If you looked at the results of the Butte High Invitational golf tournament last week, you might have noticed that Bulldog Lane Lisac was listed with a “WD” next to his name on Friday.
That means “withdrew,” and it came after Lisac fired an 81 at Fairmont Hot Springs on Thursday. That was good for a tie for 13th place at the midway point.
As it turns out, Lisac had a pretty good reason to be gone on Friday. He was on his way to Pebble Beach Golf Links in California to compete in the Regional Qualifier for the United States Golf Association’s Drive, Putt & Chip competition.
Lisac, who is playing varsity golf even though he is an eighth grader at East Middle School, just might be the first Bulldog to ever compete at the legendary golf course while also competing for the Bulldogs, and he represented his school by bringing his Butte High golf bag.
Lisac qualified to represent Montana at Pebble Beach by winning the Subregional event Aug. 19 at Fairmont. He qualified for that event at a competition a month earlier, also at Fairmont.
Lisac returned to the Mining City after placing 14th in the boys’ 14-15 age group at Pebble Beach. He still hasn’t reached his 14th birthday.
He scored a 90 overall, carding a 37 on his driving, 30 on his putting and 23 on chipping. Points are awarded for the three different categories in the competition. (Results)
Arno Wehle of San Jose won the title with a 173 total to qualify for the national competition, which will be held April 5, 2026 at Augusta National Golf Club.
Lisac, who won his age group at the Butte Junior City Championships last month at the Highland View Golf Course, will be back comping for the Bulldogs this Thursday at the Western AA Divisional tournament in Kalispell.
Wiltsie signs with Providence, Bulldogs run well at Mountain West
Levi Wiltsie had himself a pretty good week.
On Thursday, the Butte High senior signed an NAIA National Letter of Intent to run country team at the University of Providence in Great Falls. He put ink to paper during a ceremony that was well attended by family, friends, coaches and teammates in the lobby outside the Richardson Gym.
Two days later, Wiltsie put on a big-time performance for the Bulldogs at the Mountain West Classic in Missoula. He finished the 5-kilometer course in 16 minutes, 54 seconds to place 65th out of 590 boys running in the varsity division. (Results)
Classmate Camden Houchin led the Bulldogs. He placed 18th in the race with a time of 16:12. He ranked 11th among Montana runners and eighth in Class AA competition.
Miles Halvorsen of Bozeman won the race with a blistering time of 15:17. Teammate Taylor Neil was second at 15:30, and Grey Piseno of Billings Central took third at 15:38.
Butte High’s times were impressive all around, with five runners breaking 19 minutes. Lincoln Zell finished 124th overall with a time of 17:28, while Bridger Luebke finished in 18:25 and Charles Killebrew crossed in 18:44.
Bulldog Nathan Kopp nearly broke 19 minutes, crossing in 19:00.37. Jason Real finished in 19:32.
Two boys from Butte Central competed. Jack Holmes finished in 22:39, and Joe Bradshaw crossed in 23:13.
Mead, Idaho won the team title with 110 points, beating second-place Bozeman by one. Cheney, Washington took third at 277. Butte High placed 24th among the 79 teams with 665 points.
On the girls’ side, freshman Sophia Houchin led the Bulldogs. She placed 74th out of 486 runners with a time of 20:45.
Penelope Luebke followed at 21:37, while Elsa Theiszen crossed in 21:54. Also for Butte High, Adelaide Thomson finished in 24:10, one second ahead of teammate Kellie Jo Carpenter.
Addison Kegel of Billings Central won the race in 17:33. Glacier’s Lauren Bissen was second at 18:07, followed by Phoebe Maixner of Bozeman at 18:33.
Bozeman’s 67 points won the girls’ team title. Gallatin was second at 163, while Helena took third at 220. The Bulldogs finished 38th out of 67 teams with 977 points.
The Bulldogs and Maroons will be back in action Thursday when Butte High hosts a meet at Stodden Park.
Bulldogs, Maroons come home
It’s Homecoming week in the Mining City with both Butte High and Butte Central gearing up for home football games on Friday night.
