KALISPELL — When you have a sibling who pushes you every day to be your best, your skills will likely develop quickly.
That's exactly what pushed Aiden and Sadie Sweat to become the first pair of Montana siblings to win titles at the USA Wrestling Folkstyle Nationals.
At the Kalispell Wrestling Club, many athletes train all year to compete in the highest levels of competition.
This is the case for Aiden Sweat, who took home the Junior National Folkstyle championship in Iowa.
“It’s just coming in every day and just putting in all the work with coaches and with teammates that you wrestle with every day and just trying your hardest, I guess,” said Aiden, age 16.
But what Aiden forgot to mention was that the person he trains with the most is his younger sister Sadie, who is also a national champion in the 10 and under division.
Sadie said training with her older brother has pushed her to a higher level.
“It makes it intense but it gets me better,” said Sadie, 10. “It just helps me a lot because he knows the technique and that he can tell me when I do things right.”
Doing things right has made Aiden and Sadie the first pair of siblings in Montana to win national titles in the same season.
Being raised in a wrestling household, Aiden and Sadie’s full-time dad and part-time coach, Nathan Sweat, said motivating his kids is not a hard task.
“They set their goals. They figure out kind of what path they want to take throughout the year and they set out to accomplish that,” Nathan said. “I think the most rewarding part is just seeing them come in every day and kind of grind out their daily routines and get all their work done so that they can have those opportunities to be successful.”
Their goals are not small, as Aiden has his eyes set on wrestling at the college level. With the Folkstyle and Preseason Nationals under her belt, and with one national event left, Sadie wants to achieve something no female wrestler in Montana has ever done
“I want to win more national titles. I also want to win a triple crown this year,” Sadie said. “That's kind of been my goal all season long.”
Sadie will compete in the Women's Freestyle Nationals April 4-6 in Spokane, Wash., for the last leg of the triple crown.
