Heading into the Mining City Duals, one of the most prestigious high school wrestling tournaments in Montana, experts may have pegged a young Havre Blue Pony squad as a contender, but perhaps not a team which could win a Mining City title this year. But the Blue Ponies cam ever-so-close to doing just that.

    Saturday night in Butte, HHS lost in the championship dual of the Mining City tourney, falling to Class A rival Sidney 42-40. The championship dual went right down to the final match, just as Havre and Sidney had to do to knock off a pair of Class AA powers earlier Saturday in the semifinals. The Ponies took down Bozeman 33-32 in the semis, while the Eagles beat Billings Skyview via a tiebreaker after their semifinal dual ended tied at 37-37.

    In all Saturday, the Ponies romped to 67-21 win over Flathead and a 45-31 win over Butte High to reach the semifinals, and that performance came on the heels of a 3-0 performance in the pool round of competition Friday.

    “Yeah it was a good weekend, and our strength was the fact that every kid is scrappy, and that is what it looked like this weekend,” Havre High head coach Scott Filius, who has guided the Ponies to a lot of Mining City success over the years said. “Overall, if you would have told me we were going to take second place, I would have been ecstatic. There were a lot more positives than negatives, and basically we got our conditioning exposed in the last dual. But that is a credit to Sidney that they exposed it, and that is a credit to our kids that it took seven duals for it to get exposed.”

    In the final dual against Sidney, one of Havre’s biggest rivals over the years, Logan Pleninger (105), Grayson Brenna (112), Thomas Gruber (130), Gilbert Bara (135) , Grant Pattison (189) and Dustin Odegard (HWT) all won matches for the Ponies. But after several forfeits, and a couple of close wins, the Eagles had just enough to edge the Ponies in what was the first Mining City championship not involving at least one Class AA team in quite some time.

    “That was the first time that has happened in the 25 years of the tournament, so yeah that was kind of rare,” Filius said. “But Sidney was a good matchup for us, we are both able to shuffle our lineups, but they were just able to shuffle a little more successfully.

    “Honestly, we did not approach championship  with as much intensity and effort as we had in previous duals,” he added. “ Basically, Sidney took it to us, and I would be lying if I said it was our best effort against them. But it was a very good weekend, and if we would of lost to anybody else but Sidney, we would still be grinning. But when you lose to somebody you compete against in your classification, you have to go back and reevaluate. But I was pleased, we beat all the big dogs and it was fun.”

    Havre did indeed beat the big dogs, including Bozeman twice. The Hawks are one of the top teams in AA this season, yet the Ponies nudged them 37-34 on Friday, and turned around and beat them in another close dual Saturday afternoon.

    “That was really big for our confidence,” Filius said of his team’s first win over the Hawks. ”And to be honest, that is probably the best we wrestled all weekend. We had tremendous effort from the top to the bottom of the lineup, and we really found out a lot about ourselves. That was a really fun dual for us I thought.

    “We did a good job of that (finishing strong at the end of matches) on Friday, but we didn’t too good of job of that on Saturday. That will be an area that we continue to focus on.,” he added.

    In Friday’s pool round, the Ponies not only beat the Hawks, but they also walloped Columbia Falls 69-13 and CMR 55-19.

    Overall, the Ponies went 82-42 in seven duals over the weekend. Havre forfeited at 125 pounds in every dual. Individually, Keegan Kennelly and Gruber went undefeated for Havre, while Pattison, Brenna and Tyler Adams each suffered just one loss.

    “There was a lot of leadership displayed by Brenna and Pattison this weekend,” Filius said. “Their performances were a big part of it, but they carried themselves very well, and took over the leadership reigns by being mature kids.”

    With a great weekend of wrestling in Butte behind them, the Ponies will now turn their attention to another big tournament. HHS will be at the CMR Holiday Classic Friday and Saturday in Great Falls.

