BILLINGS — Guy Melby had waited 12 years for this moment.
The longtime coach of the Sidney Eagles, Melby saw his program win its first Class A title since 2006 on Saturday, holding off perennial power Havre and Lewistown. Sidney totaled 250 points, snapping Havre’s streak of five straight State A titles. The Blue Ponies finished with 188 points, while Lewistown had 185.
Kaiden Cline and Ryan Horner won individual championships for Sidney, which won its ninth overall team title. Horner, a senior, defeated Glendive’s Keegan Mires by pinfall with one second remainig in the heavyweight class. Cline won an 8-4 decision at 103.
The Eagles, who “took their lumps last year” according to Melby, sent four athletes to the finals. Christian Dean finished runner-up at 126 pounds while Jace Winter placed second at 138.
Havre added two more individual champions to its storied program — Martin Wilkie at 145 pounds and Tyler Schaub at 205. Each is a multiple-time champion for coach Scott Filius.
Lewistown rode the Birdwell brothers to the third-place trophy. Senior Caleb won the 126-pound championship in the second match of the night, while freshman Cooper earned medalist honors at 113.
The Eagles sent five wrestlers to the finals, as Alex Wickens, Wyatt Blythe and Wyatt Mager all placed second.
Dillon’s Brent Tezak made program history with his third individual gold medal.
Frenchtown earned a pair of champions — Jake Bibler at 120 pounds, while Riley Gurr won his third state title, this year at 138 pounds. Hardin’s Justin Zier and Bryce Roan also won medalist honors.
Other champions in the Class A bracket included John Mears of Belgrade and Ben Windauer of Columbia Falls.
The complete list of team scores can be found below. For complete results, please click here. App users, please copy and paste this link into your mobile web browser: http://bit.ly/state-wrestling
Class A team scores
1. Sidney 250
2. Havre 188
3. Lewistown 185
4. Polson 134
5. Frenchtown 130
6. Glendive 117.5
7. Hardin 110
8. Columbia Falls 108
9. Ronan 70
10. Hamilton-Darby 66
11. Libby-Troy 53.5
12. Dillon 42.5
13. Miles City 39.5
14. Belgrade 38
15. Browning 30.5
16. Laurel 29
17. Billings Central 23
18. Stevensville-Victor 20
19. Corvallis 17
20. Livingston 16
21. Butte Central 15
22. Whitefish 10
