Terms of Service  |  Privacy Policy

Rocky Mountain College men's soccer player Zach Wall played two years for the Battlin' Bears before joining the United States Marines for four years. He rejoined the Bears for the 2021 spring season.  

Rocky Mountain College men's soccer player Zach Wall performs a "flip throw" with a soccer ball at the Rocky soccer field on Wednesday.

Rocky Mountain College men's soccer player Zach Wall performs a "flip throw" with a soccer ball at the Rocky soccer field on Wednesday.

Rocky Mountain College men's soccer player Zach Wall played two years for the Battlin' Bears before joining the United States Marines for four years. He rejoined the Bears for the 2021 spring season.  

Rocky Mountain College men's soccer player Zach Wall performs a "flip throw" with a soccer ball at the Rocky soccer field on Wednesday.

Rocky Mountain College men's soccer player Zach Wall performs a "flip throw" with a soccer ball at the Rocky soccer field on Wednesday.

BILLINGS — It isn’t often that an athlete has a feature story written about them during their senior year of high school appearing in their hometown newspaper, and nearly nine years later another feature story about the same athlete as a senior playing sports in college appears in their hometown newspaper.

But, it isn’t often you run into an athlete such as Rocky Mountain College men’s senior soccer player Zach Wall.

Wall is a 2014 Billings Central graduate who starred for the Rams as a wrestler and soccer player while also earning a varsity letter in tennis. Back in early December 2013, Wall was just beginning his senior year of wrestling for the Rams when The Gazette published a feature story highlighting a two-week mission trip he went on to the Philippines to help the country rebuild after a 7.2-magnitude earthquake struck the nation.

Now — one mission trip as a freshman at Rocky to Guatemala, and two years at Rocky studying and playing soccer, followed by four years in the United States Marines Corps, and a return to Rocky for the spring semester in 2021 to continue his studies and play soccer — Wall is 27 years old and a senior at RMC.

He married Kaile Shea Wall last December and bought a house in July. Wall will graduate at the end of the fall semester with a bachelor’s degree in psychology and a minor in sociology. Wall said with his degree he’ll be able to pursue a job in law enforcement.

And when he finally steps off the soccer field, Wall will have played five years for the Battlin’ Bears — including the spring campaign contested in 2021 because the season was pushed back by the COVID-19 outbreak. Wall will have been a member of three RMC national tourney teams (2014, 2015, Spring 2021) “with a hope for a fourth” when his Rocky career concludes.

Wall and the Battlin’ Bears (2-1-1 overall, 0-0-0 Cascade Collegiate Conference) will play their league opener Saturday against Providence (0-1-0, 0-0-0) at 3:30 p.m. at Wendy’s Field on the Rocky campus. The RMC women will host the Argos prior to the men’s match at 1 p.m.

“Who is not looking forward to having some fun on the pitch,” said Wall of the Bears’ official home opener. “I’m out here to have fun and soccer is something I’ve loved since I was a small child.”

Longtime Rocky coach Richard Duffy first recruited Wall to the Battlin’ Bears out of high school. Duffy explained that Wall is passionate about soccer.

“He brings endless energy on and off the field and a desire to win and compete,” said Duffy. “He is an extremely important member of our team.”

After high school and playing two seasons of soccer at Rocky, Wall explained he was looking for a change. That’s when he turned to the Marines.

“So, I think my headspace wasn’t in the right place to go to college at the time. I’ve never been a big fan of schooling,” Wall said. “I’ve always wanted to do some type of military. After the 2015 season, I felt like it was my time to move on. I wanted to do something new.”

Wall said he was in California for boot camp and combat training and after he was stationed in Okinawa, Japan, for approximately 3.5 years. Wall said he was a paralegal and court reporter, along with a martial arts instructor, with the Marines.

After serving in the Marines, Wall returned to Billings and began doing concrete work. He also started to once again become involved with Faith Chapel.

When Wall was on the mission to the Philippines in high school, he went with a group of six others from Faith Chapel in Billings. Wall said he is still a member of Faith Chapel and he helped out as a counselor at youth group every Wednesday when he first returned to Billings from the Marines. Wall said his older brother, Mikey — who was also on the soccer team at Rocky when Zach was a freshman — is a middle school pastor at Faith Chapel and asked him to be a counselor at church camp.

It was there where Wall reconnected with Duffy as Duffy’s son attended the camp Wall said.

“I asked him what he was looking to do and if he was interested in being part of our program,” said Duffy. “He’s a different level athlete and person from the last time.”

Duffy said Wall’s time in the Marines has helped him become a leader for the Battlin’ Bears.

“With the maturity level he’s gained in the military and the work ethic,” Duffy explained, “he’s come in and helped the younger players going through what he did his first two years.”

Wall is known for his “flip throw” said Duffy when he runs and flips and inbounds the ball. Duffy noted the move is a “crowd pleaser.”

“I haven’t had anybody else who can do it effectively,” said Duffy. “Anytime the ball goes out of bounds on the other team’s half, we have the ability to throw it into the opposing team’s goal area. It’s like a corner kick when the ball goes out of bounds.”

Wall admits that if it wasn’t for soccer he might not have chosen to come back to school. Now that he’s back on the pitch, he wants himself and his Battlin’ Bears teammates to enjoy playing the beautiful game.

To that end, Wall said he tries to help his teammates stay focused and keep their eyes on the prize.

“Keeping the game fun is a big thing to keep the team together,” Wall said. “Everyone cares about winning and you can’t win if your mind isn’t right.”

Duffy said Wall is capable of playing many positions on the field. This year, Duffy said Wall has more of a “defensive role.”

According to Duffy, Wall can run “all day long.” Watching Wall’s progression from high school, to college, the Marines and back to college, Duffy isn’t surprised the senior is still in the news.

“I’m just proud of the growth I’ve seen from Zach from a soccer standpoint and off the field,” Duffy said. “I’m extremely glad he came back to our program and he’s been a great leader since he got here.”

Email Gazette Sports Editor John Letasky at john.letasky@406mtsports.com or follow him on Twitter at @GazSportsJohnL

BILLINGS — You might guess by the build and the mannerisms that Billings Central wrestling coach Barry Morgan served his country in the military.

Sports Editor at the Billings Gazette

Email notifications are only sent once a day, and only if there are new matching items.

Your comment has been submitted.

There was a problem reporting this.

Keep it Clean. Please avoid obscene, vulgar, lewd, racist or sexually-oriented language. PLEASE TURN OFF YOUR CAPS LOCK. Don't Threaten. Threats of harming another person will not be tolerated. Be Truthful. Don't knowingly lie about anyone or anything. Be Nice. No racism, sexism or any sort of -ism that is degrading to another person. Be Proactive. Use the 'Report' link on each comment to let us know of abusive posts. Share with Us. We'd love to hear eyewitness accounts, the history behind an article.

Have Montana sports scores, news, commentary or analysis to share?