2012 Mining City Duals

(Full Dual Results not made available)

Friday

Havre 69, Columbia Falls 13

Havre 55, CMR 19

Havre 37, Bozeman 34

Saturday

Havre 61, Flathead 21 (Championship Pool)

Championship

Sidney 42, Havre 40 (started at 130)

98 lbs. Keegan Kennelly (Havre) win by forfeit; 105 lbs. Logan Pleninger (Havre) def. Wyatt Vanburren (Sidney) pin at 2:48; 112 lbs. Grayson Brenna (Havre) def. Layne Shafer (Sidney) 13-1; 119 lbs. double forfeit; 125 lbs. Gresh Jones (Sidney) def. Dylan Stewart (Havre) pin at :39; 130 lbs. Thomas Gruber (Havre) def. Ryan Chatterson (Sidney) 10-5; 135 lbs. Gilbert Bara (Havre) def. Cody Johnson (Sidney) 12-10 OT; 140 lbs. Jordan Stevens (Sidney) def. Gunnar Aageson (Havre) pin at 2:17;  145 lbs. Bradyn Rooks (Sidney) def. Pribyl (Havre) 7-5 OT; 152 lbs. Spencer Brost (Sidney) def. Jordan Schroeder (Havre) pin at :22; 160 lbs. Cody Christian (Sidney) def. JT Belcourt (Havre) pin at 3:47; 171 lbs. Ryder Peterson (Sidney) def. Jake Williams (Havre) pin at 3:03; 189 lbs. Grant Pattison (Havre) wins by forfeit; 215 lbs. Dace Fisher (Sidney) def. Tyler Adams (Havre) 2-0; 285 lbs. Dustin Odegard (Havre) def. Josh Alexander (Sidney) pin at 1:34.

Semifinals

Havre 33, Bozeman 32

98 lbs. Keegan Kennelly (Havre) def. Jacob Gunter (Bozeman) 6-1; 105 lbs. Kale Evenson (Bozeman) def. Logan Pleninger (Havre) 8-2; 112 lbs. Grayson Brenna (Havre) def. Devyn Harris (Bozeman) pin at 1:50; 119 lbs. Dylan Stewart (Havre) win by forfeit; 125 lbs. Ben Mannion Bozeman) win by forfeit; 130 lbs. Thomas Gruber (Havre) def. Silas Hopkins (Bozeman) 9-5; 135 lbs. Aaron Gordon (Bozeman) def. Gilbert Bara (Havre) 13-6; 140 lbs. Finn Johnston (Bozeman) def. Gunnar Aageson (Havre) 13-5; 145 lbs. Ty Johnston (Bozeman) def. Kody Pribyl (Havre) 14-5; 152 lbs. Jordan Schroeder (Havre) def. Hunter May (Bozeman) pin at :54; 160 lbs. Douglas Bertelsen (Bozeman) def. J.T. Belcourt (Havre) 9-5; 171 lbs. Jake Williams (Havre) def. Cody Wiers (Bozeman) 8-4; 189 lbs. Keavon Buckley (Bozeman) def. Grant Pattison (Havre) 7-0; 215 lbs. Tyler Adams (Havre) def. Keyten Andersen (Bozeman) pin at 5:30; 285 lbs. Josh Felicia (Bozeman) def. Dustin Odegard (Havre) pin at 2:18.

Quartefinals

Havre 45, Butte 31

98 lbs. Keegan Kennedy (Havre) def. Blake Bowen (Butte) pin at :08; 105 lbs. Logan Pleninger (Havre) def. Tyler Ossello (Butte) pin at :59; 112 lbs. Grayson Brenna (Havre) def. Bridger Mooney (Butte) pin at 1:26;125 lbs. Joey Blunt (Butte) win by forfeit; 130 lbs. Thomas Gruber (Havre) def. Gage Weston (Butte) 10-3; 135 lbs. Levi Renz (Butte) def. Gilbert Bare (Havre) 7-1; 140 lbs. Jarrett Rowling (Butte) def. Gunnar Aageson (Havre) 13-4; 145 lbs. Tommy Challeen (Butte) def. Kody Pribyl (Havre) pin at 1:41;152 lbs. Bryce Armstrong (Butte) def. Jordan Schroeder (Havre) pin at 2:51;160 lbs. JT Belcourt (Havre) def. Nick Challeen (Butte) 12-8; 171 lbs. Lee Cannon (Butte) def. Jake Williams (Havre) pin at 5:26; 189 lbs. Grant Patterson (Havre) def. Daniel Kloepfel (Butte) pin at :52; 215 lbs. Tyler Adams (Havre) def. Johnny Walker (Butte) pin at :47; 285 lbs. Dustin Odegard (Havre) def. Billy Robinson (Butte) pin at 5:59.

Thursday

Butte Central Mixer

Teams — Anaconda, Butte Central, Corvallis, Hamilton, Havre and Livingston.

