GREAT FALLS — It’s been a busy off-season for the University of Providence men’s wrestling program as four time Class A state champion from Sidney High school, Aden Graves, is headed Great Falls next season to hit the mat for the Argos.
The Sidney Eagles just wrapped up their fifth consecutive team title at state with the Graves family name at the forefront of the program’s success.
“Aden comes from a wrestling family,” University of Providence head coach Steve Komac said. “They are deeply involved with the Sidney program as so many of those people are, there’s a reason it’s such a good program.”
The recruiting process started in Aden’s junior year. Already a well-established name in the state for wrestling, through the recruiting process, Komac saw the intangibles that make Graves a good fit for the program.
“Obviously we knew he was a great wrestler. What I learned over the past year is that he’s a great kid and a great leader so there was things besides Aden’s athletic ability over the past year that stood out in different places.”
Having placed sixth at senior nationals this spring, Graves was a coveted recruit, so much so that powerhouses like the University of Minnesota and North Dakota state were in the mix of schools to sign the Sidney product but due to the recent growth and success of the program under Komac they were able to land Aden and continue the building blocks to becoming a powerhouse in the NAIA.
“We want to be better and we see kids like Aden that can take us to the level that we want to be at. We’ve had enough success and enough improvements to be able to show kids, and families and programs that hey we’re climbing and we’re getting there.”
