Rocky Lencioni and Hudson Wiens were introduced as Montana State commits in December, and Malloy Mayer committed to Montana Tech the same month. Torin Jeske announced his commitment to Tech on Jan. 12, and Cordell Holzer committed to Dickinson State in North Dakota this past weekend.

After going 12-0 and winning the Class AA state title in their senior season, the players were excited to see so many teammates get opportunities to play in college.

“I think it’s awesome, and I think it’s well deserved for a lot of our guys,” Mayer said. “And I think that everyone has the talent to do it and we all have the work ethic, and it’s just showing with everyone continuing their football career.”

Added Jeske: “We know how hard each other worked throughout the whole summer to win a state championship, and to go on to play college ball, it’s just really cool to see. It’s cooler to see my teammates succeeding and to see them signing than it is for me to sign.”

Jeske, a first team all-state offensive tackle as a senior, and Mayer, a second team all-state defensive end, will remain teammates with the Orediggers.

“We’ve known each other forever, and I think it’ll be great to have him there,” Mayer said.

Mayer has a sister who already attends Tech, and he was drawn to the coaches and the culture of the football program. He said he plans to study engineering. Jeske said he has a great relationship with Tech’s offensive line coach Dan Thatcher, a former Bozeman High assistant.

“I’ve known him for a while now,” Jeske said. “I have friends going there. I’m excited to play there. I like Butte. It was pretty much a perfect match from the start.”

Holzer was a second team all-state wide receiver and a first team all-state nickelback as a senior. He’ll continue his career as a defensive back for the Blue Hawks, winners of nine consecutive North Star Athletic Association championships.

“I really enjoyed offense this year,” Holzer said, “but I started out sophomore year on defense, so I think that’s my fit.”

He said he plans to study business at Dickinson State, which he said checked all of his boxes. Holzer wanted a strong academic school along with a coaching staff that he connected with.

“It’s an amazing opportunity. I’m super excited for it, and I’m thankful for my teammates and coaches and everyone that helped me get to this and for Dickinson giving me the opportunity to do this,” Holzer said

In 2025, DSU will join the NAIA’s Frontier Conference and play many more games against Montana opponents, including Montana Tech. So he has not seen the last of Mayer and Jeske.

“I’ve always played with them and never against them, but I think it’ll be kind of another rivalry,” Holzer said. “They’re still friends, but I think it’ll be a fun experience.”

Mayer and Jeske are looking forward to the conference realignment as well.

“He’s definitely one of the hardest competitors and hardest workers I know,” Mayer said. “I think he’ll go on to Dickinson and do great things. And then when we finally get to play against each other, I think it’ll be awesome.”{span class=”print_trim”}(tncms-asset)834efb2a-a50f-11ed-b6b3-93716db8ca59[3](/tncms-asset){/span}

Pannell signs with Davenport women’s wrestling

Genavieve Pannell is the first, but she hopes she’s not the last.

Pannell became the school district’s first girls wrestler to sign with a college team on Wednesday when she committed to Davenport University, an NCAA Division II school in Grand Rapids, Michigan.

Girls wrestling was sanctioned as a sport in Montana during Pannell’s freshman year, and she credits former Hawks head coach Sean Dellwo with getting her interested in the sport.

“The last four years have just been such a fun time, and I couldn’t imagine not continuing on,” Pannell said. “Every time I thought, ‘Oh, maybe I’ll quit, maybe I’ll be done after high school,’ I would just sit there and cry because I couldn’t imagine my life without this sport.

“And so I got a couple offers. We took a couple tours, and when we found Davenport it was just a perfect mix of everything for me.”

That included the Panthers’ color scheme.

“I really wanted to go to a red and black school because I bleed red and black,” she said. “I love the Hawks.”

Davenport also has a nursing program Pannell is excited about. The women’s wrestling team only began competition in 2020-21, so it is still emerging. Pannell is hopeful she can help the program grow and succeed, just as she did for the girls team at Bozeman High.

“It’s been such a cool experience becoming the first ever girl to sign for wrestling in our district,” she said. “It’s been a super fun experience getting to trailblaze a way for the girls behind me.”{span class=”print_trim”}(tncms-asset)3d9cd738-c529-11ee-80f3-9b7884292422[4](/tncms-asset){/span}

Belasco commits to swim at University of Redlands

Analise Belasco, a Hawks and Bozeman Barracudas swimmer, signed on Wednesday with the University of Redlands, an NCAA Division III school in Southern California.

“I visited and the team was awesome, the weather was awesome,” she said. “I really loved everything about it. And then I decided a couple months later that I wanted to commit there and swim there, and so I’m really excited today to officially do it.”

Belasco said she plans to study biochemistry and molecular biology.

“I’ve known for a while that I’ve wanted to do something with the brain and body,” she said, “and I’m still kind of trying to figure out what exactly, but I know that that’s where I’m really interested.”

Belasco found the swimming team at Redlands to be very welcoming. She said she still texts weekly with the swimmer who hosted her for her visit to the campus.

“They were all so exciting and so thoughtful,” Belasco said. “When I first started talking to the coach, he reminded me of my club coach (Hans Dersch), and it was a special moment where I knew that it felt like I was supposed to go there.”

Pershing commits to Mayville State baseball

Quinn Pershing ran into similar challenges as baseball players before him while trying to get recruited out of Montana.

For a long time, his chances to get on the field were limited to the Bozeman Bucks American Legion season in the summers. In hopes of gaining more exposure, he played one season with Big Sky Baseball in the fall.

“It was a blast to travel around the country and play other teams and get more eyes on me,” he said. “Especially in Montana, you’ve played the same people since you were 9, so it’s good to get different competition.”{span class=”print_trim”}(tncms-asset)bb5a6612-c61a-11ee-a612-03e55f39c337[5](/tncms-asset){/span}

That extra competition helped him get recruited by the Mayville State (North Dakota) baseball program, which earned his commitment on Wednesday.

“I’ve always wanted to play college baseball, and then this year I really cracked down on it,” Pershing said.

He credited his several coaches, including Bucks head coach Sean Potkay, with helping him with the recruiting process.

“I’m really grateful for it. It’s been a dream of mine to play in college,” Pershing said.

At Mayville State, Pershing expects to pitch and play first base. He said he plans to study business with a minor in coaching.

“They’re a really good coaching staff and they have a really good tradition and good baseball overall,” Pershing said. “I’m really excited to see my future and what I can do over at Mayville. I’m happy for not just me, but for everyone who signed today.”