Today

Winter Classic 20th Anniversary celebrity autograph session 11 a.m. to 1 p.m., Summit House, Big Mountain. Free. Donations accepted.

Tuesday

Final day for Special Olympics Montana State Winter Games, Big Mountain, Whitefish.

Today

Polson Business Community hosts a free workshop, "Leading Your Business to Change," 7:45 to 9 a.m., New Moon Cafe, Polson. Ed Kugler, president of Direct Hit Inc., will gear information to small businesses focusing on leadership and growth. Public is invited.

Today

Fair-Mont-Egan School Rummage Sale 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. Proceeds go toward the fourth grade class. Donations welcome. Call Heidi Berosik at 756-9118 or Becky Toelke at 752-9060.

Today

Red Cross blood drive, 12:30-5:30 p.m., at North Valley Community Room, Columbia Falls.

Today

Montana Coffee Traders, all locations, will donate all proceeds from Wednesday's sale of pump-pot coffee to help coffee farmers in Aceh, Indonesia due to the tsunami. Call 862-7633.

NOTICE OF TRUSTEE'S SALE

Abbreviated Legal: LOT 9, BLOCK 2, DESERT ESTATES #2, FRANKLIN CO., WA

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Youth sports July 6, 2011

WRESTLING

'As great a win as I've ever been a part of'

MOSCOW — Mason Petrino found Jeff Cotton in the corner of the end zone for the go-ahead touchdown with 27 seconds to play, lifting Idaho to a 31-27 win over North Dakota on Saturday in Big Sky football before 7,899 at the Kibbie Dome.

Together as one

That rivalry stuff can wait a few more weeks.

Bengals in a runaway

POCATELLO — This was a thrashing some two decades in the making.

Othello junior Isaiah Perez one of the most sought after football players in Washington state

OTHELLO - These are exciting times for the Perez family. Othello High School junior Isaiah Perez started taking his game serious back in the seventh grade, special invite camps, weight room regiments, technique drills, diet, attention to detail, all of the behind the scenes focus on the road to greatness. He’s just a junior and already he’s become one of the highest sought after recruits in Washington state and it’s not just the in-state universities showing interest. Last spring, he made visits to UCLA, University of Southern California and Wisconsin. This fall, he’s been on the road almost every weekend with visits to Washington University, Washington State, Oregon, Howard. Perez, a 6-foot-3, 245-pound Huskies defensive end, was the Central Washington Athletic Conference defensive player of the year as a sophomore, as well as first team all-conference at defensive end and second team all-conference selection at running back. He’s received three, four letters of interest a week from Harvard, Purdue, Northwestern, Eastern Washington, Stanford, Weber State and a slew of others. Both BYU (Division 1 FBS school) and Howard (Division 1 FCS school) have made scholarship offers. “It’s a really fun process knowing that you’re good enough to play at the next level. It’s been my dream for so long. It’s hard to explain, but it’s been a lot of fun,” said Perez, who’s made eight visits so far. “In the spring, I toured the campus and the football facilities at UCLA, USC and Wisconsin. The latest ones this fall, I’ve been able to go to the games and see the facilities. “They make you feel pretty special, then they take you out to the field and you get to watch the game.” Perez has been hand-timed in the 40-yard dash at 4.85 seconds. He also has some pretty special benchmarks in the weightroom with a 335-pound maximum on the bench and a max squat of 450. His best deadlift of 500 pounds. The sky’s the limit for a young man with strong spiritual ties to his local church and family values. The idea of being made to feel wanted is what the recruiting process is all about, but Perez has his own ideas of what he wants in a football program and a place of higher education. “So far I’ve taken a look at my own feelings and what I feel is right about what’s the best fit for me,” said Perez, who also won a 2A state heavyweight wrestling championship last year as sophomore. “I’ve been to some games this fall and it’s pretty cool walking out onto the field and seeing all the fans cheering. The environment at the football game is pretty crazy. “Personally, I’m not really looking at what they’ve done (Heisman winners, national championships) in the past. My goal is to play after college and if I’m getting what I need in college and they can make me the best I can be, that’s where I want to be.” The end game is to play on Sundays, but it’s one step at a time for this Othello family. With all the books on the horror stories of major university football recruiting. Gordy Perez has been there every step of the way, and says the process has been professional and his son has been treated with dignity and respect. “I just posted on Facebook today, it’s an exciting time to be Isaiah Perez,” he said. “All this attention that’s coming on us has been amazing. When they brought us on the field at Oregon, we followed the players out, the crowd was cheering. We want him to enjoy the process and the attention and make the choice that best fits him.” It doesn’t hurt that his mother Mandi’s brothers Ryan (2001-02) and Eddie Keele (2003-06) both went through the recruiting process and played at Brigham Young. Eddie went through training camp with the Raiders and played a season in the Arena Football League with the Utah Blaze. “I spent last summer in Utah training and working out with them, Isaiah said. “We talked a little bit about how it all works.” Mandi Perez is a 1995 Othello graduate and went to Eastern Washington University on a track and field scholarship. Even in the short 23-year span from her recruiting experience, today a whole different process. “Probably the biggest difference in recruiting these days is social media,” she said. “A lot of Isaiah’s recruiting has been on Twitter. He’ll talk to coaches and that’s how he got his last offer (with Howard University) was over Twitter. “We had no idea of how the recruiting process goes. We had some advice on making a Twitter account and how the coaches do a lot of stuff on Twitter. Isaiah does a good job making his own highlight film. He does all of his own stuff on Hudl. They told us the film should only be two-three minutes, you want to start with your top five plays. I’m just really impressed when I watch his highlight film.” When it comes right down to it, all the schmoozing aside, Perez, who carries a 2.85 grade point average in the classroom, will make his own decision. He didn’t give a specific timeline as to when that will be. Right now, his interest is to get the Huskies into the CWAC postseason with a big game at Ellensburg and enjoy the process.

