Mat men bring home multiple titles for first time since 2011

For the first time in 14 years, Butte High returned home for the Class AA State wrestling tournament with multiple state champions.

The tournament took place Thursday through Saturday at The Metra in Billings.

Junior Keegan Hunt brought home the title at 103 pounds, while sophomore Bode Hazlett claimed the crown at 144 pounds. That marked the first time that more than one Bulldog won a state title since 2011.

Bulldogs Zach Harney (98 pounds), Jake Dallaserra (160) and Chris Yocum (171) each wrestled to a title in 2011. The Class AA portion of the state tournament was held at the CMR Fieldhouse in Great Falls that year because The Metra was out of commission after it was hit by a tornado.

Seven Bulldogs won titles between the trio in 2011 and the two in 2025, but only Mason Christian won twice. Christian, who took his talents to West Liberty University in West Virginia, captured the 182 title in 2021 and the heavyweight crown in 2022.

Bryan Armstrong won the 105-poun title in 2012 for Butte High. Other Bulldogs to win since then were Levi Renz at 145 pounds in 2014, Lee Cannon at 205 in 2015, Jeff Queer at heavyweight in 2017, Kameron Moreno at 205 pounds in 2019 and Maverick McEwen at 160 pounds last year.

Like so many of the past Bulldog champions, Hunt and Hazlett made it look relatively easy as they fought their way to the top of the podium.

Hunt won all four of his matches by way of the pin on his way to the title. He stuck Hunter Breeman of Billings Senior in 3 minutes, 14 seconds in the championship bout. Breeman received a first-round bye after claiming the Eastern AA title at the weight a week earlier.

Hunt closed his remarkable season with a remarkable 38-1 record.

Hazlett pinned Aiden Downing of Flathead, the No. 2 seed from the Western AA, in 3:18 in the championship bout. That came after he edged Kade Wallace of Missoula Sentinel in a thrilling 9-7 decision in the semifinals.

Hazlett added a pin and a win by technical fall as he closed his season with 35-4 record.

As a precursor to the state titles, Hunt and Hazlett won their weight divisions at the prestigious Jug Beck Rocky Mountain Classic last month in Missoula. Hazlett moved up a weight after his title at the Jug Beck.

As a team, the Bulldogs finished just four points shy of a third-place trophy with 171 points. Billings West won its third-straight title with 278 points. Kalispell Flathead took second at 243.5, while Great Falls High finished third at 175.

Senior Will Stepan closed his outstanding career with a silver medal at 157 pounds. The future Montana Tech football player fell to Kale Baumann of Great Falls High in the second period of the championship match.

Stepan picked up a pair of pins before topping Teegan Dixon of Great Falls Russell 12-10 in the semifinals.

In all, Butte High returned home with seven place winners. Ryder McEwen took fourth at 113 pounds, while his brother Reveles finished sixth at 118 pounds.

Bradey Doyle took fourth at 118, and Renzy LeProwse finished fifth at 103 pounds.

“This year’s state tournament was one for the books,” Butte High coach Cory Johnston said. “It had everything you could think of, thrilling victories and agonizing defeats. It all culminated with several big moments. The first eight grader to place in AA wrestling (LeProwse), two place winners at two different weight classes (103 and 118), three finalists for the first time since 2011, and two state champions.

“Reflecting on it after a little time, I think the thing that makes me the most proud is how our kids conducted themselves in moments of victory and defeat. The carried themselves with class and pride, and that is a big deal.”

Butte Central’s Marquis Abad finished sixth at 110 pounds in the Class A tournament.

On the girls’ side, Butte High’s Mattie Stepan placed fourth at 145 pounds. Bulldog teammate Peyton Liva took sixth at 100 pounds.

Bulldogs sweep Glacier, Flathead

Butte High’s boys’ and girls’ basketball teams put themselves in the driver’s seat to at least host playoff games with two huge wins over the weekend.

The Bulldog teams swept Kalispell Glacier Friday at the Civic Center before returning to the storied Butte arena on Saturday to take two from Kalispell Flathead.

Class AA officials inexplicitly decided to dump divisional tournaments heading into the 2024-25 school year. In the new playoff format, the top two teams go to state, while the seventh- and eighth-place teams get no shot at the dance.

