A Hall of Famer, and he's not done

Havre High wrestling coach Scott Filius is undoubtedly one of the greatest high school coaches the state of Montana has ever seen.

In fact, he's so good, he was named to the Montana Coaches Association Hall of Fame, before his coaching career is even over.

"To be honest with you," Filius said. "It just feels early. It is an honor and I do appreciate it, don't get me wrong, it's just that, you'd like to think that the Hall of Fame is for when you are done and maybe I'm done, maybe they are trying to tell me something."

Filius, who chuckled slightly after the last comment, seems far from done. Although, if he was done, his resume would still be one of the most impressive in the history of Montana high school sports.

In 22 seasons leading the Blue Ponies on the mat, Filius has led Havre to an incredible 12 state championships. That number leaves him tied for second in the state of Montana.

In addition to Havre's 12 Class A state championships under Filius, the Ponies have also finished as the runner-up four times and third twice. Filius has also coached numerous individual state champions, including his son Parker Filius and Jase Stokes, who became the first four-time individual state champions in the history of Havre wrestling last February.

With all those accomplishments, it shouldn't be a surprise to see Filius getting inducted into the Montana Coaches Hall of Fame, which happens today in Great Falls at the annual MCA Coaches Clinic. It will also be the second Hall of Fame induction for Filius, who is already a member of the Montana State University-Northern Hall of Fame.

While Filius is being honored as one of the best coaches ever in Montana high school sports, getting recognized by his peers is nothing knew. Filius has been the named the Class A wrestling Coach of the Year 12 times, including 2017. He has been nominated for the award 18 times and with runs that include four consecutive state championships or the current run of five in a row, it's hard to argue.

"I think that it has gotten easier over time," Filius said. "If you keep a program in place and you try to improve every aspect of your program and you do that for 20 years, then pretty soon, there aren't too many aspects of your program that doesn't run on all cylinders. The success is rolling and a lot of that has to do with the quality of people that we associate with."

For his part, Filius said he never envisioned having this kind of success when he became the head wrestling coach at Havre High, but he also said, he's not one for looking back.

"I guess I never really planned on looking back until the end," Filius said. "And right now, I'm not that at the end."

It's hard to say when Filius will decide to step aside, but right now at least, he doesn't sound like someone who is getting ready to walk away.

"I really can't see myself doing anything different," Filius said. "But I don't know. I guess at this point, I am only willing to promise one year at a time."

The MCA Induction ceremony is being held this afternoon in the Great Falls High School Auditorium as part of the MCA coaches clinic.