Taking stock of the best of a 'normal' 2021

The Year 2021 is almost gone, and it was a bit of a blur, maybe because the pandemic (well, temporarily) winded down and there were more live sports to cover.

Not enough live sports, mind you, but better than 2020. A full Griz football season, for one. State softball tournaments, tennis tournaments and track meets happened this past spring.

A lot to choose from, if someone was to rank their top 10 stories for the year. Let’s give it a shot, and if you find I missed something, then I don’t remember reading or signing this column.

10) Sam Ells: Glacier High has had quite the run of athletes, and Ells stands out for his dual role as soccer starter and a cross country runner that consistently broke 16 minutes for 5,000 meters. The same day he ran at the state meet (it didn’t go as planned) he played in a State AA soccer quarterfinal (much better; he scored a goal).

“He’s the most talented kid I’ve ever coached,” Wolfpack coach Cody Moore said of the Montana State signee, who also helped the Pack reach the State AA soccer final. “I’ve had kids run mid-15s and go Division I, but those kids were focused solely on running. Sam is running half the volume. It’s pretty incredible.”

9) State cross country: This might not be the best spectator sport, but if you ever want to see something cool, stand behind a team — say, this year’s Columbia Falls girls — as they listen to the team results get called out. Then, when another team is announced for second place, meaning we, I mean they, the Wildkats, are state champs, you can watch them go full House of Pain. You could also watch the Bigfork boys do the same, after winning their first championship since 1975.

There’s really nothing like it.

Columbia Falls, second in 2020, won its first championship ever.

“Last year we gave it our all,” said Wildkat Hannah Sempf, who won the individual title after taking third last year. “This year we gave it our all and got a better trophy.”

8) State A golf: The Whitefish boys were looking for a second state title, but the Laurel Locomotives, led by a freshman with the unlikely golf name of Cameron Hackmann, won their fourth in five years. Hackmann had five birdies and an eagle on the way to a closing 67 that gave him medalist honors. Whitefish’s Billy Smith was runner-up for a second straight year; the senior-to-be can put pressure on Hackmann next fall.

7) Polson 38, Whitefish 24: The Polson Pirates made a run to the State A semifinals, along the way surviving this Oct. 22 Western A showdown in Whitefish that featured seven lead changes. Another banner day from southpaw quarterback Jarrett “The Jet” Wilson — two touchdowns running, three passing and another on a pick-six — helped the Pirates stay unbeaten.

6) The Bulldogs of ‘91: Twenty years after their last state title, we ran an oral history of the 1990-91 Whitefish Bulldogs basketball team. It’s their last title; they were the first Western A team to win the State A since the 1970 Bulldogs. They went 20-4, including an unlikely divisional semifinal win over arch-rival Columbia Falls (in OT). Then they captured what seemed (to me) to be an even more unlikely state title, beating Butte Central, Glendive and Laurel in Butte.

“Did Laurel have stars?,” asked Pat Gulick, the undersized (6-foot-2) Bulldog center. “Because we didn’t. I certainly wasn’t.”

5) Kynzie Mohl: The Glacier softball standout was the Western AA offensive MVP, Gatorade Player of the Year and led a 23-5 team that finished fourth at State, held in Kalispell. Yet the coolest thing might have been when a few of her Glacier classmates held up a sign at state that said, “NO. 1, HIT IT HERE,” and Mohl, on her way to a school-record 18 homers, sent a shot at them.

4) Jake Rendina: Glacier put together another fine football campaign, featuring a couple handfuls of tough seniors like Jake Turner, Luke Bilau and Royce Conklin. Then there’s the 230-pound Rendina, who set all sorts of rushing records for the Wolfpack. The one that really sticks out is his 676 career carries. The next closest, Drew Turner, had 476.

You wonder what might have happened if there’d been a full 2020 season, and if Rendina hadn’t buckled an ankle early in this past campaign. He powered on, displaying an angry running style and an offbeat sense of humor.

“Quite a journey we’ve been on, you and me,” he said, last time I spoke with him. Good luck in West Point, where it’s more than just a game.

3) Flathead wrestling: The Brave Brawlers and Bravettes made it a state tournament sweep, and the boys won it on their own mats, at Flathead High. For the boys it was their third State AA crown in five seasons; the Bravettes made history by winning the first-ever girls tournament.

The two teams combined for one individual champion — Ethan Freund. Aleeyah Derlatka was the Bravettes’ top finisher, placing second, and Asher Kemppainen, Fin Nadeau and Noah Poe-Hatten did the same for the Brawlers. So here’s to points in the blood rounds, as the wrestle-backs are called, and athletes like Chase Youso. Youso, who as a linebacker happened to lead State AA in tackles this past fall at 13 a game, scored 20 points for Flathead while finishing third.

Special dispensation to Glacier’s Teegan Vasquez, whose second state title clinched the team title for Flathead, and Flathead’s Ryan Nelson, who wrestled days after an appendectomy and scored important points.

2) Montana 29, Montana State 10: The delayed 120th Cat-Griz game brought a record crowd to Washington-Grizzly Stadium, and some relief to Griz fans who’d witnessed four straight losses in the rivalry. Junior Bergen, at one point an MSU signee, keyed the win with his punt returns and an early 74-yard catch and run touchdown.

There was a time when MSU was favored to win this game, then it wasn’t, then it got beat soundly and went through a quarterback change, and now the Bobcats and QB Tommy Mellott are in the FCS championship against North Dakota State. Meanwhile the Griz are getting ready for winter conditioning. Makes you wonder what might have happened had the Bobcats won. That’s the rub, I suppose.

1) Montana 57, EWU 41: This could also be my least favorite story, given the late kickoff and that third quarter that lasted 1 hour, 50 minutes in this FCS playoff at Wa-Griz. I mean, Eric Barriere threw 81 passes. Come on. But that led to Bobby Hauck’s, “Never, never ever going to have a chance to beat us” quote, and Tolulu Limu-Jones doubling down on his gripes about Montana getting a playoff seed. “I said some things I stand by,” said Limu-Jones, who caught two touchdowns passes and dropped another. I appreciate that. The old, “And I’d do it again!” jokes get me every time.

So here’s to a healthier 2022, which I’m not banking on. Happy holidays. Get boosted. I hope to see you at the yard.

Fritz Neighbor can be reached at 758-4463 or fneighbor@dailyinterlake.com.