2015 was a great year for local sports, a look back at many of the great moments

The past twelve months have been a banner year for many athletes and teams throughout Blaine County.

Four team state championships were won and seven athletes became individual state champions while a few more finished second or third.

The Chinook Sugarbeeters captured the first as they won another Class C Wrestling championship. The Sugarbeeter tennis team repeated as Class B/C in May.

August began with the Harlem swim team winning the Class C title in Sidney. The last being the remarkable run by the Sugarbeeter football team as they were a perfect 12-0 in winning their second state title.

Chinook sophomore Tate Niederegger won his first state wrestling title in February. Chinook senior Mariah Swank won her second B/C state singles title in May. Chinook senior Britney Nelson won her second straight Shot Put championship while also earning a second place finish in the Discus at the State C meet in May.

As we look back on a year that included all these fine achievements, we will take a look back at many of the high points in Blaine County high school athletics as well as the summer swim season that includes so many of our youth.

When the Chinook Sugarbeeter wrestling team headed to Billings the second week of February they were on a mission. For a team that had won six of the first eight class 'C' titles, finishing second the previous two years left a sour taste.

The 2015 'Beeter wrestlers left nothing to chance as they placed three wrestlers on the podium and easily outdistanced Arlee by 22 points (68.5-46.5) for the title.

Niederegger won the 132 pound division for the Sugarbeeters who also got podium finishes from junior Jake Norby, fourth at 145 pounds and junior Kenny Pruttis fourth at 170 pounds.

The 2015 All-Class State Wrestling Tournament also marked the final year of Harlem Wildcat mentor Lyle Faulkinberry.

Faulkinberry was known and well respected throughout the state and had guided many Wildcat teams to Billings to compete on the big stage.

Wildcat senior Brenden Johnson turned in an outstanding effort his final time out as he finished second at 160 pounds.

February also saw basketball reach a feverish pitch as the boys' and girls' seasons began to wind down.

The Sugarbeeter girls captured their fourth conference championship in five seasons and advanced to their fifth straight Northern C tournament with a third place finish at the District 9C tournament.

The girls played an astounding six games at the Northern C to earn a third place finish.

The girls played the first game of the tournament defeating Great Falls Central 52-44. They also played the last game of the tournament falling in a challenge game to the Cascade Badgers 33-29.

In between they fell to the Belt Huskies 52-44, then took down the Simms Tigers 38-31, and the Winnett/Grass Range Rams 29-23.

In the consolation semifinal the 'Beeters avenged an early season loss to the Roy/Winifred Outlaws with a resounding 62-36 win.

On the boys' side of the ledger it was the Hays/Lodge Pole Thunderbirds and Chinook Sugarbeeters making the noise in Blaine County.

The two teams split the regular season series with each winning on the others' home court. At the District 9C tournament it was the Thunderbirds that edged Chinook in overtime 56-53 to advance to the championship contest and secure a spot in the Northern C for the first time since 2007.

The 'Beeters were forced to take the long way to secure their bid to the Northern C by defeating the Chester-Joplin-Inverness Hawks for the third time.

While at the Northern C, both the Thunderbirds and 'Beeters earned thrilling come from behind wins over the previously unbeaten Sunburst Refiners.

Sophomore Frank RunsAbove scored a last second layup to help the Thunderbirds to a 59-57 win, their first at the Northern C since 2007.

Chinook got 35 points from senior Lane Seymour in a come from behind 74-71 win over the Refiners a day later. Seymour scored his 35 points on 11-14 shooting from the field and 13-14 effort from the line.

The Chinook Tennis team has been among the top teams in Montana for several years and head coach Thom MacLean's 2015 team returned nearly everyone from a year prior.

In May the girls obliterated the field winning their second consecutive state title in dominating fashion. The 'Beeters scored 52 points, nearly double that of runner up Cut Bank (28).

Senior Mariah Swank repeated as state B/C singles champion winning an epic title match to claim the gold.

The 'Beeters had plenty of depth to secure the top spot. Junior Brooke Nicholson finished third in the singles race for the second year in a row.

Nicholson's only loss during the season was to her teammate Swank and her lone defeat at the state tournament was to Lone Peak's runner-up.

The junior doubles duo of Cortney Gunderson and Lauren Harshman made a strong run in Missoula, making their way to the championship match before falling in a tough match to finish second.

Juniors Hattie Niederegger and Stella Rigg also performed well at the state meet finishing just off the podium but having lost to the eventual state champion and third place finishers. They played very well.

All members of the team, which also included freshman Megan Pruttis and Sierra Swank, scored points that helped the team to such a dominant win.

The Chinook Sugarbeeter boys' golf team has been superb the past few years and turned in another great effort this past May at the State Tournament in Shelby.

The boys played well and again brought home hardware from the state tournament with a third place finish.

Senior Lane Seymour earned All-State honors for the fourth time following his second consecutive runner up finish. Junior Derek Bell also earned All-State honors for the 'Beeters finishing twelfth individually.

In late May, Chinook senior Britney Nelson defended her 2014 championship Shot Put performance at the State Track and Field Meet winning the event a second time. Nelson also finished second in the discus and fifth in the javelin

The summer swim season is a great time, especially for the younger athletes of Blaine County. The Harlem swimmers united for a Montana Federation Class 'C' state championship.

The Chinook Lions swim team finished fourth amongst Class 'AA' teams and second in the relay race while also crowning three individual champions.

Chinook's Hailey Neibauer became a repeat state champion while Brockton Elliot and Daniel Tilleman became champions for the first time.

The fall sports season was another fantastic one for the Sugarbeeter football and volleyball teams.

The 'Beeters extended their District 6 C-East match win streak to 29 matches while securing their third straight conference championship in volleyball.

A week later they swept through the district tournament to win the third straight crown and advance to the Northern C Divisional.

Chinook played very well but would just miss out on a trip to state following a third place finish.

The Chinook football team began the fall campaign with one goal - get back to the title game following a runner up finish in 2014.

The 'Beeters blew through the competition early with lopsided wins over Centerville and Cascade before winning a big game against Northern C rival Simms.

The 'Beeters flattened Fort Benton, Belt and Power-Dutton-Brady in consecutive weeks before taking down the Rival Hawks from Chester J-I for the Northern C championship.

Chinook finished the season with an easy win over Great Falls Central and opened the playoffs with wins over Culbertson/Bainville, Ennis and Fairview.

The state championship would be a home game for the 'Beeters where they downed the Arlee Scarlet Warriors 44-20 for the school's second Class 'C' Eight-man Football championship.

The team was honored with eight All-State selections, eight All-Conference nominations and the Northern C Coach of the year. Several players have been selected to play in various All-Star games this summer.