Butte High (1-3 overall, 0-2 Western AA) will battle Missoula Sentinel (4-0, 2-0) at Naranche Stadium, while the Maroons (2-1) will take on Corvallis (0-3) at Montana Tech’s Alumni Coliseum. Both games start at 7 o’clock.
Central was off last week, while Butte High suffered a 41-7 loss at Missoula Big Sky. (Boxscore)
Eli Kasberg passed for 235 yards and three touchdowns, and Augustus Goebel returned an interception 62 yards for a score to lead the Eagles.
Butte High has faced an incredibly difficult opening month of the season. Each of their losses was to a team that is still undefeated. While Sentinel comes to town with a perfect mark, their schedule has not been nearly as daunting.
The Spartans opened with a 7-0 lightning-shortened win at Belgrade before struggling to a 6-0 win over Great Falls Russell in Missoula. After a 31-24 overtime win at home over Helena High, Sentinel downed Hellgate 28-7 last week.
According to a Sentinel coach, there seems to be some dispute as to whether the shortened game against Belgrade counts on the record. So, depending on whom you ask, the Spartans are 4-0 or 3-0.
Seven of the eight touchdowns scored by Sentinel this year have come by way of the ground. Senior quarterback Rudy Hess has run for five scores. He is averaging 105.3 yards passing. Junior Kaden Thennis is averaging 92.3 yards rushing per game.
The lone Bulldog score last week came from their defense. Junior defensive back Bradey Doyle picked off a pass and returned it 67 yards for the touchdown.
The Eagles held the Bulldogs to just 136 yards passing and 13 yards rushing. Junior Raeder Grey replaced senior Brooks Vincent at quarterback in the second half. It is unsure whom the Bulldogs will start this week.
Senior Hudson Luedtke is coming off yet another big game for the Bulldogs. In addition to being a standout on defense, he caught eight passes for 70 yards last week. He is well on his way to his fourth All-State season.
Classmate Kaleb Celli caught four passes for 48 yards.
Junior Jaeger Hansen was once again a force to lead the Bulldog defense last week. He chalked up nine total tackles. Sophomore Koyde Kjersten had his best game to date, registering eight tackles, while seniors Mitch Verlanic and Gunner Bushman joined juniors Finn Wortham and Doyle with seven.
Luedtke followed with six tackles, junior Reece Cunneen grabbed five, and junior Casen Snyder got in on five. Cunneen also forced a fumble, which was recovered by Bushman.
The Maroons will be in action for the first time since their Sept. 11 smackdown of Ronan at Washington-Grizzly Stadium in Missoula.
Senior quarterback Ryan Peoples tied a school record with five touchdown passes. He also ran for a score. All of those came in the first quarter. The game was called during a lighting with the Maroons leading 40-0 early in the second quarter.
Seniors Jack Nagle and GG Fantini each caught a TD pass from peoples, as did sophomores Treigh Hollow and Jaxon Hiatt and freshman Henly Mansanti.
Ronan has been outscored 123-6 on the season, with losses to Polson, Bigfork and Whitefish.
Copper Sprockets impress at Clash
Three riders from the Butte Copper Sprockets mountain bike team posted victories in their classifications Saturday at the Copper Kings Clash in the Big Butte open space area. (Results)
Torsten Thieszen won the fifth-grade boys’ title, finishing the lap in 19 minutes, 22 seconds.
Fellow Copper Sprocket Collette Stevens claimed the fifth-grade girls’ title. She rode the lap in 23:24.
In the JV2 boys’ division, Butte’s Renzy LeProwse rode to victory, finishing three laps in 43:01.
Four other Copper Sprockets placed in the top five of their groups. Preston Tippett took third in the fifth-grade girls’ race in 24:44, while teammate Cora Turner placed fourth in that division in 26:50.
Copper Sprockets Samson Myers and Nolan Luebke placed third and fourth in the boys’ seventh- and eighth-grade division.
