Thunder Ridge sophomore Gracie Price is a two-sport star hoping to help her soccer team to playoff success
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IDAHO FALLS — Look at the weekly scoresheets from Thunder Ridge Titans girls soccer and one of the things you will see consistently is the name Gracie Price.
Price is a Thunder Ridge High School sophomore and star both on the soccer field and the wrestling mat. She is among the team leaders in points this season and is coming off a second-place finish at the state tournament in the 100-pound weight class.
She has been wrestling since she was around 10 years old and playing soccer for about as long.
Price told EastIdahoNews.com her wrestling background comes into play on the field, where she is happy to match physicality with anyone she comes across — despite her slight size. And her teammates were quick to agree, saying that she seeks out the biggest girls on the opposing team with regularity.
“I like the physical part of it,” Price said of her love for soccer. “I can, kind of, get my anger out — it’s exciting.”
Jason Lance, head coach of the Thunder Ridge girls soccer team, said the same thing.
“She’s small in stature, but she plays like someone twice her size. … She’s extremely competitive. … She’s fearless on the field,” Lance said. … “It’s not very often that someone comes along with that strong competitive personality like she has.”
Lance said that he expected this year to be a rebuilding season for his team. In some ways, he added, he has been pleasantly surprised by how competitive his team has been as a whole.
The Titans are currently in third place in the 6a High Country Conference, and alive for a playoff berth with their final game of the regular season, at Madison, Tuesday.
Thunder has two conference wins to thank for their current standing, both coming against Canyon Ridge. In both if those two wins — 3-2 on Sept. 19, and 1-0 on Sept. 28 — Price netted the game-winning goals .
Asked what she hopes her team is able to accomplish this season, the diminutive sophomore said she just hopes her team shows good sportsmanship game in and game out.
“It’s something that could help not just with sports but with your attitude in general,” she said.
And when the soccer season does end, whether that is this week or at the state tournament in late-October, Price attention will immediately shift to her winter sport — wrestling.
“Soccer will end here in a couple weeks and I’ll just start going to wrestling practices and training,” she said.
After the strong finish to her freshman season, Price said she may move up a weight class, to 107.
Asked if she has thought about her goals for the wrestling season — a state title, perhaps — Price said she has. She has set a series of smaller goals for herself to reach through the season, rather than creating one major benchmark to reach throughout the year.
She has taken a similar approach to considering options after high school — she has not given it much thought yet.
“I want to focus on what’s happening now more than what’s so far in the future,” she said.
The Titans, coming off a rough play Madison Tuesday, with the game scheduled to start at 7 p.m. The winner secures a second-place conference finish — behind Highland.