You have to go out there and train as hard as you can, every day. Keep those goals in your mind and you will be able to do great things. Everybody was born to do great things, I believe.”

Senior Nathan Fish

LINGLE – Lingle-Fort Laramie (LFL) senior Nathan Fish never imagined winning a state title when he began wrestling as a young child. 

“To be honest, I wasn’t really good at first,” Fish said. “My parents had to bribe me to go out there on the mats with candy. I always had to wear a blue singlet because I didn’t like any other color. I was surprised that I stuck with wrestling for so long.”

Fish put his head down and kept working. By the time he entered middle school, wrestling began to click and Fish realized he possessed a passion and an aptitude for the sport. 

Fish never looked back from that point and dedicated the next six years to living, eating and breathing wrestling.

“One of the greatest decisions I ever made was staying in wrestling,” Fish said. “It taught me everything – from how to win or lose to being a good person.”

Fish’s unparalleled dedication to the sport paid dividends. On March 1, Fish captured his fourth consecutive state wrestling title, joining an elite group of only 33 athletes in Wyoming with four championships under their belts.

Fish earned all-state and all-conference accolades in wrestling for each of the four years he competed in high school. He also clinched two SEWAC wrestler of the year awards and all-American honors his freshman year at the high school national tournament. As a senior, Fish bagged the 120-pound title at the Ron Thon tournament as well.

Fish made the decision to continue his wrestling career when he signed to compete at Western Wyoming Community College at a ceremony before the LFL student body, coaches and family on May 7.

“It is a dream come true,” Fish said of the signing. “I knew I wanted to wrestle in college and I had a lot of colleges reach out. To finally have that decision made is a weight off my shoulders. I know where I’m going to wrestle and now it’s all about putting in the work (for WWCC).”

WWCC felt like a good match right away.

“I went on a lot of college visits,” Fish said. “I felt like I could see myself wrestling at any of those places. The last visit I took was actually Western. As soon as I stepped on campus there, I knew that was where I needed to be. I knew that Western was where I would become the best wrestler and best version of myself.”

The school’s track record for sending wrestlers to the NJCAA national finals was also a factor in Fish’s decision. The senior hopes to follow in the footsteps of NJCAA national champion Cody Phelps and runner-up Sefton Douglas. Like Fish, both Phelps and Douglas grew up in Wyoming and wrestled at the community college level before going on to compete in the NCAA Division I.

Fish is excited to compete at the collegiate level.

“I know that everyone I wrestle is going to be a dog,” Fish said. “I know that every match in college is going to be a dogfight and a grind. I’m looking forward to that because I feel like I’m going to just jump levels in my wrestling and get so much better.”

Fish is drawn to the individuality of wrestling – the personal responsibility for failure or success and the opportunity to forge a unique path.

“It’s just you out on the mat,” Fish said. “If you lose, it’s on you and if you win, it’s on you as well. Wrestling is whatever you want it to be. If you’re a little guy, you can wrestle. If you’re a big guy, you can wrestle. You can wrestle any style you want. There is no cookie cutter to winning. Wrestling is like an art form.”

Wrestling is also a team sport, Fish recognized.

“You can’t get to where you want to be without good practice partners and coaches,” Fish said.

A highlight in Fish’s career was winning his third state title – and first on the Lingle-Fort Laramie/Southeast team – as a junior with close friends, training partners and teammates Louden Bremer and Kaleb Brothwell.

“There’s no other feeling like (winning the title),” Fish said. “You go out there and you practice so hard every day. But when you get to win something that big with your best friends, it’s a different feeling inside.”

Fish plans to follow his father and grandfather into the electrical business and study powerline technology and business administration at Western Wyoming. The senior plans to continue studying business administration at a four-year college where he also hopes to wrestle.

Fish expressed gratitude to his parents for their sacrifices over the years and to his brothers for friendly competition and keeping him in shape. He also thanked his practice partners – Louden Bremer, Kaleb Brothwell and Wyatt Sylvester – coaches Brian Gifford, Chris McNees and John Gibson and his teachers. Fish gave a shoutout to Torrington wrestling coach Pete Polkowske for keeping the practice room opened during the off season each year.

Fish advised young wrestlers new to the sport to “dream big” and work hard.

“It’s one thing to say you want to be a four-time state champion,” Fish explained. “You have to go out there and train as hard as you can, every day. Keep those goals in your mind and you will be able to do great things. Everybody was born to do great things, I believe. Set your mind to something good and go out there and get it done.”