North Dakota State bound wrestler Jesse Aarness of Billings West doesn't run from a challenge

NDSU is a Division I school in wrestling and competes in the Big 12.

“It was super fun and the environment was super,” said Aarness.

On Thursday night, Aarness committed to wrestle for the Bison. He said he will be a preferred walk-on.

While he is looking forward to wrestling at NDSU, attaining an education is also important to Aarness.

“I’m the first Aarness in my blood line to go off to college,” he said. “It’s a pretty huge accomplishment to me.”

Aarness’ coach at West and prior to that at the youth level on Team Champs, Jeremy Hernandez, is extremely proud of him.

“I’m excited tremendously for that kid,” Hernandez said. “I’ve been around him since he was young. He’s been working hard since he was 7 years old. That hard work is paying off and for him to be a Division I wrestler is pretty spectacular. It shows the hard work he’s put in to go wrestle at the DI level.”

Aarness will be joining a Bison roster that includes junior Michael Weber of Forsyth and freshman Trae Thilmony of Trout Creek. In November, Carter Schmidt of Belgrade signed a letter of intent to wrestle at NDSU.

“I’m super excited, especially with a couple other Montana boys going there,” he said. “It felt nice when I went down to visit, I bonded well with all the guys and coaches.”

Aarness, who is currently ranked second in Class AA at 145 pounds, said he was projected to wrestle at 133 or 141 pounds for NDSU.

While he is still figuring out what he wants to major in, Aarness said physical education, graphic design, or studying to be an arts teacher interest him.

On the mat, Aarness said his career record at West is 105-18.

The Bears’ wrestling room features and abundance of talent and Aarness is the second Division I commit on this year’s squad. Aarness’ teammate, junior Keyan Hernandez, earlier committed to wrestle at Iowa.

“It’s nice to know the hard work we’ve both been putting in is paying off,” he said. “It shows the other kids, too, if you put in the hard work, you can go and do other things.”

At the CMR Holiday Classic in Great Falls over the weekend, Aarness placed second at 145 pounds to Avery Allen of Bozeman, losing 10-0 in the title match.

Allen is a three-time state champion.

Aarness said he is 0-2 this season against Allen, his old football teammate in grade school in Billings.

The NDSU commit said wrestling against the best competition will help him improve his game. Thus, Aarness welcomes the challenge of competing against Allen.

“I feel like it will always be a battle. At the same time, I won’t run from the challenge,” Aarness said. “If I run from it, it won’t make me any better. If I beat him, I beat him. If I don’t, I don’t. I don’t feel like I have too much to lose.

"I love competing against him. We played on the same youth football team before he moved to Bozeman. We are good friends." 

The second-ranked Bears, who won the CMR tourney over the weekend, are a title contender this season and Aarness would love to help West capture the first-place trophy.

While another individual crown is also a goal, Aarness hopes to help his teammates become better wrestlers along the way.

“My goal is to help improve all my teammates to make them better,” he said. “And hopefully to achieve that goal of a team title.”