In the playoffs, the No. 3 team hosts the No. 6 team, and the No. 5 team heads to the No. 4 team. The winners move on to the Class AA State tournament, which is March 13-15 in Bozeman.

At 7-4 in conference (11-5 overall) Butte High’s girls have a shot at any of the top four spots. Heading into Tuesday’s play, the Bulldogs trail only Missoula Hellgate (8-3), Missoula Big Sky (7-3) and Helena High (6-3) in Western AA standings. Glacier, which Butte High beat twice, is 4-5, followed by Helena Capital at 4-6, Missoula Sentinel at 3-7 and Flathead at 1-9.

The Bulldog girls beat Glacier 52-45 before smoking Flathead 70-40.

Sophomore Cadence Graham counited her outstanding season by scoring 21 points to lead the Bulldogs in that Friday victory. Senior Brityn Stewart scored 16 points to start a huge weekend.

The Bulldogs also got five points from junior Emma Johnson, who was just getting started, three from seniors Dylann Bartoletti and Addelei Hiatt and two apiece from junior Franki Salusso and sophomore Allie Becker.

Eighth grader Ellison Graham and senior Sidney Whitaker contributed in the win for the Bulldogs, too.

Against Flathead, Johnson came off the bench to provide an early spark as the Bulldogs went wire to wire in the win. Johnson buried three 3-pointers and scored a career-high 17 points.

Stewart was a force, too, scoring from inside and out. She hit five 3-pointers and scored a game-high 23 points. Cadence Graham scored 17, while Salusso tossed in four, Whitaker scored three, and Hiatt and Becker each scored two. Bartoletti, junior Gracie Jonart, Ellison Graham and Eighth grader Saege Grey also played for Butte High.

On the boys’ side, Hellgate (8-3) and Helena (6-3) top the standings. Butte High follows at 7-4 (11-5 overall), while Capital and Big Sky were 6-4 heading into Tuesday. Sentinel (5-5), Glacier (2-7) and Flathead (0-10) are the bottom three.

The Bulldogs survived a rough third quarter for a 71-65 win over Glacier on Friday thanks to another triple-double by junior guard Hudson Luedtke. The all-time leading scorer in Butte High boys’ history scored 17 points to go along with 12 assists and 10 rebounds.

He did his scoring on 6-for-8 shooting. By the way, Luedtke passed 1,100 career points over the weekend. He now has 1,115 on his career.

Thanks largely to the unselfish play of Luedtke, the Bulldogs had a balanced attack against the Wolfpack.

Braylon Larson, a 6-foot-9 sophomore who had a huge weekend, scored 14 points, while seniors Dylan “Bobby” Bache and Spencer Callaghan each tossed in 11, seniors Tocher Lee and Torre Teempel scored nine apiece. Junior Kendel Noctor and 6-8 freshman Brady Hanson also contributed.

Larson contributed with a double-double in Saturday’s 75-67 win over the Braves. While Luedtke scored a game-high 22 points, Larson poured in a career-high 20 points. He also pulled down 14 rebounds in the win.

Bache scored 13, Lee scored seven, Callaghan netted six, Tempel finished with four and Hanson scored three, thanks to a putback and an and-one. Noctor and senior Kyler Kjersen also played.

The Bulldogs head to Missoula for a huge doubleheader with Big Sky on Friday.

Stats and standings for the Class AA can be found at mtsportsmemories.com.

McPartland’s 64 leads Maroons

Can we just take a moment to appreciate the week of Butte Central senior Owen McPartland for one minute?

To say it was off the charts is an understatement.

BC coach Brodie Kelly was almost speechless when it came to the play of McPartland, who put together back-to-back 32-point games as the Maroons grabbed monster wins over Frenchtown and Hamilton.

High school players in Butte who have scored 64 points over two games can probably hold their membership meeting in a broom closet.

Central celebrated Senior Night with a 78-75 double-overtime win over Frenchtown at the Maroon Activities Center Thursday. Two days later, BC went to Hamilton to knock off the Broncs 58-55.

The wins evened BC’s overall record at 8-8. More importantly, Central left the weekend at 5-3 in conference play.

Defending Class A State champion Dillon (14-1, 7-0) is going to win the regular-season title. BC, though, has a shot at second with Frenchtown and Hamilton each sitting with three conference losses.

