BILLINGS — The Montana Coaches Association on Friday announced its 2025 hall of fame class consisting of five new inductees.
The inductees are Ricknold Thompson, Wayne Beddow, Brian Kavanagh, Cary Finberg and Rob Lott. The induction ceremony will be part of the 2025 MCA awards ceremony and coaches clinic on July 31 at Great Falls CMR High School.
Following is biographical information for each coach, with information provided by the MCA:
Ricknold Thompson
Thompson began his coaching career at Helena Capital in 1992. He has spent 23 years as the head girls soccer coach, along with five years as an assistant (one year with the boys team). He has also served as the assistant boys track and field coach for 34 years.
As the head coach of the girls soccer teams, Thompson has earned 12 state trophies, winning eight state championships along with two second-place finishes and two third-place finishes. He was also on the staff of the boys track teams that had won another four state championships.
Thompson earned the title of MCA coach of the year in girls soccer in 1996 and 2000. He was a National High School Athletic Coaches Association finalist in 2000 and 2004. Thompson has been the head coach of the Shodair All-Stars three times.
Wayne Beddow
Beddow began his coaching career in Wibaux (1972-75), where he was the head coach for football and boys track and field, and and assistant boys basketball coach. He spent one year at Miles CIty before moving to Missoula Hellgate, where he coached for 35 years for football and boys basketball as an assistant and the head coach of the girls basketball team
Beddow's girls basketball team at Hellgate earned a state championship in 1994, along with three runner-up finishes in 1992, 1995 and 2003.
Beddow was nominated as MCA coach of the year four times, being selected as the coach of the year for Class AA girls basketball in 1994. He has coached in the Treasure State girls tournament seven times and twice in the Raddison Classic tournament for boys.
Brian Kavanagh
Kavanagh spent his 24 years coaching basketball, all at Cut Bank. Twenty-one of those years he was the head coach, collecting 386 wins to only 150 losses. He has been a member of the Montana Coaches Association for 37 years.
Kavanagh's teams achieved a tremendous amount of success, winning four state championships (1993, 2005, and 2006) along with three runner-up finishes (1989,1998, and 2000).
Kavanagh was nominated for the MCA coach of the year eight times and was selected four times (1993, 2003, 2005 and 2006). He was also nominated four times for national high school coach of the year in 2007, 2010, 2011 and 2012. He coached 19 years at the Radisson Classic all-star tournament and another four years coaching the Billings Hotel Senior Classic all-star games.
Cary Finberg
Finberg is a 33-year veteran in the Montana coaching ranks. He started his coaching career in Dillon as a freshman basketball coach (1991-1993) before moving back home to Columbia Falls (1993-2024) where he was the head boys basketball coach for 19 years and the girls head basketball coach for 13. His teams garnered 533 wins compared to 204 losses at Columbia Falls.
Cary’s teams earned 17 top-three finishes at the state tournament, winning six state championships — five in boys (2003, 2005, 2006, 2011 and 2014) and one in girls (2017) to go along with four runner-up finishes and seven third-place trophies.
He was nominated 17 times for the Montana coach of the year (11 times for boys and 6 times for girls). In 2014 and 2015 he was nominated for both boys and girls in the same year. He held the title of MCA boys basketball coach of the year five times (2003, 2005, 2006, 2011 and 2014) along with his 2017 girls coach of the year honor.
Rob Lott
Lott has spent 38 years in the coaching ranks in Montana, all in Madison County — at Ennis (1981-1982), Sheridan (1982-1993) and Twin Bridges (1993-2016 and 2018-2021).
Lott spent 22 years as a head football coach winning, 125 games, and 20 years as a girls’ basketball head coach, winning 384 games and 14 years as a head boys basketball coach with a 143 wins. He also spent 11 years as a head boys track coach and four years mentoring junior high football players.
As track coach, Lott's teams earned four state trophies with championships in 1984, 1985 and 1986. His football teams reached the state semifinals four times along with winning the state championship in 2011. His girls basketball teams garnered four state trophies, three third-place trophies and one runner-up finish in 2012.
Lott was selected as the MCA coach of the year in boys track and field twice, in 1985 and 1986.
