Blue Ponies take down Rustlers

The Class AA CMR Rustlers came to town, but the Havre High Blue Ponies handled their own business.

The Central A Ponies hosted the Rustlers Tuesday night at the Havre High gymnasium. And the Ponies came away with the 52-27 victory.

But the Ponies' lineup was a little different on Tuesday.

HHS remained open at 98 pounds, but to fill the hole at 140, the Ponies had five grapplers move up in weight. Gilbert Bara usually wrestles at 112, but moved up to 119, and Duell Stadel who normally wrestles at 119 moved up to 125. Thomas Gruber also moved up to 130 from 125, while Zack Smith moved up to 135 from 130 and Dillon Seely moved up to 140 from 145.

Zack Plum also moved up from junior varsity to wrestle at 145 pounds.

"It was tough to weigh in three days last week and three days this week," Havre High head coach Scott Filius said. "And we had an open spot in the lineup (140) so we filled it by moving kids up. It made the matches more competitive, so it was all right. It's good to have to go out in competition and push a bigger body around and actually get your technique to solid up a bit."

The dual started at 98 pounds and the Ponies gave up six quick points with a forfeit. HHS also gave up a forfeit at 112 for another six points.

But when the wrestling began, the Ponies regained the lead and rarely faltered. The Ponies also earned points with one forfeit (Smith at 135 pounds), but recorded 10 wins and only three losses.

Ryan Otto (189) and Phil Selin (215) are two of the top wrestlers on the CMR squad. And in two solid matches, Otto and Selin defeated Jared Ruttkofsky (189) and Josh Salapich (215). Ruttkofsky was defeated by fall in 1:27 and Salapich was defeated by an 11-4 decision.

Plum (145) also lost by fall to CMR's Blake Cotton by a fall in 56 seconds.

"Their two best kids got us and we had junior varsity kid in there at 145 pounds," Filius said. "But we had four or five guys up a weight and they all won, so it was a good winning experience for us."

The rest of the Pony lineup earned wins.

Nate Kennelly (105) earned a 14-4 major decision over Braden Murphy, Bara (119) defeated Woody Buck in an 8-6 decision, Stadel (125) earned a fall over Tristan Janetski in 3:09, Gruber (130) earned a 6-4 decision over Jake Tri, Seely (140) earned a fall over Jacob Tacke in 38 seconds, Eli Hinebauch (152) earned a fall over Sam Wavra in 3:27, Kameron Pribyl (160) earned a fall over Justin LeBrun in 1:25, Casey Schaub (171) earned a fall over Austin Fisher in 2:22 and Tyler Adams (HWT) earned a fall over Braxton Hasner in 2:43.

"A lot of them were just dominating," Filius said. "But it's hard to give them a lot of kudos when you don't feel the competition was quite there. But our kids took the mystery out of it and that's what we wanted them to do."

HHS trailed 6-0 and 12-4 to start, but took the lead at 13-12 and never looked back.

Havre will return to the mat on Friday when they will host Conrad and Forsyth at the Havre High gymnasium. Wrestling will begin at 5 p.m.

Havre 52, CMR 27

98 – Nick Allison, CMR won by forfeit; 105 – Nate Kennelly, HHS maj. dec. Braden Murphy 14-4; 112 – Riley Wavra, CMR won by forfeit; 119 – Gilbert Bara, HHS dec. 8-6; 125 – Duell Stadel, HHS pinned Tristan Janetski 3:09; 130 – Thomas Gruber, HHS dec. Jake Tri 6-4; 135 – Zack Smith, HHS won by forfeit; 140 – Dillon Seely, HHS pinned Jacob Tacke :38; 145 – Blake Cotton, CMR pinned Zack Plum :56; 152 – Eli Hinebauch, HHS pinned Sam Wavra 3:27; 160 – Kameron Pribyl, HHS pinned Justin LeBrun 1:25; 171 – Casey Schaub, HHS pinned Sustin Fisher 2:22; 189 – Ryan Otto, CMR pinned Jared Ruttkofski 1:27; 215 – Phil Selin, CMR dec. Josh Salapich 11-4; 285 – Tyler Adams, HHS pinned Braxton Hasner 2:43.