Tia the Tiger roars into history

She has a smile more infectious than any disease and a competitive spirit to move any mountain. 
Aurora’s first-ever girls wrestling finalist in the history books is a foreign exchange student from Norway, just giving the sport of wrestling a try for the fun of it. 
Crazy, right? 
Tia Teigre may be a bit crazy, but at her core she’s a complete athlete willing to master anything and work harder than anyone to achieve it. 
The NSAA held its first-ever girls state wrestling championships at the CHI Health Center in Omaha as the girls competed alongside the boys in a sport that not long ago they weren’t even allowed to put the headgear on. 
For someone that had never worn wrestling shoes before, Tia picked up the sport faster than anyone. 
It culminated under the bright lights of the arena and television cameras, wrestling for a gold medal. 
The finals didn’t go how Tia planned at all, giving up a quick takedown and being pinned, but that’s not the focus here. 
The focus is a girl from Norway, a high school student who had never once competed in the sport of wrestling became Nebraska’s runner-up finisher in her division in three months time. 
What a story. 
Wrestling is a sport that isn’t quickly picked up or understood. I’ve tried covering the sport for almost a decade and probably don’t understand a good chunk of what’s going on. 
It makes what Tia accomplished over the winter sports season so incredible. Aurora coaches Derek Keasling and Sheri Thompson know that. 
“For a girl who was brand new to the sport of wrestling, to jump into a sport she didn’t know and make the state finals with a great chance to win says a lot about her mindset, character and work ethic,” Keasling said. “I’m extremely proud of her and how far she’s come.”
Aurora didn’t even know it would have a girls wrestling team until after a school board vote in October. It left just over 30 days to put a team together before the opening practice. 
Tia initially indicated to me in an earlier interview during football season that she wasn’t quite sure about joining the wrestling team, primarily because she had zero knowledge of the sport. 
Deep down, though, I knew she’d be on the mat come December. Her competitive spirit wouldn’t let her say no. 
She’s a football player for crying out loud. Aurora is a school as tradition-rich as any in football, and the Huskies welcomed Tia with open arms. 
Tia, like several of its other girls wrestlers, struggled quite a bit earlier in the season. The lack of knowledge for some was even more noticeable  then. 
But it’s hard to keep a good athlete down. Eventually, they figure it out. Same with Tia in the wrestling room. Both Keasling and Thompson noted her leaps of improvement started to come around Christmas time. 
“Every week for the last three weeks has just gotten better and better,” Keasling said. “Watching her in warmups, we knew she’d win.”
“She’s always had great determination and drive, but also she’s learned the technique of wrestling,” Thompson said. 
Tia loved to throw around assistant coach Chad Svoboda in practice and warm-ups. A thankless job for Svoboda, really. 
But, the bond was there. 
Tia was quick to embrace Chad after she won her semifinal match to make it into the state finals. 
The pride was on Chad’s face, too, clearly evident sitting in Tia’s corner during those state championship matches. 
I joked around with other people who hadn’t yet seen Tia wrestle a match about her strategy, going something like this:
Tia see, Tia smash, Tia win. 
Somewhat true, but that really doesn’t give the Norwegian enough credit. She worked tirelessly on her craft, working before, during and after practices with her coaches to become the best. 
Not only that, but she had several of her boys teammates like Aaron Jividen, Mack Owens, Brekyn Papineau and Jack Allen to show her the way and understand what it was like to work hard. 
Coincidentally, those were four of the same guys who led the football team she played on, too. 
“They were great examples of what it was like to work hard,” Keasling said. “When she knew what it was like to work hard, it was easy because she likes to work hard.”
Everything Tia accomplished up to last week was incredible by itself. To add a second place finish at the first ever NSAA sanctioned girls state wrestling championships is hard to put into words, even for me. 
I know she was pretty heartbroken about losing that finals match, but she made the community of Aurora and the country of Norway proud, even if they don’t know it. 
“She’s not very happy but she will be one day,” Keasling promised. 
All with a signature look and smile. 
RICHARD RHODEN can be reached at sports@hamilton.net.