County teams ready for first day of practices

Posted 8/6/25

The Montgomery County Wildcats and Wellsville-Middletown Tigers will start their fall sports practices for the 2025 season on Aug. 11.

Locations and times for the practices are yet to be …

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County teams ready for first day of practices

First-year Montgomery County volleyball coach Carli Bleyle gives instructions to her team during a camp in June.

Theo Tate photo

Posted Thursday, August 7, 2025 10:06 am

The Montgomery County Wildcats and Wellsville-Middletown Tigers will start their fall sports practices for the 2025 season on Aug. 11.

Locations and times for the practices are yet to be determined. They are decided by each coach. MCHS has football, volleyball, softball and cross country, while W-M has softball and cross country.

According to MSHSAA rules, individuals must complete 14 practices before they are able to participate in a contest. They are not allowed to practice without a current physical that is filed by the coach or school.

MCHS is holding a fall activity parent meeting at 7 p.m. on Aug. 10 at the high school gym. Anyone who plans to compete in a sport or activity is expected to attend with at least one parent/guardian.

Montgomery County Wildcats

The Wildcats football team will have a new coach in Matt Smith for the 2025 season. He replaces John Klekamp, who headed the program for 15 years. The Wildcats will have a jamboree at 6 p.m. on Aug. 23 at Winfield High School before kicking off their regular season schedule the following Friday with a road game against Hermann. MCHS finished 3-7 in the 2024 season.

The volleyball team will also have a new coach this fall. Carli Bleyle takes over duties for Rachel Leu. Her team has a jamboree on Aug. 22 at Orchard Farm before beginning its regular season on Sept 2 with a road game against Hermann. MCHS won just four matches in 2024.

Chasity Rodgers returns as the head coach of the cross country team, which starts its season on Aug. 29 at the Fort Zumwalt North Twilight Invitational. The Wildcats had two state qualifiers last year.

The softball team has a jamboree at Kiwanis Fields at 5 p.m. on Aug. 25 before starting its regular season on Aug. 30 with the MOCO Fall Classic, which will also be played at Kiwanis Field. The Wildcats won a school-record 22 games last year.

Wellsville-Middletown Tigers

The softball team starts its season on Aug. 29 with a road game against Community R-6. The cross country team has a new coach in Skylar Durham and starts its season on Sept. 8 at the Van-Far Invitational.