The Montana Coaches Association announced its winter coaches of the year on Friday.
State championship-winning coaches highlight the honorees, who were selected via a vote of member coaches. The coaches of the year will be recognized at the MCA Awards Ceremony on Aug. 1 at Great Falls CMR High School.
Wes Holmquist, Jim Stergar, Sam Tudor and Jeff Bellach were named the boys basketball coaches of the year. Holmquist guided Bozeman to the Class AA state title; Stergar led Billings Central to the State A championship; Tudor, who announced his resignation this week, took Bigfork to back-to-back Class B state championships; and Bellach’s Manhattan Christian squad won the State C title.
Helena High’s Eric Peterson, Havre’s Dustin Kraske, Wolf Point’s Cody Larson and Box Elder’s Joel Rosette are the girls basketball coaches of the year. Peterson’s Bengals have won three consecutive Class AA state championships, and Kraske and Rosette both led their teams to back-to-back championships. Wolf Point claimed its first State B title since 2003 under Larson’s guidance this winter.
The wrestling coaches of the year are Nate Laslovich of Bozeman, Guy Melby of Sidney, Daniel Valdez of Colstrip and Ty Taylor of Circle. All four coaches led their teams to team titles at the all-class state wrestling tournaments in February.
Missoula Hellgate’s Helen Houlihan and Billings Central’s Robyn O’Nan are the swimming coaches of the year. The Knights swept the boys and girls Class AA state championships. Billings Central’s boys tied with Havre for the Class A-B title and the Ram girls placed second behind Whitefish.
