Havre referees honored by MOA

A pair of Havre referees have recently received the Montana Official's Associations highest award.

Both the late Dan Boucher (wrestling) and Cal Wirtzberger (football/volleyball) have been inducted into the 2024 MOA Hall of Fame as selected by the Montana Coaches Association.

Wirtzberger has been a Havre area and state official for decades. He did his work in the fall, officiating volleyball matches and football games. His list of accolades includes 30 postseason football games as well as officiating five different state championship football games. He was also bestowed the assignment of the 2015 Montana East-West Shrine football game. Both of his sons, Danny and Patch, are also MOA officials. Cal also worked for BNSF for 40 years.

Boucher, whose nickname was "Judge" because of his law background. For the referee part of his life, Boucher excelled in wrestling, officiating 50 postseason wrestling events and 26 Montana All-Class state tournaments. He also refereeing MSU-Northern and NAIA wrestling for 25 seasons. He came to Havre from Missoula, where he attended Hellgate High and also the University of Montana. His law degree eventually led him, to become the 12th District Court Judge for eight years, which covered Hill, Choteau, and Liberty Counties. Boucher passed away recently, but will forever be remembered for being one of the great MOA wrestling officials.