Push and Pull

No matter what level of competition, there is something special about great rivalries and when it comes to rivalries in Montana high school sports, there are few that compare to Havre and Sidney on the wrestling mat.

Over the years, there have been a lot of great wrestlers, a lot of state championships, both team and individuals, and a lot of history between the two teams. But more than anything, the rivalry comes down to two men: Scott Filius and Guy Melby.

"I remember when I coached at Havre High as an assistant to Jerry Vandersloot and we had a good team and finished fourth to Sidney," Filius said. "And then I went to Idaho for a few years and came back and that always stuck with me. I knew that if you wanted to compete in Class A, you needed to compete with Sidney. Guy does such a good job with his kids and with the whole program, that I copied and stole a lot of stuff he used to do. Competing with him has probably been the most fun thing that we did in Class A. He had some great teams. They made us better and I think that we made them better, so I think it has been productive on both ends."

When talking about production, the championships produced between the two teams speak for themselves. Since 1997, when Filius became the head coach at Havre High, there have been 22 Class A state wrestling championships and incredibly, 18 of them went to either Havre or Sidney. Havre won 12 state championships during that run compared to six for the Eagles and on nine different occassions, the Ponies and Eagles competed directly for the state title, with one team finishing first and the other winding up as the runner-up, just like in 2018, when the Eagles ended a five-year run of state championships for HHS.

"We were second to them a few times when I felt that we had an outside shot and they were just better," Filius said. "We had a few times when we had a phenomenal group of kids and they were just better."

On the same note, Sidney also had some teams that were certainly good enough to win a state championship and if not for the Ponies, they would have. One of those teams was the 2014 Sidney squad, which racked up 268.5 points in a second-place finish to Havre, which scored 294.5. The next season, Havre set a Class A record with 297.5, while Sidney finished second again with 268. The Eagles scored both of those point totals with 13 weight classes and as an example of just how good that is, the Class B record for 14 weight classes is 240 points.

"We had three really good teams in that era that took second to Havre," Sidney head coach Guy Melby said. "I mean really good. In probably any other year, they could have very well been state champions. So it's not like we weren't doing anything. We were doing the right things, Havre was just the better team and they got us."

From 1999 to 2018, the two teams have alternated besting each other and in those 20 state tournaments, Havre and Sidney have finished 1-2 nine times, with Havre winning five state championships compared to four for Sidney.

The Ponies won the first title back in 1999 with Sidney getting second, but the title alternated back and forth, as Sidney won in 2000, only to see the Ponies take the crown back in 2001. Then, Sidney edged out Havre for the Class A title in 2005 and 2006, before finishing runner-up to Havre in 2013, 2014 and 2015. Most recently, the Eagles ended Havre's streak of five straight state championships last year, while fittingly, the Ponies took second.

"Our kids kept coming," Melby said of his team's ressurgence in the 2017-18 season. "And our kids have really taken a liking to the weight room and they have done a lot of things in the spring and the summer, so it wasn't by accident that our guys were state champions last year. They worked for it and they earned it."

Like Filius, Melby agreed that the rivalry, which is built on mutual respect, has been a beneficial for both programs.

"We have always had the utmost respect for Havre and for Scott," Melby said. "Once you hit the mats, they are as good a rival as you have out there. We want to beat each other very, very badly. We both don't mind working and putting in time and that is kind of what it takes. Now, I think Beau LaSalle will do equally as a good a job. I think he will do a great job. He was taught well by Scott, I am sure, and the rivalry will not stop, I can guarantee you that."

While one can clearly see the impact of the Havre-Sidney rivalry on both programs, another place that has been impacted is the MHSA record book. Both Filius and Melby have put together historic careers and when it comes to the most accomplished coaches in the history of the state, both men belong in the conversation.

In terms of trophies won at the state tournament by a head coach, Melby stands alone with 21, two ahead of both Filius and the legendary Jim Street, who each led their teams to 19 top-three finishes. Filius and Melby both rank in the top three when it comes to coaching individual state champions and have combined to coach well over 100. Jug Beck, another Montana legend, is the only coach ahead of them.

And in terms of team championships won by a head coach, Filius and Melby are once again in elite company.

Street leads the way with 15. Then it's Filius and Beck with 12, followed by Melby in fourth with nine. Melby is also one of just eight coaches in MHSA history to win four consecutive championships, while Filius is one of four to win five-in-a-row. Filius also coached two sepatate teams to a four-peat, as Havre won four straight from 2007-10 and five straight from 2013-2017.

"He (Melby) had a group that won four in a row," Filius said. "And he had one group that was just a phenoninal group of kids and this last group he has got, they are deep. I don't know if they have the front-end points his previous teams have had - yet. But I think that they will grow into that."

Melby is still an active part of the rivalry and he will bring his Sidney Eagles to the HHS gymnasium tonight to take on the Ponies and the successor of Filius, Beau LaSalle, who also knows a thing or two about the rivalry, both as a coach and a wrestler.

"Back when I was in high school, they were in the middle of winning four in a row," LaSalle said of the Eagles. "We took second to them twice when I was a sophomore and a junior and then we won it when I was a senior and they were down a little bit. They were in their prime back then. They were loaded, they were deep and they were tough."

Now, LaSalle has re-emerged as a key figure in the seemingly yearly battle for Class A sumpremacy between Havre and Sidney. While the next chapter won't be complete until this February at the All-Class state wrestling tournament, the Ponies and Eagles will give everyone a preview tonight when the top two teams in Class A dual inside the Pony Corral.

Sidney, the defending state champs, will bring their No. 1 ranking into the showdown, along with six indivudals that rank among the top two in their weight class. Aden Graves is the top-ranked wrestler at 132 pounds and Jett Jones is No. 1 at 182. Kaiden Cline (113), Christian Dean (145), Jace Winter (152) and Riley Waters (160) are all ranked second. That should set up some intriguing matchups. The Ponies have two No. 1 wrestlers in the poll in Martin Wilkie, who will face second-ranked Dean, as well as Mick Chagnon, who owns the top spot at 103. He should end up facing third-ranked Kolby Hutzenbiler.

At 138 pounds, second-ranked Lane Paulson will face third-ranked Kade Graves in another high-profile matchup. Finally, Connor Harris, who is ranked third at 152 pounds, could face second-ranked Winters in what would be the fifth-potential matchup between wrestlers ranked in the top four of their respective weight classes.

"I would be lying if I said we weren't excited about this dual," LaSalle said. "They are the team to beat. They are No. 1 and we are chasing them right now and we want to see where we are at. But it's also not the end all be all. That comes in February."

Havre and Sidney will renew their rivalry tonight at 5:30. Prior to that match, Sidney will dual Great Falls High at 4 and after the Eagles and Ponies go head-to-head, HHS will battle the Bison at 7.