Billings, Montana – In the Treasure State, there is some really good wrestling going on. Several athletes are committing to Division I colleges and programs.
Payten Van Pelt, 11, is putting the rest of the country on notice by demonstrating her abilities at a young age.
“The teammates and I like a challenge, a new challenge,” Van Pelt said when describing what she likes about wrestling. “I like wrestling new people because I don’t know how good they are or anything, so I just like a challenge.”
Participating in a national tournament of wrestling is undoubtedly one of the more difficult things you could do. Van Pelt recently participated in something in April.
“Exciting for me I guess, and it was very challenging, but I thought I did pretty good.”
One way to phrase it is that. In her USA Wrestling weight division, Van Pelt won the U12 women’s national title. She also made history by becoming the first woman in Montana to win the double-triple crown, something she did both in 2017 and most recently.
She is the younger sister of former Billings West wrestlers Jase and Wyatt Van Pelt if her name seems familiar. Payten claimed that she first started wrestling because of her brothers.
“My brother Jace really inspired me because he’s really good obviously, he’s at Cornell Iowa right now and I was just watching him wrestle and yeah, also my brother Wyatt he’s pretty good.”
She praised the fact that more young ladies are taking up wrestling and noted the advantages it has given her off the mat.
“It’s helped me outside of wrestling by just being a better person because in wrestling you have to have sportsmanship and it’s just helped me be a better person and be better at other things.”
She praised the fact that more young ladies are taking up wrestling and noted the advantages it has given her off the mat.
“I’ll go to practice more, work out more, watch wrestling more. I watch a lot but watch it more.”
When she has the chance to compete for state titles later in high school, her diligence and skill improvement will pay off. For the young national champion who still has a higher objective in mind, the sky is the limit.
“Just the thought that I could be really good on a world team in the Olympics, just the thought of that.”
