The small town of Grace, Idaho (population 920, according to the latest census) has been a wrestling power in its division in recent years, but Grizzlies coach James Newby didn’t know exactly what to expect from his squad this season.

“This year was a season where we were kind of rebuilding,” said Newby, who just completed his fifth year at the Grace wrestling helm. “We anticipated we’d have some downs. We had experience with Hans (Newby). We also had Wyatt Cutler, who was also a state placer. We had two strong guys coming in, and I worked really hard on recruiting and bringing in a real tough freshman. But I knew it was going to be a rough year, just because that’s all we had to start off with.”

Apparently, they define “rough year” a little differently in Caribou County. When all the shouting was over at the state wrestling meet in Boise last month, the Grizzlies finished eighth in the 2A classification — and took home the trophy for the most points scored by any 1A school.

There is no formal Class 1A in wrestling, so Grace, with an enrollment of just 150 students, has to compete in Class 2A against schools with twice as many students. But the state awards a trophy to the 1A school that scores the most points in the state meet. In Newby’s five seasons as Grizzly coach, his squad has won that trophy three times.

“We knew we were going to have three tough kids right off the bat, and everyone else was going to have to be developed,” Newby said. “We spent a lot of time, and we saw a lot of improvement through those guys. I wasn’t expecting to win the 1A division this year…. But everything kind of fell into place. The boys wrestled extremely well, and we got a little luck here and there.”

There was absolutely no luck involved in the fact that Hans Newby repeated as state champion at 113 pounds. The son of coach Newby finished his senior season 37-0, and his high school career with a record of 165-1. He is the 36th four-time state champion in Idaho history, the ninth in Class 2A. His only loss came as a freshman.

“What makes Hans so special is that he loves the sport of wrestling,” said James Newby. “He works extremely hard at his craft. Hans has to work extremely hard because he’s not as physically gifted as a lot of other athletes. So he has to work extra hard. He’s willing to do that, where other kids wouldn’t be willing to do that.”

Introduced to the sport by his father at the tender age of 4, Hans “just kind of fell in love with it from day one,” he said. “I never really wanted to quit or anything. Every day I come in ready to get better.”

Hans began his high school career in the 98-pound class as a freshman. He moved up to 106 pounds as a sophomore, and has competed at 113 pounds the last two seasons. Each time he’s moved up in weight class, he’s had to adjust to bigger, stronger opponents.

“I think the hardest part is you have to learn that the guys you are wrestling now are stronger, so I need to be stronger,” Hans said. “So I have to put in extra time in the weight room. I have to wrestle with some bigger guys at practice to get used to the difference in strength.”

This year, Grace had only 9 wrestlers on the roster, so finding an appropriate practice partner for Hans was a challenge. He wound up practicing against 170-pounder Cutler, who also won a state title this year, or assistant coach Carbon Kennington. Or sometimes, against his dad, which might seem a bit weird, but Hans said he’s learned to separate “dad” from “coach.”

“I’ve learned through the years — because my dad’s always been my coach — I’ve learned to kind of separate between the two. Between dad, when he’s at home, and coach, when we’re competing or practicing, or getting ready for a tournament,” Hans said.

Despite Hans’ stellar career, that one loss as a freshman, to a wrestler from South Fremont, still sticks in his craw.

“They always talk about how you remember the losses more than the wins and that’s definitely true,” Hans said. “I think about that match a lot and I use it as a lot of motivation, and that definitely helps keep me going when practices can get tough.”

Hans wants to continue his wrestling career in college and is in the process of scheduling visits to prospective schools.

In addition to Hans and Cutler at 170, freshman Carter Kimball also won a state title at 98 pounds for the Grizzlies. Other wrestlers on the boys’ roster included: 120—Brett Hobbs, 126—Jack Eddins, 160—Kaylum Balczewski and Axel Hubbard, 182—Isaac Yost and 195—Wilson Robbins.

Newby also coaches the Grace girls wrestling team, and the Grizzlies placed 11th out of 70 schools in the girls division this year, with three state tournament placers: Piper Anderson, fifth at 120 pounds, Addison Ball fourth at 126, and Newby’s daughter, Josie, fifth at 132. Hayden Ball also wrestled for the Grizzlies at 100 pounds.

Overall, the success of the Grizzly wrestling program has been pretty impressive considering how small the school is, and the fact that Grace also has an excellent basketball program. They are one of the few 1A schools to have three boys basketball teams — a varsity squad which competed in the state tournament in Boise this past weekend, and junior varsity and freshmen squads. So coach Newby frequently has to scour the halls for wrestling recruits.

“Yeah, like crazy,” he said with a laugh.

“It’s definitely different than most schools,” Hans said of the small-town school. “We’re a super tight knit community. Everybody knows everybody, and they also take care of everybody else. So if you’re ever struggling, there are always people to turn to. Nobody gets left out of anything.”

James Newby said the Grizzlies had a good cheering section at the state meet in Boise last week, and for that he’s thankful.

“We are grateful we get great support from our community and from our administration,” he said. “That’s huge in building a program. And that’s the beauty of a small school.”