Cats, Griz back at it

Four Big Sky teams play Saturday

The Big Sky Conference will start playing in the afternoon and go well until after dark Saturday, with four teams having Football Championship Subdivision second-round playoff games.

USA summer softball Lady Pirates finish second at Kalispell

The team will travel to Great Falls this weekend for the Falls Fusion Classic.

Spring (football) is in the air

Griz open spring drills with questions at QB, both lines

After more than a month working not-so-quietly behind the scenes in morning conditioning sessions and lifting weights in the Washington-Grizzly Champions Center, the Montana football team officially returns to the field this week to open the spring season.

THE FRONT ROW with MARK NELKE: After two straight years without, North Idaho players enjoy return of Hoopfest

Teams took to the streets — and parking lots, and parks — of downtown Spokane for the first Hoopfest since 2019.

Musings on famed 'Brawl of the Wild' Rivalry

MISSOULA – Washington-Grizzly Stadium will kick off the 144th annual gridiron skirmish between the visiting Montana State Bobcats and the host University of Montana Grizzlies Nov. 22. The rivalry began over a century ago in Bozeman back on November 26, 1897 and is reputed to be the 31st oldest among still active rivalries within NCAA Division I ranks and the 11th oldest west of the Mississippi River. Among active Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) rivalries it is considered to be the oldest west of the Mississippi River and 4th oldest overall.

AP Sports Digest

The highlights of Saturday’s AP Sports report. An up-to-the minute listing of all stories planned, including games and events, is available in Coverage Plan on AP Newsroom, http://newsroom.ap.org/coverageplan You can also find a link to Coverage Plan on the left navigation of the Newsroom home page, http://newsroom.ap.org

Griz QB Ah Yat honored on offense by Big Sky

The awards and helmet stickers are starting to stack up for Montana quarterback Keali’i Ah Yat, who was announced as the Big Sky Conference Offensive Player of the Week on Monday.