It is another level of wrestling at the National High School Association's annual National High School Championships, a level of excellence where Trae Thilmony fits right in.

Taking his talents to the mat yet again in the 2021 NHSA Championships in Virginia last week, Thilmony went 2-2 against national quality competition before being eliminated Saturday.

Trae's high school coach and father, Mike Thilmony accompanied his son to Virginia last week, as he did to Cedar Falls, Iowa, for the Folkstyle Nationals about a month ago. In Virginia, Thilmony lost his first match, won his next two and was finally eliminated after that.

"I am proud of Trae's effort," Mike said. "He didn't wrestle well in his first match but came back strong after that and finished up well.

"These are incredibly tough tournaments as you have some of the best wrestlers from around the country," he continued, "and we think Trae belongs there right with them. We thought he was capable of a top eight finish in Virginia and still believe that now."

Thilmony said there were about 120 wrestlers from all parts of the country in Trae's bracket last week. With such a large bracket, an early round loss means a lot of matches in a short amount of time to get back into a medal-winning position.

"It is tough when you lose early in a tournament with brackets this large," Mike said referencing the one match Trae wrestled Friday and the three he battled through Saturday. "Trae would have had to have won three more matches to finish in the top eight, without much break in between matches."

Wrestling against a field of champions and near-champions from across the U.S., Trae started the tourney with an 11-2 loss to Lobo of California Friday, defeated Clark from Tennessee 17-2 in his first match Saturday, out-pointed Vargo of Indiana 7-4 next and then fell 4-1 to Seymour from Georgia in his tournament finale.

Mike Thilmony said there were about 20 wrestlers from Montana in Virginia last week. A grappler from Kalispell won second in his weight class, another from Great Falls placed sixth, and a pair of wrestlers from Havre brought home sixth and seventh place medals.

Hoping to wrestle in college, Trae has built an impressive prep career at TFHS, winning State B-C titles at 120 and 132 pounds the last two years, and winning third at 113 as a freshman. He went 31-2 in matches this past winter and has a career mark of 105-7 heading into his senior season next fall.