Bison, Missoula Invite await Pony wrestlers

Every tournament and dual on the Havre High wrestling team's schedule is a tough one. But this weekend may very well be the toughest three-day stretch the Blue Ponies will see all season.

Today the Central A Blue Ponies will dual Great Falls High in Great Falls. And Friday and Saturday, the Ponies will continue in competition as they travel to Missoula for the Missoula Invitational.

"This is probably our biggest grind of the year," Havre High head coach Scott Filius said. "The Rocky Mountain (Missoula Invite) is always just about the toughest tournament we go to and I expect that to be the same this year. And top that off with wrestling Great Falls, it's going to be a tough grind for the kids."

Facing the Bison tonight in a dual format will give the Ponies a very good look at themselves. But with the dual much sooner in the season than normal, the Ponies are going into the matchup somewhat blind.

But even with the Bison being a mystery, the Ponies can always guarantee a tough dual.

"I am not sure where their kids are at," Filius said. "And I am pretty sure they aren't real aware of where we're at either. It's just a good opportunity to go out and bang heads. I know who their real good kids are, but the bottom line is that they are going to be the typical Great Falls team, they are going to be real hard nosed and come after you."

Three kids the Ponies are aware of are Cole Mendenhall, Josh Morin and Dylan Mendenhall.

They continue to lead the way for the Bison and will prove to be tough matchups. Zack Smith (130), Dillon Seely (135) and Eli Hinebauch (145) will most likely take on the Bison's top three grapplers and should continue to impress Pony fans and coaches. But as far as team scores go, the Ponies will compete hard and well and should just prepare for a fight to the end.

"I don't know how the team score is going to shake up just because I don't know their whole team," Filius said. "But I fully expect to go in there and compete very well. Our kids have competed with everybody this year."

Making up the rest of the Havre lineup this weekend will be Nate Kennelly (105), Gilbert Bara (112), Duell Stadel (119), Thomas Gruber (125), Kameron Pribyl (152), Jake Williams (160), Tyler Adams (189), Josh Salapich (215) and Kolton Lodge at Heavyweight.

And the lineup will remain the same for the trip to Missoula Friday and Saturday.

But HHS has never wrestled immediately before the Missoula Invite, but is still excited for the new experience.

"We are kind of in uncharted territory," Filius said. "We normally don't have a match the night before (Missoula) so I guess we are going to find out how it turns out. Hopefully we will come out a little bit sharper than we would have otherwise."

And to compete, the Ponies will need to be sharp. With teams such as Kalispell, Glacier, Great Falls, CMR as well as all of the Class A and AA teams from the west and teams from Idaho and Spokane, it's going to be a tough couple of days.

We have real expectations of doing well and I don't think the kids are shirking from that," Filius said. "I think you will see them rise and do very well. For your good kids, you want them to win it. And for your kids that are on their way to be good, you want them to place. And for your young kids, you want them to get a couple of wins. Our goals change for whoever we are talking about, but by in large this time of year you want your kids to compete and contest everything."

This high level of competition comes at a perfect time for HHS. Next weekend are the Central A duals in Belgrade, and a weekend in Missoula should propel the Ponies into the conference matchups as well as the rest of their season.

"This will be a much higher level that we will face down in Belgrade for the Central A duals," Filius said. "But I think it's nice to raise that level before we run into what we are going to see in Belgrade."

Today the Ponies will dual Great Falls in Great Falls. And Friday-Saturday, the Ponies will continue in competition as they travel to Missoula for the Missoula Invitational.