ALL-TIME BOBCATS: Jim Ario
5/26/2019 4:00:00 PM | Football
A rugged lineman whose life ended much too early, Jim Ario anchored excellent lines in the '20s
MAY 26: Each day until Montana State's 2019 season opener the staff of Bobcats By The Numbers will offer a look at one of the players to make one of the school's all-time teams, in alphabetical order. On November 21, 1933, The Exponent announced 37 players selected by a panel of former players and coaches, divided into three teams that comprised Montana State's "mythical" all-time team. In 1969, the Billings Gazette's Norm Clarke conducted a poll to select the school's all-time team, and again in 2000 Bobcat Athletics and the Billings Gazette selected a third all-time team. The BBTN staff added players from the 21st century.
Jim Ario, C, RG, 1925-27
ALL-TIME TEAM: 1933 Exponent 1st Team
HONORS: Honorable Mention All-Rocky Mountain Conference, 1927.
A CLOSER LOOK: Jim Ario anchored an excellent Bobcat line during a strong run of success in the mid-1920s. Under coach Ott Romney's direction, the Cats compiled a 14-11-1 record during Ario's three seasons on the Bobcat varsity, but the team was 7-1 in RMC play in 1927-28. That was easily the program's most successful two-year stretch in the 'old' Rocky Mountain Conference that featured regular contests against BYU, Utah, Utah State and Wyoming (among others).
FROM THE EXPONENT: "A powerful guard who used his height and speed to great advantage. A hard smashing line man who never stopped fighting. He was rated by many as the best interference runner of them all. One of the mainstays of the line, he would smash his way through to smear the opponents before they reached the line of scrimmage."
Also, from In Memoriam in the same edition of the Exponent: "James Ario was the outstanding guard of the Bobcat football team in 1924 (sic). He was born June 14, 1903, and was deceased in November, 1932. Ario spent his childhood in Great Falls where his parents are living now."
Jim Ario, C, RG, 1925-27
ALL-TIME TEAM: 1933 Exponent 1st Team
HONORS: Honorable Mention All-Rocky Mountain Conference, 1927.
A CLOSER LOOK: Jim Ario anchored an excellent Bobcat line during a strong run of success in the mid-1920s. Under coach Ott Romney's direction, the Cats compiled a 14-11-1 record during Ario's three seasons on the Bobcat varsity, but the team was 7-1 in RMC play in 1927-28. That was easily the program's most successful two-year stretch in the 'old' Rocky Mountain Conference that featured regular contests against BYU, Utah, Utah State and Wyoming (among others).
FROM THE EXPONENT: "A powerful guard who used his height and speed to great advantage. A hard smashing line man who never stopped fighting. He was rated by many as the best interference runner of them all. One of the mainstays of the line, he would smash his way through to smear the opponents before they reached the line of scrimmage."
Also, from In Memoriam in the same edition of the Exponent: "James Ario was the outstanding guard of the Bobcat football team in 1924 (sic). He was born June 14, 1903, and was deceased in November, 1932. Ario spent his childhood in Great Falls where his parents are living now."
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