BILLINGS — In just over two weeks, Billings Skyview senior Kassidee Savaria will take aim at her third consecutive state wrestling title.
This one, though, won’t come on the heels of an unbeaten season, as she was shocked earlier this year by an opponent from Belgrade.
“I was beating her 10-0 and then I had her in an armbar. I tried to hop over or something and she ended up catching me and pinning me there," Savaria told MTN Sports. "I was pretty sad, but I think losses are definitely needed to do better. It just made me want to work harder seeing everybody that was happy I lost."
The unblemished mark came against female competition, but Savaria hasn’t been afraid to mix it up with the guys, something she’s been doing since she was little, as she wrestled for club teams and for the Falcons before the inaugural season of girls wrestling.
“It's made me had to work a lot harder, because my freshman year I think maybe I won a total of five matches," Savaria said. "Working with the guys, it makes you work harder. They don't allow you to be sensitive and have all your emotions. They tell you to keep going. It makes you have a stronger mindset overall."
She’s had some pretty good role models throughout her wrestling career. Her father served as one of her club coaches when she was younger, and her brother Cameron, who was an Eastern AA divisional champion for Skyview in 2021.
“It was kind of hard living up to him, but he was also my biggest inspiration and who I wanted to be, and I think he's the one that made me work so hard," Savaria said. "It was hard wrestling him in practice because I'd get really upset. Not because he was mean, but because I wanted to do better and he'd beat up on me a little bit."
Savaria’s singular goal is to dominate her opponents on the mat, and she’s made a habit of it the past three years
