Sidney's Sports Champions of 2021

Sidney Hosts Big Sky State Games 3 on 3 Hockey Tournament March 19-21

The Richland Rangers Arena will hosted the Big Sky State Games 3 on 3 tournament March 19-21 in Sidney.

The Big Sky State Games is open to amateur athletes in Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota, Wyoming and Idaho. The ice hockey portion includes all age groups. Mites, termites, bantam, peewee squirts and jr. gold divisions will participate. There is a limit of eight teams per age group.

The games will consist of two teams of three players. The rink is divided in half and two games are played simultaneously. There is a one period with a 30-minute runtime. There is no penalty box so all penalties will result in a free shot at the goal.

Sidney Wrestlers Win 4 in a Row

The Sidney/Fairview wrestling team had a dominant performance yet again at the Montana State Class A Wrestling Tournament last year in Miles City. The Eagles have now won four state Class A titles in a row.

The eastern division took four of the five top team places this year. Sidney came out first with 326.5 points followed by Laurel with 188 points. Fergus (Lewistown) was in third with 182.5 points. Frenchtown finished fourth with 162.5 points. Rounding out the top five was Custer Co. (Miles City) scoring 127 points to place fifth.

The Sidney/Fairview High School wrestling team was in first place after the first day of action at the tournament. They advanced 14 wrestlers to the semifinals with one in the consolations at the start of the second day. Sidney/Fairview advanced nine wrestlers to the finals after the semifinal round. Six of those wrestlers became state champions. The team had 14 wrestlers in the top three places and didn't lose any matches in the consolation final round. Five wrestlers placed third with one wrestler placing fifth. For full results see page 10.

State champions were Owen Lonski at 113#, Zander Dean at 126#, Aden Graves at 152#, Kade Graves at 160#, Riley Waters at 182# and Brodey Skogen at 285#. Lonski and Skogen are now 2x state champions and Aden Graves and Waters are 3x state champions.

"It was a pretty dominant performance. They went out there and did what they needed to do," said head coach Guy Melby.

It was a bittersweet end to a strange year for the team due to the pandemic. The Sidney/Fairview wrestling program hit 602 dual wins under Melby's leadership. "We made the best of the situation at hand," stated Melby. "We were thankful to get to wrestle and we took it day by day."

The Eagles will lose ten seniors after this year, nine of which are state placers. "When you have ten seniors obviously you are going to have some holes in the lineup. These underclassmen haven't been sitting around playing checkers," said Melby. "But our seniors have done a great job of developing these younger kids. They are great role models."

Cundiff, Reid State Champs at Virtual State Speech, Drama & Debate Tournament

Sidney High School hosted the first ever Virtual State Speech, Drama and Debate Tournament. Usually the tournament is only two days however with WiFi restrictions it was a three-day meet. Twenty Class A schools from across the state competed via computer. Judges from across the state via the internet judged the competitors.

When the tournament was all done the results were broadcast live from the SHS library over the MHSA website.

Emma Cundiff and Wyatt Reid were state champions in Classical Theatre. They are a duo that is meant to be.