Tools

Toby Erickson Returns to Helena After Winning Gold at Pan-American Games

By Tom Wylie

Story Created: Jul 22, 2010 at 5:38 PM MST

Story Updated: Jul 24, 2010 at 1:39 PM MST

Two weeks ago, Toby Erickson was just another name in a long line of great Montana wrestlers... Today? Toby has announced his arrival on the world stage as a Pan-American Games champion.

“It was an awesome experience; I really got to see the culture down there and got to see some good international competition and had a lot of fun while I was down there,” said Toby, “brought back some good hardware.”

Toby won both the heavyweight Greco-Roman and Freestyle competitions, becoming the only athlete at the games to take gold in both disciplines... In addition to his country he made some other people proud as well.

“As his dad, it makes me feel excited and proud,” said Toby’s father Delane Erickson, “Who would have thought fifteen years ago that we’d be at this point in his career?”

It's a career that took off as the result of a one of a kind wrestling heritage in the state of Montana.

“With Toby, I look at him as a product of Montana.” Said the elder Erickson, “It’s not just me coaching him, the whole state of Montana needs to take credit for Toby’s success, because there’s too many coaches out there who have influenced him.”

And now that he's back, what does the rest of the summer hold for the champion?

“Right now, it’s time to relax a little bit. I finally get to enjoy my summer – I got about a month left. Then getting ready for the PAC-10 and NCAA; and just wrestle my tail off all that year and then get ready for the same situation next spring.”

Add a comment

Name:

Comment: 1000 Characters Left

News, Sports, Weather for Great Falls, Helena, and all of Montana and its affiliated companies are not responsible for the content of comments posted or for anything arising out of use of the above comments or other interaction among the users. We reserve the right to screen, refuse to post, remove or edit user-generated content at any time and for any or no reason in our absolute and sole discretion without prior notice, although we have no duty to do so or to monitor any Public Forum.

Great Falls & Helena Weather

Icon
Great Falls Great Falls Intl Airport, MT
Current Temp 34.0 °F
Overcast
Wind : Southwest at 9.2 MPH (8 KT)
Pressure : 1009.3 mb
Humidity : 70 %
Icon
Helena Helena Regional, MT
Current Temp 25.0 °F
Overcast
Wind : Calm
Pressure : 1014.6 mb
Humidity : 81 %
Click here for our video forecast
More Weather
This content requires the latest Adobe Flash Player and a browser with JavaScript enabled. Click here for a free download of the latest Adobe Flash Player.

AP Video