Former Greenwave coach named to MSU-Northern Hall of Fame

The 2019 Montana State University-Northern Hall of Fame Class will feature a Skylight basketball player who made a big, big splash in her days at Northern, and a Northern wrestler who came to MSU-N from just up the Hi-Line.

The Northern Alumni Foundation recently announced that former Skylight All-American basketball player Stacie (Little) Barker and Northern wrestling All-American Mitch Overlie will be inducted into the Northern Hall of Fame later this spring.

Overlie was born in Chester, to Paul and Dorothie Overlie. As a child, Overlie only wanted to play sports — the fault of his brothers, Paul and Darren — primarily football, where he became an All-State player. He also wrestled from 9 years old on. He ended his high school career in wrestling with a 126-26 record, placing 3rd (at 112), 3rd (at 119), and 2nd (at 130) in Class B-C.

At MSU-Northern, he wrestled for Coach David Ray and became a three-time NAIA All-American, placing 6th, 5th, and 2nd. In his senior season, he was a co-captain of the 1998 Lights national championship team.

After graduating for MSU-N, Overlie was hired as an English teacher and head wrestling coach in Fallon. He coached there for 17 years, producing over 20 state champions. The Greenwave are tied for 5th all-time in consecutive dual meet wins, with 42 straight (2005-2008). They were state runners-up three times (2006, 2008, 2014). He was also part of two state track team titles and broke a 40-year boys team state berth drought in cross country.

Overlie continues to coach wrestling at Elko High School. There, he has added four more state champions to the ledger, and this season he led the Elko Indians to runner-up at regionals and 6th at the state tournament. Several of the athletes he has coached in wrestling, football, track and cross country went on to compete at the collegiate level, and he has encouraged many to attend MSU-Northern.