Powder River Examiner -

Former Olympic Wrestler and Great Falls Native Mike Zadick coached a camp for youth wrestlers in Broadus last week, culminating in a wrestling takedown exhibition between the attendees.

Zadick began his wrestling career at Great Falls, wrestling in both Greco-Roman and freestyle, and competing in both national and international competitions. He was the Junior National Champion in feestyle and Greco-Roman wrestling in 1996, and placed fourth in the 1994 Cadet World Championships in Greco-Roman wrestling.

In high school, Mike won four straight Montana wrestling titles in four different weight classes (105,112,125, and 135 lbs). Mike is only one of 35 Montanans to have won four state titles. His 154 career wins and 122 straight wins (undefeated in the final three years of high school) put Mike among the best to have ever wrestled in the state of Montana, and he was just beginning.

Zadick graduated from Great Falls High in 1997, and would go on to wrestle for the prestigious University of Iowa wrestling program, where he was a three time All-American, winning the 149 lb Big Ten conference title in 2002.

Following his graduation, Zadick went on to compete in the World Wrestling Championships, winning a silver medal in 2006 in China, where he defeated a two time Olympic Champion. Mike would also win silver at the 2007 Pan American Games in Rio de Janeiro. Mike also competed at the Olympics in Beijing, China, in 2008.

During this period, Mike worked on the wrestling staff at the University of Iowa, eventually working as an assistant coach at Virginia Tech and at Iowa State University.

Mike has been teaching wrestling camps since he was in high school, helping to grow and educate the next generation of matmen, including camps across Montana. Both Mike and his brother, Bill, (an Olympic wrestling coach) teach camps to young wrestlers.

When the opportunity arose to bring Zadick's immense wealth wrestling knowledge to the mats in Broadus, Broadus High Wrestling Coach Frankie Schoonover jumped at the idea.

54 attendees from elementary to high school age attended the camp. The focus of the camp was wrestling takedowns and fundamentals, while also helping the young wrestlers to hone their mental game, which Zadick told us is the most important skill for any wrestler to master.

He went on to tell us that the skills he teaches in his camps are useful not only on the mat but in other parts of life: "Building the mental skills – that ability to overcome adversity and the accountability that comes from knowing you gave your all, that's something you can use for the rest of your life. It's such an awesome sight to see these youth advance their skills in wrestling, and then see them take those life skills and excel off the mat."

After talking to a couple of the young wrestlers at the camp, they were excited about learning from one of the best in the business, relating how Zadick had taught them some great moves which they looked forward to using on the mats in competition this winter.