Hamilton beat BC by two in Butte last month in Butte, meaning the Maroons hold a tiebreaker over those Broncs. Since Frenchtown beat BC by 5 last month in Frenchtown, those Broncs hold a tiebreaker advantage over BC.

The first tiebreaker is margin of victory, which is why Frenchtown basically conceded the final 9 seconds Thursday. Frenchtown trailed by 3 — an unlikely, but not insurmountable deficit — and coach Brandon Robbins appeared to settle for the close loss after an all-out battle between the rivals.

The top three advance to the Western A Divisional tournament, which is March 6-8 in Whitefish.  The Nos. 5 and 6 teams play, with the winner playing the No. 4 team for the right to go to the divisional tournament.

McPartland hit on 11 of 18 shots, including 8-for-11 shooting from inside the arc, on his way to 32 points. (Note: the book had him at 31 points, and that total was adjusted after BC coaches went through the video to keep full stats.)

Sophomore Joshua Sutton added 23 points for the Maroons, who got 10 from junior Ryan Peoples, six from freshman Jaxon Hiatt, three from senior Patrick Stimatz, and two apiece from eighth grader Noah Sutton and senior Justus McGee.

Sophomores Cade “Buzz” Kelly and GG Fantini also contributed for the Maroons, who are still battling the illness bug.

BC honored Stimatz, McGee and McPartland and their parents before the game.

McPartland was 2 for 7 from 3-point range and 9 for 10 from inside on his way to Saturday’s big 32.

Joshua Sutton scored 10, while Peoples added seven, Hiatt scored six and Kelly tossed in three. Fantini, Stimatz and Noah Sutton also contributed in the huge victory.

The BC boys head to Corvallis on Saturday, while the Maroon girls will host the Blue Devils at the MAC.

Central’s girls are 5-11and 3-5, and the Maroons are looking to lock up the fourth spot and a home play-in game. A win over Corvaills, which beat BC 45-41 Feb. 1 in Corvallis, would go a long way toward securing that spot.

Central’s girls, though, are coming off two losses last week. They fell 58-19 at Frenchtown before dropping a 40-25 decision at Corvallis.

Against Frenchtown, freshman Rylee Forbes scored 10 points to lead the Maroons, who have also been battling illness. Classmate Zayonna Otherbull scored four, while freshman Kenzie McQueary tossed in three and freshman Jaedyn Maldonado netted two.

Freshmen Evyn Smith and Braelynn Schelin and junior Arika Stajcar also played for the Maroons.

Forbes again tossed in 10 against Hamilton. Otherbull tossed in six, while Smith scored four, Maldonado finished with three, and McQueary scored two. Schelin, Stajcar and sophomore Marly Mansanti also contributed for the Maroons.

Standings and statistics for the Class A can be found at mthighschoolstats.com.

Swimmers close season with PRs

Butte High’s swimming team returned home from the state meet at the Great Falls High pool with a slew of personal records.

The meet was held Thursday through Saturday.

“I was very proud of all the swimmers,” Butte High coach Lynn Shrader said. “Every swimmer, whether making it to the top 12, took time off. They swam hard and gave everything they had. That is something they, and I as a coach, can and am proud of.”

Butte High’s girls’ team of Adalie Grochowski, Tatum Trefts, Nimalka DeAlwis, and Olivia Thurmond finished in eighth in the 200 medley relay. This is the position they went into finals with.

The 200 freestyle relay of Thurmond, Sophia Fladager, Bella Corrales, and Grochowski finished in 10th. The team took more than a half second off from the preliminary round, where they had take more than six seconds to advance to the finals.

In the girls’ 400 freestyle relay, the team of Fladger, Trefts, Gracie Ferriter and Bryher Fitzpatrick took 12th.

Individually, Grochowski placed 12th in the 100 backstroke.

On the boys’ side, the Butte 200 freestyle relay team of Tucker Kissell, Blair Hamry, Gage Plum, and Nathan Stone placed 12th.

The 400 freestyle relay team of Elgin Hoar, Grayson Lynch, Ayvahn Mann, and Alex Sonnemann took 11th.

Individually, Stone moved up from 11th to finish in 10th in the 100 butterfly.

For Butte Central, sophomore Morgan Hardy placed sixth in the 500 freestyle, giving the Maroons their lone place winner on the Class A/B side of the meet.

Eighth grader Shamus Peck placed seventh in the preliminaries in the 200 individual medley, finishing just outside the finals.