LITTLE FALLS — Dwight Ballou was driving his truck in the July heat when he got a call.“It was hard to believe,” Ballou said, fighting back tears. ADVERTISEMENT Ballou, a 1996 Little Falls graduate and assistant wrestling coach, learned his friend and Flyers head coach Simon Waltman passed away at 46 years old. Waltman left behind his wife Kim and two children Lauren and Jedryk. Ballou was later named Waltman’s replacement as head coach.“It was really emotional. I still have a hard time talking about it,” Ballou said. “Within 10 minutes I had 20 phone calls. Once our (activities director) Kevin Jordan called, that's when I knew it was real. Thankfully, most of the kids knew before I did, so not having to break it to them was good for me. But it was a hard week for everyone. It’s one of those things that’s just unfair.”Ballou called Waltman a leader not just in the wrestling room, but in the school. Waltman taught math at Little Falls High School.Ballou coached with Waltman for 10 years. He had known him since fifth grade. Little Falls head coach Dwight Ballou overlooks practice on Wednesday, Dec. 18, 2024, at Little Falls High School.Kelly Humphrey / Brainerd Dispatch “We played baseball together. We wrestled together. We wrestled on the same state tournament team,” Ballou said. “We went to the same community college for a year. I’ve known him since I was 10, 11 years old. His passing just wasn’t fair. His main sport wasn’t even wrestling, it was baseball.”Little Falls senior captain Beau Robinson saw Waltman a day before. He worked out with Waltman and Little Falls’ graduate and current Minnesota Gopher Gabe Nagel. ADVERTISEMENT “I remember watching (Waltman) wrestle around with Gabe and not even thinking anything like that. He was totally fine,” Robinson said. “Then the next day I went to the hospital to get my knee checked out and I was getting messages from students in my class that weren’t even wrestlers saying something about it. It caught me off guard. I was at a loss for words.”Robinson cried for a few hours. He wanted to unite with his teammates so they could find a way to support Waltman’s family. Little Falls' head coach Dwight Ballou blows his whistle in practice on Wednesday, Dec. 18, 2024, at Little Falls High School.Kelly Humphrey / Brainerd Dispatch “I wanted to do what we could to help the situation,” Robinson said.Junior captain Ivan Petrich remembers meeting with the team the day of Waltman’s passing.“We came up with a plan to support Waltman’s family moving forward,” Petrich said. “There was just a lot of sadness. He was really stoic at practice, but always rallied us together and he’s definitely missed in the wrestling room.” Simon Waltman Little Falls’ first match was a home triangular Dec. 5 with Alexandria and Moorhead. Waltman’s shoes were placed on the bench to remember him.The Flyers beat the Spuds 46-27 and the Cardinals 54-9 to begin the season 2-0. ADVERTISEMENT “Simon’s wife brought the shoes and we put them on a chair and boy did the kids really perform well,” Ballou said. “There have been a few times even in the wrestling room if the kids are getting out of line the first thing I’ll say is ‘would coach Waltman…” and they straighten up right away. The kids know the expectations and they want to perform for him. They know he’s watching.” The Little Falls wrestling team prepares for practice on Wednesday, Dec. 18, 2024, at Little Falls High School.Kelly Humphrey / Brainerd Dispatch Ballou’s main priority as the head coach is to build on Waltman’s success and the program’s trajectory.“We had a good thing going and I’m just trying to keep it going,” Ballou said. “I tell a lot of people that the hardest part of the job for me is to keep the train on the tracks. Things have been going good and the hardest part is the kids know what the expectations are and they’ve been drilled with Simon for three years since he took over. It’s been relatively easy for me because Simon really laid down the foundation for these kids.”Senior captain Mason Rausch remembers hearing the news and thinking it was another Simon Waltman -- not his wrestling coach.“It didn’t really make sense,” Rausch said. “Waltman was just such a healthy guy and you never see it coming. It hit everyone pretty hard. He was just a good, serious down to earth guy. He was serious with his faith and was a phenomenal coach.”The Flyers reached the Class 2A state tournament last season under Waltman. Little Falls lost to Simley in the quarterfinals and lost to Watertown-Mayer in the consolation semifinals. Little Falls Coach Simon Waltman, center, coaches on the sidelines during the Paul Bunyan Tournament on Saturday, Dec. 9, 2023, at Brainerd High School.Kelly Humphrey / Brainerd Dispatch Currently, the Flyers are Class 2A’s 11th-ranked team which is the best ranking in Section 7-2A. The Flyers have never made it to state in back-to-back seasons. ADVERTISEMENT “That was Waltman’s dream,” Robinson said. “He wanted to be the first Little Falls wrestling team to make it to state back-to-back years. We just want to make that happen.”Little Falls is currently 6-0 with wins over Foley, Pine City, Pequot Lakes/Pine River-Backus and Dassel-Cokato. It also won the Edina Invite.“Dwight is always positive and keeps everybody in a good mood,” Rausch said. “We just have a good mindset in the room right now. Wrestling without Waltman as a coach is crazy. Ever since I’ve been in high school he’s been there. He was an assistant and then he was my head coach the last couple of years. It’s definitely different without him.” On the whiteboard in the Little Falls’ wrestling room is a poster collage of Waltman to remember him.“His mindset is missed in that wrestling room,” Petrich said. “We as captains have tried to get team morale up. Coach Ballou has done a good job of rallying us together to work for Waltman.”Ballou praised his team for how much they’ve grown since Waltman’s death.“The captains are captains, but they are still kids,” Ballou said. “They’ve really taken their leadership role personally and have taken the reins. They want to follow Simon’s footsteps of being a good leader.” ADVERTISEMENT Hanging on the wall in the Little Falls’ wrestling room are all the state teams in Flyers’ history with the names of all the kids who represented those teams.Ballou said in his 25 years of coaching at Little Falls he has stories of a lot of the names on the wall. He would tell Waltman those stories.When the Flyers punched their ticket to the state tournament last season, on the bus ride back from Mora to Little Falls, Waltman turned to Ballou and said: “I can’t wait until next year because now I’ll have a story to tell about our team.”CONRAD ENGSTROM may be reached at 218-855-5861 or conrad.engstrom@brainerddispatch.com. Follow on Twitter at www.twitter.com/the

“Dwight is always positive and keeps everybody in a good mood,” Rausch said. “We just have a good mindset in the room right now. Wrestling without Waltman as a coach is crazy. Ever since I’ve been in high school he’s been there. He was an assistant and then he was my head coach the last […]

“Dwight is always positive and keeps everybody in a good mood,” Rausch said. “We just have a good mindset in the room right now. Wrestling without Waltman as a coach is crazy. Ever since I’ve been in high school he’s been there. He was an assistant and then he was my head coach the last couple of years. It’s definitely different without him.”LITTLE FALLS — Dwight Ballou was driving his truck in the July heat when he got a call.

“I remember watching (Waltman) wrestle around with Gabe and not even thinking anything like that. He was totally fine,” Robinson said. “Then the next day I went to the hospital to get my knee checked out and I was getting messages from students in my class that weren’t even wrestlers saying something about it. It caught me off guard. I was at a loss for words.”