Photo Gallery: Dickinson Midgets girls wrestlers return home to a parade.
Feb. 20—DICKINSON — Saturday afternoon, family and friends of the Dickinson Midgets girls wrestling team lined up their vehicles at the Tiger Discount Truck Stop, on the east side of town. Their vehicles were decorated with orange colored streamers and taped portrait photographs of the returning wrestlers.
They eagerly waited, as the wrestlers and head coach Jerry Stravia to cross the City Center exit overpass, to give them a proper welcome back, from competing at state and earning their place in Dickinson's history book.
The girls were unaware of the parade and were all smiles as they drove down Villard.
"It was a really good surprise, even though we really needed to pee," Aryana Loran facetiously said. "I love the fact that our team came to support us when we got back into town... it was nice to have our family here to support us even though we all didn't make it to state."
For their inaugural season the Midgets secured four state qualifiers for individual contesting and came home with three state placements. Aryana Loran and Natalie Meyer took seventh place in class weights 105 and 110 respectively and Clancy Meyer finished eighth at 115. Breanna Erickson competed at state at 120, but did place in the top eight.
"These are our big names right here and their names will live on forever," Caoimhe Doyle of the wrestling team, said. "Right now we don't realize how big of an accomplishment this is, but in the future we'll realize, 'Wow, we did this at such a young age!'"
Wrestlers that didn't make it state, never stopped supporting their teammates and the parade was symbolic to the bond they had grown over the season — each agreeing that they have become more than friends, but an actual family.
With the first season now completed, the Dickinson girls already have fixed eyes for next year and hope to have more wrestlers compete at state.
"Next year is going to be a whole new world," Doyle said "This is brand new. People are interested in it and they want to see more and so we have to give them more as a team and I think we will impress them."