden Graves of Sidney is at Providence 

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I know good and well that if Montana and Montana State hadn't have been forced to discontinue wrestling in the late 80's that they would be representing a lot of these home grown talents today.  The athletic director at Montana has voiced interest in reinstating the wrestling program, but has obstacles in his way that are preventing him from doing that right now. It's been as commendable as it has been admirable the way that Montana State Northern as well as Providence have stepped it up as quality NAIA programs for their high school talent to compete at.