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Sophia Aldous
Local teen making wrestling history
PRIEST RIVER – Spartan Colm McLaimtaig has already left his mark on Priest River Lamanna High wrestling history and is on track to keep going.
“He’s broken most wins, most pins, almost most takedowns in a season, and I’m pushing him to beat a record as of now owned by me for most career takedowns,” Priest River wrestling coach Quinton Holbrook says.
As of publication Tuesday, the senior, who has been wrestling in the 144-pound bracket, broke the school’s record for career wins, garnering 163 wins, 128 of which were pins. The previous record was 145 career wins. This puts him past his older brother, Caeden McLaimtaig, and former Spartan wrestlers James Hegge and Noah Jamison. Colm needs 16 takedowns to surpass the school record held by coach Holbrook, who garnered 231 in his own high school wrestling career. He needs six more takedowns to break the record of most takedowns in one season, currently held by Caeden at 79.
Holbrook has no doubt Colm can pull it off.
“He’s going to set the bar high for others to try and beat,” Holbrook says. “He’s super disciplined, and one of the most dedicated kids I have ever met.”
The McLaimtaig family has a recent history of wrestling excellence. Caeden, who graduated from Priest River in 2024, went to state wrestling championships three of his four years in high school, winning second place as a junior and third place as a senior in the 152-pound weight bracket. Colm has also competed at the state level three years in a row, winning fifth place as a freshman. He didn’t place his sophomore year, but he came back as a junior to win first place in the 138-pound division in 2024.
The boys’ mother, Jennifer McLaimtaig, is a volunteer for the high school wrestling team and one of the administrators of the Priest River Spartan Wrestling Facebook group. She says she and her husband have no prior experience with wrestling. The family became involved in the sport when Caeden and Colm were in elementary school, enrolling them in Little Guys and Mat Rats wrestling in Newport and Priest River. The McLaimtaigs had moved to West Bonner County from Colorado in 2013. All the McLaimtaig children, which includes their two youngest, Tadhg and Torin, have been homeschooled and Jennifer says she and her husband were looking for ways for their boys to forge friendships and social connections.
“We had some friends whose kids were in wrestling that were around our kids’ age, so we thought we’d give it a try,” Jennifer says. “It took off from there.”
Jennifer praises the wrestling coaches and PRLHS her helping her sons learn, grow and make strong connections in the community. She says wrestling is never something she and her husband pressured their sons to do, their involvement just progressed naturally.
“All of them just took to it and have a lot of fun doing it,” Jennifer says. “Tadhg and Torin saw their older brothers doing it and really look up to them, so they wanted to do it too. They’re in Little Guys and having a great time.”
She adds that Colm’s chances of returning to the state championship at Holt Arena in Pocatello are high this year. With the live streaming of wrestling matches on the Spartan wrestling Facebook page, it has been easy to catch all of Colm’s bouts, and Caeden’s when he was still in high school.
Colm politely declined a request for an interview for this article.
“He doesn’t want to talk about himself,” Jennifer says.
When asked to describe her son, Jennifer says Colm is, “A fun and easy-going personality.”
“He loves his friends and family and to learn and grow,” Jennifer says. “Wrestling has a lot to teach kids. It teaches you how to win with humility and to accept loss and learn from it. It’s an individual sport with a team atmosphere. I’m grateful for our wrestling family and I know Colm is too.”
SOPHIA MATTICE-ALDOUS IS A MURROW NEWS FELLOW WORKING DIRECTLY WITH NEWSROOMS AT RANGE MEDIA AND THE NEWPORT MINER NEWSPAPERS THROUGH A PROGRAM ADMINISTERED BY WASHINGTON STATE UNIVERSITY. HER REPORTING IS AVAILABLE FOR USE VIA CREATIVE COMMONS WITH CREDIT.
