Soda Springs High School's wrestling coaches share a bond that began over 30 years ago.

This brotherhood started in the late 1990s when Cliff Garbett, Eli Horsley and Mark Kirby all wrestled for Soda Springs High School and rival competitor and friend Zac Smith wrestled for Bear Lake High School.

All four of these men brought their families back to Soda Springs later in life and teamed up as coaches to oversee the Cardinals' wrestling program.

Garbett remembers how there were only seven kids in the program when he took the job as head coach in 2014.

The following year the Cardinals' roster more than doubled and since then he has grown the program to as many as 26 on the team and expanded the program to include female wrestlers.

The program’s growth has led to moving the practice room out of the basement of an old school and into a state of the art facility in the gym addition at Tigert Middle School.

In the time since 2014 as Garbett recruited his three high school wrestling buddies as assistant coaches, the Cardinals have averaged one state placer every year and have had one three-time state champion in Tucker Bowen.

This season rings extra special as Garbett and Kirby have sons in the program, both sophomores at Soda Springs High School.

Kage Kirby and Zayden Garbett are joined on the team by coach Garbett's nephews, junior Cole Garbett and freshman Jace Garbett.

Next year there will be another Garbett on the roster when coach Garbett's other son Kellen joins the team as a freshman.

The boys have grown up together in the sport from young ages and are now carrying on the Soda Springs wrestling legacy started by their dads.

Coach Garbett said, “It’s a lot of fun coaching my son, but the older I get, the better it is for me to trust my coaches and take a more hand’s off approach and be there to support more and coach less.”

Wrestling is a demanding sport that requires hours of mat time and lots of sticking with it to achieve success.

In order to grow, there must be a team of athletes with the drive to be successful and hold each other accountable for not only individual successes but also as a team.

Wrestlers have to learn how to endure the highs and lows of competition but the sport builds close bonds that result in lifelong friendships.

Wrestling has a unique way of forging these long-lasting relationships even between opponents.

Mark Kirby said wrestlers develop a mutual respect for each other because they know all too well the blood, sweat and tears needed to excel in the sport.

He said it's great to see how four former local high school wrestlers who became good friends have come together to pass the sport on to the younger generation.

“It’s awesome to see how this has come full circle," Mark said. "I appreciate how each of the coaches are willing to put in the time and effort to coach not only my son, but all the kids. The approach of making each of them better humans first and using wrestling as an avenue to reach the kids is what I respect most.”

He continued, “With the amount of bleacher time that comes from long weekend tournaments, I hope our kids are able to see that wrestling was one of the things that brought us coaches together and allowed us to maintain strong friendships for a long time.”