BILLINGS — Just prior to the start of the state wrestling tournament last Thursday at First Interstate Arena at MetraPark, 40th-year Sidney coach Guy Melby referred to his team as "a driven crew" with every intention to return to the top of the Class A podium.
In the end, the Eagles — with the depth of 17 point-scorers, none of which were seniors — had enough to edge potent Hardin by three points to win the 14th state championship in program history.
Moments in time: Photos show pain, triumph of state wrestling tournaments
But the battle between Sidney and Hardin, longtime Eastern A rivals, was only part of the equation as it related to the balance of power throughout last weekend's tournament: It's clear that the proverbial ruling body in Montana high school wrestling is still heavily weighted toward the east.
Of the eight total boys and girls teams to capture first-place trophies, seven reside in the Eastern division of their respective classifications, and the point totals bore that out.
Billings West won its fourth consecutive Class AA boys crown with 237 points. Sidney and Hardin both eclipsed the 200-point threshold in Class A. In B/C, Huntley Project's boys put on a clinic with a classification record of 286.5 points to win their fifth straight championship, and Circle outscored a boatload of Class B teams to claim the Class C boys trophy for the second straight year with 100 points.
On the girls side, Billings Senior took home its fourth straight AA team title with 232 points. In Class A, Miles City won a repeat championship with 148.5. Another Eastern division wrestling program — Fort Benton — won the girls Class B trophy with 65 points. Simms of the Western division prevented an 8-for-8 Eastern sweep by taking home the Class C girls team trophy for the second straight season.
The individual championship breakdown was similarly weighted.
In Class AA, 10 of the 14 title winners came from the Eastern division. That including West's Makael Aguayo at 150 pounds, who became the 43rd wrestler in state history to become a four-time champion.
Great Falls' Cael Floerchinger, at 126 pounds, won his third in a row and is now in line to join that exclusive club next season.
Class A? Much of the same. Twelve of the 14 individual champs in that classification were Eastern wrestlers. Hardin sent five to the finals and won them all, which allowed the Bulldogs to nearly overcome Sidney's depth.
In B/C it was a Huntley Project showcase with the Red Devils winning six individual championships. Overall, 13 of the 14 titlists were Eastern wrestlers.
For the girls, 10 of the individual champions came from Eastern divisions, four of which were won by AA dynasty Senior. Two of those were the Broncs' Meadow Mahlmeister at 140 pounds and Simms' Hayley Petersen at 110, who both will look to become the first girls four-timers next year.
And so, whether it's by way of depth and/or final-round dominance — be it team-by-team or individually — the East continued to flex its muscles on the mats when it came to the statewide competition.
