The loss one step short of the state championship game motivated Marcus Wehr for a full year. When the Billings Central defensive end and his teammates earned another shot at the Hamilton Broncs, this time in the state championship game in November, Wehr did not want it to slip away.
As a junior, Wehr and the Rams fell 35-28 in the semifinals of the Class A playoffs to Hamilton.
“That really stung me really hard,” Wehr said. “I just went in the weight room the next weekend and had it in my mind and I was like, ‘Next year we are going to win this thing.’”
On November 17, Wehr missed the annual rivalry game between Montana and Montana State in Missoula. He estimates it was the first Cat-Griz game “I had ever missed in my life that I can remember.” But Wehr could be forgiven for not being at Washington-Grizzly Stadium for Montana State’s epic 29-25 victory. He was in the midst of claiming his own state championship.
The Rams put the clamps down on Hamilton’s previously unstoppable offense on the way to a gritty 28-21 victory.
“We basically had everybody returning,” Wehr said. “That semifinal game (in 2017) basically had all juniors in it. That entire team came back this year with that spirit in mind, that goal and the dream came true.”
While Wehr and his teammates were celebrating on Hamilton’s pristine new field, Montana State was celebrating one of the most memorable wins in the 117-matchup rivalry that serves as one of the fiercest in college football.
The Montana-bred defensive quartet of defensive tackles Tucker Yates (Colstrip) and Chase Benson (Helena), linebacker Grant Collins (Bozeman) and defensive end Derek Marks (Belgrade) collaborated to forced and recover a fumble on the goal line with less than 10 seconds to play to preserve the first three-game winning streak for the Bobcats over the Grizzlies in more than 30 years.
Less than 48 hours later, Wehr, who admits to spending most of his pre-high school days rooting for the Grizzlies, gave his verbal commitment to the Bobcats. Exactly one month after giving that pledge, Wehr signed his National Letter of Intent to join Jeff Choate’s roster on December 19.
“That was the first Cat-Griz game I’ve ever missed and it was probably the best one there ever was,” Wehr said. “It all starts with finishing. That was our motto as a team at Central. That finish really told me what type of team Montana State is. Even if they were down by 22, they still fought and that really shows what they were made of.”
Choate did not watch the Class A state championship game live. But when he got his hands on the film, it only solidified that ramping up Wehr’s recruiting over the second half of his senior season was the right choice.
The 6-foot-3, 220-pounder made two of his season total of 15 tackles for loss in the state title game. Central held Hamilton junior quarterback Carson Rostad, the 2018 Montana Gatorade Player of the Year, to 186 yards passing, well below his season average.
“You watch him in the state championship game against Hamilton and he’s making play after play when they need it against a really good football team,” Choate said. “He’s a high motor kid. We were in a battle for him to get him and I think the fit just felt right for him.”
Growing up, Wehr remembers gravitating toward the small-town lifestyle. He has spent most of his summers working on his grandfather’s farm in Chester helping with crops of wheat, lentils and peas.
“I love being in the small town and it’s a nice get away from Billings,” Wehr said.
That interest in agriculture — he plans on majoring in ag business at Montana State — combined with his family ties to MSU (both his parents are alums), Choate’s high priority on academics and MSU’s recent upward trajectory helped solidify his decision to become a Bobcat.
“Coach Choate is really into academic success and that’s his main goal for the team,” Wehr said. “You have to keep above a 3.0 GPA and that really is important to him and it’s really important to me.
“And the coaching staff, I’ve heard a lot of good things from previous players and my coaches. I really like (defensive line) Coach (Byron) Hout and Coach Choate. They are great guys.”
As for his prior allegiance to the Griz, Wehr said it stemmed from sibling rivalry more than anything else.
“It was mostly because my older brother was a ‘Cat fan and I wanted to disagree with him so I went with the Griz,” Wehr said. “I didn’t think of myself as a Cat. But it wasn’t hard to choose the ‘Cats. As I grew up, I kind of found out what both programs mean and I knew Montana State was the one for me.
“When you are young, you are like, ‘I like the Griz’ because I thought of it as ‘A Griz could probably take a ‘Cat in a fight.’ That’s what I thought. Not anymore.’”
As a senior, Wehr was credited with 38 tackles, 15 tackles for loss and five sacks according to his MaxPreps profile. He is projected to play at Montana State’s strong end “5I” position on defensive coordinator Ty Gregorak’s odd-man front defensive alignment.
“This kid’s got a little edge to him,” Choate said on December 19. “You get to know him, he’s quiet on the phone and then you get around him, he’s got a lot of personality. Really good family, great high school program, consistently produces on film.”
Wehr fielded offers from Montana, Dickinson State and Rocky Mountain College along with strong interest from Carroll College. He said Billings Central head coach Jim Stanton helped him navigate the recruiting waters. Completing the process and making the decision to solidify his immediate future provided a sense of relief.
“It feels great just to get the college decision over with so I can focus on whatever I want,” Wehr said. “There’s a lot of stress with this. It’s hard to tell people you are going somewhere else and then they are disappointed. There’s just a lot of stress going through it, calling coaches, going everywhere. This is a huge relief and I’m so happy to be a part of Montana State.”
