Montana

Helena Capital’s Vaughn Wirkus signs with Montana State football

Published

47 minutes ago

December 4, 2024

Press Room

Helena Capital’s Vaughn Wirkus signs with Montana State football

HELENA — The man who protected Merek Mihelish’s right during a Gatorade Player of the Year-caliber season officially became a Montana State Bobcat on Wednesday.

Vaughn Wirkus, Helena Capital’s 6-foot-6 right tackle, was tabbed a three-star recruit by 247Sports, ranked the best offensive lineman in the state of Montana’s 2025 class, and the fourth-best recruit overall.

All three recruits (Grant Vigen, Vinnie Souza, Malachi Claunch) ranked ahead of Wirkus join him in Bozeman.

“It feels amazing, committing to the team you grew up watching,” Wirkus said. “Now you get to play for them? It’s a pretty great feeling…

“The DonJoy Mafia, [MSU’s] O-line, it’s a pretty crazy group and I’m really excited to play for them.”

Wirkus was a two-year starter and three-year contributor for the Bruins, helping pave a path for a team that averaged 6.8 yards per carry and scored 31 rushing touchdowns during a state championship-winning 2024 campaign.

Committed since July, Wirkus officially signed early Wednesday morning, becoming one of 24 athletes to sign early with MSU and one of four offensive linemen.

Helena Capital OT Vaughn Wirkus was one of 24 athletes to sign with Montana State University football on Wednesday as part of early National Signing Day. Wirkus started at right tackle during the Bruins’ 11-1 Class AA state championship-winning 2024 campaign.

Daniel Shepard

Those other three offensive lineman are: Nicholas Maloff (Meridian High; Idaho), Nate Thornton (North Kitsap High; Washington); Ben Winters (Kalispell Glacier High).

“It’s pretty surreal,” Wirkus said. “You wake up in the morning and you sign the real document…

“You’re like, ‘man I’m a Bobcat.’ It’s pretty crazy to go from a Bruin to a Bobcat.”

Wirkus was a second-team All-Conference selection a season ago, honors likely improved upon with 2024 Class AA football honors teams still unknown.

Weighing between 240 and 250 pounds, Wirkus said his priority this off-season and after stepping foot on campus will be adding size and speeding up footwork to match the Division I level.

Vaughn Wirkus Signing 2 — Helena Capital OT Vaughn Wirkus was one of 24 athletes to sign with Montana State University football on Wednesday as part of early National Signing Day. Wirkus started at right tackle during the Bruins’ 11-1 Class AA state championship-winning 2024 campaign.

Daniel Shepard

“That all comes with coaching,” Wirkus said. “The facilities there at Montana State are really fantastic, so I don’t think I’ll have any problem doing that.”

Wirkus reunites with former Capital players Tom Carter and Talon Marsh at MSU, standouts on the Bruins’ 2022 title-winning team. He is Capital’s second Division I offensive line signee in three seasons, joining Austin Buehler, who signed with the University of Montana as part the Griz’s 2023 recruiting class.

Other recent Capital offensive line commits include: Cole Dawes (Montana Tech, 2024), Barrett Hageman (Montana Tech, 2024), and Jack Gollehon (Montana Tech, 2025).

“He’s been a solid part of that offensive line here for three years,” Capital head coach Kyle Mihelish said of Wirkus. “We’ve gotten a lot of mileage out of Vaughn, he’s a good football player…

Vaughn Wirkus Signing 3 — Advertisement

Helena Capital OT Vaughn Wirkus was one of 24 athletes to sign with Montana State University football on Wednesday as part of early National Signing Day. Wirkus started at right tackle during the Bruins’ 11-1 Class AA state championship-winning 2024 campaign.

Daniel Shepard

“He has good feet. Usually guys who are that size don’t have good feet. He’s quick, he can move, he can run. The Bobcats got a good one.”

Email Daniel Shepard at daniel.shepard@406mtsports.com and find him on X/Twitter @IR_DanielS.

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Montana

A New State Park Could Be Coming To Montana

Published

8 hours ago

December 4, 2024

Press Room

A New State Park Could Be Coming To Montana

A 109.43 acre property north of Winifred, Montana, was recently donated to the Montana State Parks Foundation by the American Prairie. Now the foundation is working to make that property a new Montana state park.

Flying over the Judith River near Winifred, MT

Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks would acquire the land near the confluence of the Judith River and Missouri River in order to turn it into a Montana State Park. The acquisition would come with the requirement of development to provide for public safety, efficiency, and stewardship.

According to the state agency, the land would be turned into a park for a series of reasons, including ensuring perpetual public access, providing interpretive opportunities to the public for the surrounding historic district, provide further public outdoor recreation opportunities along the river, create a possible economic benefit for surrounding communities with the increased tourism, and create a state in an area known to have limited state park access.

If the property is acquired, funds for the project would be either requested through the 2025 legislative session or received through private donation. The Montana State Parks Foundation asks that those hoping to support the project read the environmental assessment and submit public comments. They also ask that those hoping to support consider making donations to help fund the project.

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Montana

South Dakota visits Montana State after Larkins’ 30-point outing

Published

16 hours ago

December 4, 2024

Press Room

South Dakota visits Montana State after Larkins’ 30-point outing

Associated Press

South Dakota Coyotes (3-5) at Montana State Bobcats (6-1)

Bozeman, Montana; Wednesday, 9 p.m. EST

BOTTOM LINE: South Dakota faces Montana State after Grace Larkins scored 30 points in South Dakota’s 95-88 loss to the Arizona State Sun Devils.

The Bobcats are 4-0 in home games. Montana State is third in the Big Sky scoring 72.6 points while shooting 40.8% from the field.

The Coyotes have gone 0-1 away from home. South Dakota ranks third in the Summit shooting 32.0% from 3-point range.

Montana State is shooting 40.8% from the field this season, 1.3 percentage points lower than the 42.1% South Dakota allows to opponents. South Dakota has shot at a 42.5% clip from the field this season, 2.1 percentage points greater than the 40.4% shooting opponents of Montana State have averaged.

TOP PERFORMERS: Marah Dykstra is shooting 54.3% and averaging 15.0 points for the Bobcats.

Alexi Hempe averages 2.5 made 3-pointers per game for the Coyotes, scoring 13.1 points while shooting 37.0% from beyond the arc.

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The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.

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