A home for wrestlers

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csantee@journalnet.com

POCATELLO -- Tallen Bannister earned his Eagle Scout badge this summer by completing an extensive project that gave Highland High School's wrestlers a place to call home.

Bannister, a senior who turns 18 today, tore the walls out of a rarely used computer room connected to the old space the program used to create a rectangular 3,100-square-foot room. He then painted the walls, which were covered with chipped yellow paint, white with black and red stripes -- the school colors.

He stenciled motivational quotes above and below the stripes.

To complete the project, he hung a painting of a Ram done by his grandmother, Betty Bannister, opposite the entrance.

Bannister started in the Boy Scouts when he was 12 and has wrestled for Highland since his freshman year.

"It's a life sport," he said of wrestling. "It teaches you commitment and dedication and everything you need to be successful in life."

Bannister got the idea from his father, who, after hearing Highland's coach Travis Bell mention the need for better facilities, told Tallen it would make a good Eagle Scout project. And time was of the essence -- Boy Scouts have to complete their Eagle badge by the time they turn 18 years old.

Bell said Bannister's work is much appreciated and will make a notable difference for his wrestlers.

"He made the first wrestling room Highland has ever really had," Bell said. "He made a home for wrestlers, which is a big part of any wrestling program. He's made it our place and that's really exciting."

Bannister said the most difficult thing about the project was putting all the masking tape on the walls that acted as outlines for the stripes, which include vertical zig zag patterns. That alone took him between 24 and 30 hours.

The motivational quotes include, "You can't have a great match unless you do it in practice first," from four-time NCAA wrestling champion Dan Gamble, and "Scramble, Scramble, Battle! Battle," from Bell.

Bannister hopes to get accepted into the Air Force Academy, where he aspires to wrestle collegiately. While he's earned a 3.89 grade point average, last year he was disappointed to get two "Bs." This year he is shooting for academic perfection.

"I'm going for straight "As" this year," Bannister said, adding that the academy only accepts applicants who were in the top 3 percent of their graduating high school class.

By Casey Santee

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