North Central’s Tirza TwoTeeth draws inspiration from Indigenous roots while succeeding on the mat
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by Jen Page
Tirza TwoTeeth in the 2024 U.S. Marine Corps Junior Nationals finals.
Mental preparation is key to success in wrestling. For four-time Junior Nationals All-American Tirza TwoTeeth and her old teammates at Ronan High School in Montana, this preparation includes smudging.
Smudging is a traditional ceremony common to many Indigenous people in North America. Plants such as sweet grass, cedar, or sage are placed in a shell or clay bowl and burned. The flames are then gently extinguished, and the healing smoke is wafted over a person while prayers of gratitude and well-being are said aloud. It is important to hold focused intention and stay fully present during the ritual. Negative thoughts and feelings are absorbed by the ashes, which are then returned to the soil of the earth. The ceremony helps participants center themselves and unifies the energies of the people within the circle. Smudging removes negative energy and helps create a positive mindset.
TwoTeeth grew up on the Confederated Salish Kootenai Tribes Reservation in Ronan, Montana. Her father is Sunchild-Cree, a tribe located in Alberta, making her a member of First Nations Canada. Her mother is Salish, which is a confederation of distinct tribes in the Pacific Northwest with shared ancestry and language. The Salish community in Montana is where she was raised and found her love of wrestling.
TwoTeeth began wrestling in kindergarten alongside her three sisters. When she was in fourth grade, a Team Montana coach reached out and invited her to join their practices. For the next eight years, TwoTeeth made the one-and-a-half-hour commute four times a week, in addition to her local practices.
“She was just always willing to learn, willing to practice at any time,” John Neiss, TwoTeeth’s high school coach, stated. “I mean she loved to practice. She would practice with anybody. We’ve had some college athletes come back, males, and she would practice with them. She just didn’t care; I think she just loves the sport.”
Neiss, a member of the Montana Indian Athletic Hall of Fame, coaches the first girls wrestling team at Ronan High School. As a successful Native wrestler, Neiss is a role model for young athletes in the community, and his kindness and generosity are a great inspiration for TwoTeeth. Under his leadership, the girls’ high school wrestling team grew from just four girls in TwoTeeth’s freshman year to 27 girls by her senior year.
“Our town is a little reservation town, but it’s a wrestling town. So, the town was ready for it,” Neiss noted.
The Salish community has been very supportive of the girls wrestling team. The girls sell handcrafted beadwork and sewing creations to raise money for travel to competitions. Teammates also give each other rides to practices and work hard to support each other.
“Knowing I have all this support from my community, no matter where I am, fills me with gratitude and determination while I wrestle,” TwoTeeth said. “It gets me through hard practices and matches.”
Years of dedicated training paid off; She went on to win three straight Montana high school state championships and was a two-time runner-up at Junior Nationals in Fargo, N.D. This success contributed to her receiving the prestigious Tricia Saunders High School Excellence Award in 2025. She credits her success to her community, which is a big part of Native culture.
TwoTeeth was also inspired by her older sister Persephone Sandoval, a high school standout who went on to wrestle at Lyon College.
While preparing for wrestling competitions throughout her career, TwoTeeth learned a lot about proper nutrition and cooking healthy foods. Focusing on her own nutrition has helped her influence her family and friends to add more nutritious food to their diets as well.
Currently, many rural Indigenous communities have limited access to nutritious food due to historical colonization, geographic isolation, social marginalization, and environmental degradation. This leads to widespread food insecurity, malnutrition, and diet-related health issues. Seeing these issues in her community has inspired TwoTeeth to study nutrition science while continuing her wrestling career at North Central College. She is a freshman for the Cardinals this season.
TwoTeeth embodies her values of gratitude, humility, respect, and strength in her actions on and off the mat. She continues to inspire the community that inspired her and wants others to know, “Be confident and believe in yourself, because hard work pays off.”
