Wrestlers ready for divisionals; Bulldog cagers battle Helena teams

The pool at Great Falls High School will set the scene the next three days as Butte High and Butte Central athletes compete in the 57th Annual Montana High School State Swimming Meet.

Butte High will compete in the Class AA meet, while BC will take part in the Class AB event. Action begins at 4 p.m. Thursday with the 500-yard freestyle preliminaries. The meet will then run two full days on Friday and Saturday.

In all, the meet will see 25 teams and 436 athletes compete.

Coach Lynn Shader’s Bulldogs will send 11 boys and seven girls to Great Falls, while coach Mariya Peck’s Maroons will bring six boys and three girls

Swimming for the Bulldog boys will be Gunnar Benson, Elgin Hoar, Cruz Kissell, Tucker Kissell, Nathan Knopp, Grayson Lynch, Ayvahn Mann, Gage Plum, Alex Sonnemann, Jorden Sonnemann and Nathan Stone.

Bella Corrales, Bryher Fitzpatrick, Adalie Grchowski, Alaina Grochowski, Elly Rumler, Olivia Thurmond and Tatum Trefts will swim for the Butte High girls.

Tea Thompson, Tessa Ganzenmueller and Morgan Hardy will represent the BC girls. Connor Hardy, Shamus Peck, Joe Bradshaw, Arwen Regester, Alex Morey and Conan Holmes will swim for the Central boys.

These swimmers had to post fast enough times to qualify for the State meet. The Top 32 in each individual event are seeded to compete in Class AA events. The top 16 in each event swim in the AB.

The three-day meet will wrap up a season that began with the first day of practice on Nov. 20.

Grapplers hit postseason

The wrestlers from Butte High and Butte Central will put their seasons on the line this weekend. They will also be eyeing berths in the All-State Wrestling tournament next weekend in Billings.

Central’s wrestlers will travel to Dillon for the Western A Divisional meet on Friday and Saturday. Butte High, meanwhile will be in Missoula Saturday for Western A Divisional Qualifying tournaments.

The AA events will be held at Missoula Sentinel.

Bulldog coach Cory Johnston said his lineup for the weekend was not set by Wednesday night. Butte High was still holding challenges.

Reveles McEwen, Darryn Rossiter, Bradey Doyle, Ryder McEwen, Bode Hazlett, Keegan Hunt, Renzy LeProwse, Joey Ward, Daniel Fraser, Ryder McEwen, Cameron Fleege, Kasen O’Keefe, Kuley Queer, Bridger Brancamp, Caden Phillips and Waylond Hicks picked up wins for the Bulldogs as they competed last Tuesday against the Bozeman schools at Butte High’s old gym.

Hunt and Hazlett are looking for their second straight individual state title.

Butte High girls’ coach Geno Liva said Peyton Liva, Brooklyn Hettick, Irelynn Cullen, Lilyi Malone, Jessica Blow, Deearea Naugle, Adalie Hazlett, Charlie Richter, Loretta Matteson, Sage Queer, Brooke Johnson, Mattie Stepan, Mattison Neighbor, Rylee Radcliffe, Chyanne Robinson and Allie Ballensky will compete in Missoula.

Butte Central’s roster features Felicity Stevens and Amira Gonzales for the girls and Jampel Hanley, Braydon Armstrong, Brekyn Armstrong, Jace Rauch, Kohler Sparks, David Sandoval, Tyge Meneses, Connor Kachmarik, Kelsen Brackett and Jack Holmes.

Bulldogs battle Helena schools

While Butte Central’s basketball teams closed out their week of work with a non-conference sweep at Livingston Tuesday night, Butte High’s cagers still have a busy schedule in front of them.

The Bulldogs take on Helena Capital on Thursday before battling Helena High on Saturday. The boys will be at home on Thursday, and the girls will be on the road.

That reverses on Saturday as the Bengals come to town to face the Bulldogs. The Butte boys travel to Helena High. The Butte High home games will be at the Richardson Gym.

To call this week a pivotal one for the Bulldogs would be a major understatement. Butte High’s boys enter the stretch at 11-3 overall and tied for third in the Western AA with Capital at 6-3. The Bruins are 9-5 overall.

Butte High is looking to avenge a 47-43 Jan. 15 loss at Helena Capital Landon Levang, a 6-foot-4 sophomore, scored 14 points to lead Capital in that win. He averages 11.6 points to lead coach Guy Almquist’s Bruins.

Junior Kyle Bachmeier adds 10 points to the lineup, while senior Wil Spotorno contributes with 8.2 points and 5.4 rebounds per game.

Senior Hudson Luedtke scored a total of 63 points in wins over Kalispell Flathead and Glacier last weekend at the Civic Center. That put him over 1,500 career points.

In addition to the 63 points, Luedtke dished out 13 assists and pulled down 16 rebounds in the two games.

The Bulldogs are hoping to get senior Cayde Stajcar and his 6.9 rebounds per game back in the lineup. He missed last week’s action with a high-ankle sprain. Senior Ryan Hanson started in his place.

Seniors Mitch Verlanic and Josh Liston and sophomore Brady Hanson round out the starting lineup. Seniors Rhett Arntson, James Pearston and Kendel Noctor are the first players off the bench.

Helena High’s boys are 8-6 and 5-4 heading into Thursday’s game at Missoula Hellgate.

Butte High’s girls are 9-5 overall and 7-2 in conference. They are tied for second place in the Western AA with Hellgate. Capital is 7-7 and 6-3.

The Bulldogs beat the Bruins 59-47 when the teams met Jan. 15 at the Richardson Gym. Junior Cadence Graham scored 28 points in that win.

Graham has been on a tear lately, scoring more than 30 points in two out of three games. That includes a 31-point performance against Flathead on Saturday.

She is joined in the starting lineup by seniors Emma Johnson and Franki Salusso and juniors Autumn Clary and Allie Becker. Freshmen Saege Grey and Elli Graham and junior Kendallyn Schad are the first players off the bench.

Avery Mergenthaler, a 5-8 junior, averages 13.0 points and 5.5 rebounds per game to lead the Bruins. Classmate Madi Emmert adds 9.7 points and 4.8 rebounds.

Helena High is 6-8 and 4-5 heading into Thursday’s home game against Hellgate.

Butte Central, meanwhile, is back in action next Tuesday when the boys’ and girls’ teams head to East Helena for a non-conference doubleheader. The BC boys will be at home again Feb. 21 to take on Corvallis.

Central’s girls are not home until their Feb. 24 Senior Night game against Dillon.