98 — Clay Stillwagon, BC, pinned Davvis, Cor. Stillwagon, BC, dec. Kennelly, Havre, 5-2. Kenneally, Havre, tech fall Trey Smollack, Ana, 16-1. Daffin, Cor, pinned Scholler, Ana, 1:55.

105 — Allsop, Cor, dec. Bryce Noctor, BC, 6-3. Noctor, BC, pinned Bess, Ham, :35. Pleminger, Havre, pinned Anderson, Ham, 1:10.Pleninger, Havre, dec. Allsap, Cor, 6-3. Meyer, Ana, tech. fall Banks, Ham. Dailey, Ana, pinned Bess, Ham, 1:10.

112 — Connor, Cor, dec. Brenna, Havre, 9-2. Anderson, Ham, pinned Kelly Dailey, Ana, :59. Scheffer, Ham, pinned Slone Ueland, Ana, 1:20. Brenna, Havre, tech. fall Banks, Ana. Conner, Cor, pinned Ueland, Ana, 2:35.

119 — Venema, Cor, pinned, Sean Cooney, BC, :39. Venema, Cor, dec. Thomas Moore, Ana, 11-3. Lubke, Ham, pinned Cooney, BC, 3:30. Lubke, Ham, dec. Moore, Ana, 6-4.

125 — Fairbrother, Cor, pinned Aidan Theard, Ana, :25.5. Funk, Ham, pinned Drew Vaughn, Ana, 33.9. Olsen, Cor, tech. fall Stewart, Havre, 16-1. Fairbrother, Cor, pinned Stewart, Havre, 2:42.

135 — Zach Hart, BC, pinned Burt, Cor, 3:25. Hart, Bc, pinned, Doodle, Liv, 1:10.Bara, Havre, pinned Albert, Ham, 2:45. Gruber, Havre, tech fall Few, Ham. Mason Mavrinac, Ana, pinned Doudle, Liv, 2:45.Few, Ham, pinned Luis Fernandez, Ana, 1:21. Mavrinac, Ana, pinned Bara, Havre, 2:11.

140 — Keighton Svejkovsky, BC, pinned Jessop, Cor, 3:15. Aageson, Havre, pinned Andrew Crum, Ana, 2:08. McComber, Liv, pinned Sturm, Ana, 1:25. Svejkovsky, BC, pinned Sturm, Ana, 1:04. Crum, Ana, pinned McComber, Liv, :14.6.

145 — Pribyl, Havre, pinned Borgen, Ham, :43. Jesse Cooper, Ana, pinned Fitzgerald, Liv, 2:55. Penno, Liv, pinned Holdaway, Ana, :28.6. Linville, Liv, pinned Holdaway, Ana, 3:28.

152 — Lott, Cor, pinned Perino, Liv, :41.3. Jessop, Cor, dec. Tompkins, Ham, 5-2.

160 — McCormick, Ham, major dec. Austin Flack, Ana, 15-3. Schroeder, Havre, pinned Flack, Ana, :37. Ethan Reich, Ana, pinned Schroeder, Havre, :26.8. Reich, Ana, pinned McCormick, Ham, 2:40.

171 — Belcourt, Havre, pinned McCrossin, Ham, 1:22. Williams, Havre, pinned Scheffer, Ham, 2:50. Williams, Havre, pinned Berdette, Cor, 1:10. Scheffer, Ham, pinned Michael, Ana, 1:20.Burdette, Cor, pinned Michael, Ana, :44. Jesson, Liv, pinned J.J. Zenahlik, Ana, :40. Jesson, Liv, pinned Belcourt, Havre, 2:05. McCrossin, Havre, pinned Zenahlik, Ana, 3:10.

189 — Pattison, Havre, pinned Jessop, Cor, 1:28. Pattison, Havre, pinned Giovani, Molina, Ana, :26. Whtiney, Ham, pinned Ben Holt, BC, 3:10. Molina, Ana, pinned Chance Standish, BC, 1:14.Jessop, Cor, dec. Holt, BC, 5-2. Whitney, Ham, pinned Standish, BC, :54.

215 — Seamus Tweedy, Ana, pinned Bastrup, Liv, 1:04. Odegard, Havre, pinned Schmidt, Cor, :16.2. Adams, Havre, dec. Weidow, Cor, 9-1. Bryce Wigert, Ana, dec. Odegard, Havre, 11-4. Adams, Havre, dec. Wigert, Ana, 9-4.