BILLINGS — Now in his 40th season as coach, Guy Melby has guided the Sidney wrestling program to incredible heights. And the thrill isn't gone.
"If it ever gets to the point where I don't get an adrenaline rush walking into the Metra or getting ready for the Metra, then it's probably time to be done with it," Melby said before the state tournament got under way Thursday at First Interstate Arena at MetraPark.
"But I'm as excited in my 40th year as I was in my first. I really am. If you love something, I can't imagine not doing it."
VIDEO: BOYS DAY 1 WRESTLING STORYLINES
That feeling might be more magnified for Melby this weekend, not because his Eagles are going to be in the thick of the Class A title race. That of course is no surprise — Sidney has won 13 championships in its illustrious history.
But its because the Eagles feel especially hungry this season for the fact that it's been three years since they last got to the top of the podium as a team, and that came on the heels of a Class A record-tying five titles in a row from 2018-22.
If they return to the top this year, the Eagles will also tie Havre for 14 total championships, the most in Class A and the second-most in state history.
"This is a pretty driven crew right here," Melby, who reached 700 career dual wins earlier this season, said of his team. "Man, they get after it, and we've been grooming them since they've been 4 or 5 years old, so we know exactly where they're at. We've had a great year so far, but nobody's going to remember that. They're going to remember this weekend.
"We've had good weeks all the way through. So I can't imagine we won't have one this week."
VIDEO: GIRLS DAY 1 WRESTLING STORYLINES
Sidney lugged 17 wrestlers to Billings for this year's tournament, which means it won't be lacking for points when all is said and done. Two of them, Tyson Syth at 113 pounds and Thor Fulgham at 285, have won previous titles. Thirteen are ranked, including No. 1s Eli Lonski at 110 pounds, Aaron Schmitz at 157 and Ty Schepens at 175.
The Eagles put 12 of their 17 wrestlers into Friday's quarterfinal round. So it's strength in numbers again for Sidney, which has been a hallmark of Melby's career. But that's just part of what he appreciates most 40 years later.
"I'm proud of it, you know, I'm proud of all the guys that have been through it. It's just such a great community," Melby said. "If you know you do things right, and you do them right all the time, good things happen. And if you surround yourself with people that feel the same way you do, which we have in Sidney, you know, good things will happen."
The battle in Class A
That leads us into the Class A boys team race, which Sidney and Laurel have dominated in recent years. The Eagles and Locomotives have combined to win seven of the past eight team championships, and they project to battle for top honors again.
The Locomotives won the 2024 and 2025 championships, with Sidney placing second each year. In fact, teams from eastern Montana took the top four spots in both 2024 and 2025. Columbia Falls won it in 2023.
Laurel matched Sidney on Thursday with 12 first-round wins, including one from returning champion Holden Hoiness at 190 pounds. The Locomotives lead the pack after Day 1 with 49.5 team points. Sidney trails in second place with 45.5.
Meanwhile, Hardin could crown as many individual champions as anybody this weekend. The Bulldogs enter the state tournament with five top-ranked boys — Jesse Grossman at 118, Chris Grossman at 144, Cale Nedens at 150, Bruno Pallone at 215 and Cody Kills On Top at 285. All five guys won titles in 2025, with Jesse Grossman claiming his as an eighth grader.
Both Grossmans, Nedens, Pallone and Kills On Top remained on track for repeats with first-round wins on Thursday among the Bulldogs' 10 to advance in the championship bracket.
Hardin is in the third place entering Friday with 40 points.
4 in his sights
Perhaps the most-watched wrestler this weekend will be Billings West 150-pounder Kael Aguayo, who is gunning for his fourth state championship. If he succeeds, it’ll be the third straight year West has crowned a four-time champ — the first time any program has crowned a four-timer in three consecutive years.
Keyan Hernandez was the program’s first to accomplish the feat, winning his fourth title in 2024. Zach Morse became a four-timer for the Golden Bears last year. Aguayo won titles at 103 pounds as a freshman, 132 pounds as a sophomore and 138 pounds as a junior.
Aguayo got started on the right foot on Thursday with a pin of Missoula Big Sky's Tristan Peterson in 1:11 to march on to the quarterfinals.
Mining City young guns
Butte’s Crew O’Connor and Renzy LeProwse will try to make it an all-Bulldogs final at 103 pounds. O’Connor is the top-ranked boy and enters the state tournament as the No. 1 seed from the Western AA as he tries to become the first eighth grader to win a Class AA championship.
LeProwse, a freshman, is the second seed from the Western AA. O’Connor handed LeProwse his first loss of the season in the first-place match at last week’s divisional seeding tournament.
Both O'Connor and LeProwse cruised with first-round pins in their first-round matches Thursday.
Projecting another crown?
Huntley Project is seeking its fifth consecutive Class B team title, something never before done in the classification. The Red Devils won the 2025 championship with a class-record 277.5 points.
They’re again the favorites with 16 boys qualified for the state tournament, including top-seeded Brogan Burton (103 pounds), Ethan Reynolds (132), Jordan Niles (138), Blake Ramaeker (144) and Tucker Kaczmarek (175). Kaczmarek potentially could meet teammate Logan Lachenmeier in the final.
It was a banner day for the Red Devils on Thursday, as they advanced a staggering 15 of their 16 wrestlers into the quarterfinals.
Circling the wagons
Circle has been the dominant Class C team of the past decade. The Wildcats won their first-ever state title in 2018, which kicked off a run of five in a row. After a fourth-place finish in 2023 and a third-place finish in 2024, Circle got back on top of the podium last year.
Six Wildcats are qualified for state this weekend, including Paden Nelson, the Eastern B/C champion at 110 pounds, and Anson Taylor, the divisional champ at 118. Taylor, a sophomore, won the 103-pound title last year.
Five of Circle's six wrestlers won Thursday in the first round.
Collision course
On the girls side, Helena Capital’s Taylor Lay is top-ranked at 120 pounds. Lay had a first-round bye Thursday but advanced to the quarterfinals in pursuit of a third title.
But Kalispell Flathead’s Bella Downing stands in the way. Downing won the 120-pound title in 2024 before finishing runner-up at 115 last year. Lay has two titles in her high school career — last year at 130 pounds and in 2023 at 120.
Downing also eased into the quarterfinals on Thursday, so this continues to be a weight class to keep tabs on in the girls competition.
On track for history
Billings Senior’s Meadow Mahlmeister and Simms’ Hayley Petersen are two to watch this weekend. Both are juniors seeking their third individual championships, which would put them on track to become the first girls four-time champions. Both are into Friday's quarterfinals.
Mahlmeister, who is also a standout soccer player, is trying to help the Broncs win their fourth straight team title as a 140-pound standout. Petersen, at 110-pounds helped the Tigers win the first-ever Class C team championship last year.