Overall, the Copper Sprockets placed eighth out of 14 teams with 1,925 points. Bozeman won with 2,218, followed by Spokane Composite at 2,155 and Helena Cyclones at 2,122.
Other riders who competed the Copper Sprockets Saturday are Conrad Luebke, Cason Franklin, Daegan Branam, Berlynn Bjorgum, Cade Irons, Knox Cramer, Luke Renouard, Ryan Byrne, Michael Anderson, Camden Franklin, Tyson Hildreth, Connell Walsh, David Schulte, Paisley Jaksha, Laney Stillwagon, Matthew Weldon, Caden Tippett, Kaspian Lutke, Andrew Toutman, Ryan Draper, Ian Troutman, Bo Bjorgum, Christopher Stodden and Milee Stillwagon.
Bulldogs spike Wolfpack
Butte High’s volleyball team went 1-1 on a road trip to Kalispell over the weekend.
The Bulldogs swept Glacier Friday night to pick up their first win. Flathead swept Butte High on Saturday.
Against Glacier, Butte High won 25-13, 25-23, 30-28. (Boxscore)
Avery Barsness and Gracie Jonart each tallied 10 kills to lead Butte High’s attack. Ellison Graham and Stella Callaghan each killed five, and Audry McClafferty spiked four.
Graham and Jonart each served three aces, and Graham set 26 assists.
Cadence Graham led the Bulldog backcourt with 15 digs. Ellison Graham and Jonart followed with 10 and nine.
Less than 24 hours later, the Bulldogs came up short on a 25-19, 25-19, 25-17 decision to Flathead. (Boxscore)
Barsness and Callaghan each spiked nine kills in that match. Cadenc Graham collected 18 digs, and Ellison Graham set 22 assist.
The Bulldogs are back in action this week with two more Western AA matches. Butte High will take on Helena Capital in its Homecoming match on Thursday. The Dogs hit the road to play Helena High on Saturday.
Bulldog boys tie it up
Butte High’s soccer teams are still looking for their first win of the season. The teams, though, continue to improve.
This weekend, the boys picked up their first tie of the season as they traveled to Kalispell for a pair of Western AA matches. Butte bounced back from a 6-0 loss on Friday to battle Flathead to a scoreless tie.
Goalkeeper Phil Russo pitched a shutout, thanks to a few impressive saves. Jackson Jonart, Ziggy Okrusch and Kellen Williams attacked the net and forced a few scoring chances. Aiden and Obie Breeton controlled the midfield, while Tim Revenaugh, Ben McAdams, Kato Kuusisto, James Pierson and Josh Liston led the defensive charge.
Tuesday at Bulldog Memorial Stadium, Missoula Big Sky pulled away for a 6-0 win over the Bulldogs.
Butte High’s girls fell 10-0 to Glacier and Flathead. Coach Geno Liva likes the improvement he is seeing in his team.
“Mattie Stepan played a game on Friday night,” Liva said. “She is getting better each week. Saturday we had some girls come off the bench and provide valuable time, including Made McGee and Adelie Grochowski. Kynley Williams had a good game from her striker position.”
Big Sky topped Butte High 10-0 Tuesday. The Bulldogs will play their Homecoming match against Flathead on Saturday.
Maroons drop two
Butte Central’s volleyball team dropped a pair Southwestern A matches last week. The Maroons fell 3-0 Thursday at Stevensville before falling in a 3-1 battle with Corvallis Saturday at the Maroon Activities Center.
Stevensville topped BC 25-16, 25-11 and 25-13. Corvallis won 25-16, 23-25, 25-13, 27-25. Statistics for the matches were not submitted.
The Maroons will celebrate Homecoming Thursday when they take on Frenchtown at the MAC. BC will travel to Hamilton on Saturday.
Bulldog girls back on gridiron
Butte High’s flag football team went to Missoula Saturday for a pair of games. Butte High fell 18-16 to Boulder. The Dogs dropped an 18-6 decision to Sentinel.
The Bulldogs played at Billings West Tuesday night., and the Bulldogs will play host to East Helena on Saturday.
The ButteCast with Bill Foley 