Jan. 27—NAPOLEON, N.D. — The road to taking the top spot at the 2023 North Dakota High School Activities Association Class B State Individual Tournament was not always an easy one for Napoleon/Gackle-Streeter's Dalton Feist.

"It meant a lot because there are a lot of people out here that didn't think I could do it and thought that I'd be too small to do it," Feist said. "I just wanted to go and prove everyone wrong and that you could chase your dreams no matter how old you are, how tall you are and how big you are."

When he was an eighth grader on the Imperials Dalton Feist finished at 7-7. Since that point, he has gone a combined 117-16, including a 33-1 record this season as of Jan. 24.

During the summer between his eighth-grade year and his ninth-grade year, Feist said he worked to stay locked in during practice.

"Him and his (twin) brother ... have always been smaller-statured people," Imperials head coach Kriss McCleary said. "I've been preaching to them since they've been little kids, this is gonna be a good benefit for you as you get older. You're gonna stay small and wrestling's a great sport that you know what if you're small, you're wrestling small, if you're big, you're wrestling big. A 110-pound kid, you're not gonna wrestle a kid who's 200 pounds, you're gonna wrestle a kid who is your size. I think he's filling out maturity-wise. You can tell he's got more muscle definition, he doesn't look like a little kid anymore, you can tell he's a varsity wrestler out on the mat."

Since he first joined the program as a seventh grader, Feist said he has had to increase his work ethic and that has translated to success on the mat.

"I've definitely worked harder to reach my goals," Feist said. "I've pushed myself through practice and helped push my teammates during practice and that's helped me grow as an individual."

The junior's title came in the 106-pound weight class as he beat Stanley's Cohen Bell in a dramatic sudden-victory win. The win was the culmination of a goal that Feist said he had since he started on the varsity roster.

"I was extremely excited," Feist said. "It was mindblowing that I actually did it and I could finally tell all the people that I did it that said I couldn't do it."

Feist had a chance to win the state title his freshman year in the 2021-22 season but he fell short with a third-place finish.

McCleary said it was really important for Feist to finish third because heading into the season he wasn't expected to have as much success as he did. McCleary added that it's important to end the season with a win like he has done the last two seasons.

"Once I placed third at the state tournament, going into the tournament as an honorable mention I just knew after I placed third that I was coming back next year to win it," Feist said.

Feist's title win is the 61st state title in school history and the seventh since N/G-S became a co-op. Feist said he has grown by seeing all of the state champions who have come out of the program and learning what it takes to succeed from them.

Feist said he has been wrestling since he was in first grade but took his fifth and sixth-grade years off to concentrate on basketball. Feist said he was always a fan of basketball but was unable to play it until his fifth-grade year when it first became available in Napoleon.

Feist said he wanted to get back into wrestling because he enjoyed the sport and spending time with his teammates.

"Even in seventh grade, he decided like, 'You know what I don't even know if I'm gonna come out for wrestling this year.' So starting his seventh-grade year he wasn't on the wrestling team but a week or two into practice, he came to me and asked, is it too late for me to join," McCleary said. "He joined the team and obviously ever since he's been a part of our team and been very successful."

Feist is not the only state champion currently in the program as he goes against two-time state champion Alexis Schneider every day in practice. Through his work with Schneider the two have taught each other how to scramble and be better on their feet, Feist said. As a result, Feist said his best skill as a wrestler is his ability to scramble.

"We just wrestle together and we know how to scramble out of situations and that becomes more fluent in your brain when you're out there on the mat," Feist said.

His ability to scramble has played such a significant role in his success that he said it helped him win the state title last year.

"The match was tied at the end and we went into overtime and my opponent took a shot, he shot a high crotch and just like I would do in practice, I hooked a leg and I get my arms behind his and that's a takedown for me and not him," Feist said.

This season, Feist's only loss came on Dec. 9, when he lost to Minot's David Llamas via a 7-5 decision.

"That was the one time this season where he got put on bottom, he got sloppy and he got put on his back, gave up some back points," McCleary said. "It's a hard hole to dig out of as far as the whole match goes because you're wrestling a different kind of match trying to come back ... . The whole time he was trying to come back from that so essentially that's what happened, he got caught on his back the second period and couldn't dig out of that hole."

McCleary said Feist's best skill as a wrestler is his balance. As he looks ahead at the rest of the season, McCleary said he wants Feist to improve on his ability to escape from vulnerable positions.

"I would say a little more on top as far as getting breakdowns, getting to his pinning combinations, cleaning up his top game as far as riding and getting points," McCleary said.