Area grapplers wrestle hard in Havre

Several local wrestling teams got their season started this weekend in Havre, and a handful of area wrestlers performed very well amongst some of the state’s top competition.

Friday and Saturday at the annual Havre Invitational, the Chinook Sugarbeeters, Big Sandy Pioneers and Chester/J-I Hawks all faced a tough field of 14 other Class C, Class B, Class A and Class AA teams. And while the smaller Hi-Line programs struggled to come up with team points against the tough field that housed the likes of Havre, Great Falls High, and CMR, they did get plenty of matches and some decent performances.

Chinook finished as the No. 9 team with 33 points, and both Big Sandy and Chester/J-I tied at No. 12 with three team points each.

The Beeters were able to finish with one third-place wrestler, two fourth-place wrestlers, and one sixth-place wrestler.

Junior Tate Neideregger was the No. 3 finisher at 126 pounds after going 3-1 Saturday. Neideregger earned a first round bye, but followed with a pin over Libby’s Dylan Roby (1:59) in the quarterfinals. Great Falls High’s Kenton Evans earned a 2-0 decision over Neideregger in the semifinals, but Neideregger bounced back with two consecutive wins in the consolation bracket. Neideregger defeated Havre’s Dane Flammond 4-2, then CMR’s David Bennyhoff 4-1 for a third place finish.

Garrison Mitcell (106) was 0-2 Saturday but earned a fourth-place finish because of the small weightclass. But Ken Pruttis (160) earned the No. 4 finish after a 2-2 outing Saturday. Pruttis was pinned in the quarterfinals after, but earned a pin and a decision win to land in the third place match. Nick Grassisch of CMR pinned Pruttis in 2:57 to end his afternoon.

Gage Haugen (HWT) also went 0-3 for a sixth place finish, while Jesse Dannels (170) went 1-2, and Kevin Young (182) went 2-2, but did not place in the top six. Donovan Moon (126), Alexander Rimkus (132), Raja Singh (152), and Flint Brewer (160) all went winless, but did gain valuable matches over the two day invite.

The Pioneers got solid production from senior Adrian Gasvoda (170). Gasvoda lost in the first round to Havre’s Jordan Schroeder, but saw some success in the consolation bracket. Gasvoda pinned Jesse Dannels in just 56 seconds, but got pinned by Cut Bank’s Robert Jennings (4:49) in the consolation quarterfinals.

And for the Hawks, they had three grapplers get some mat time.

Ryan Tempel (160) lost in the first round after being pinned in 1:08 to Alex Yeadon of Libby, but pinned Cut Bank’s Jared Berkram in 42 seconds in the secon round of the consolation bracket. In the quarterfinals he was pinned by Sean Cooney of Butte Central in 2:13. Sam Deffinbaugh (182) and Wyatt Wickum (195) were also in action, but both went 0-2 Saturday.

It is tough to compete against some of the giant programs that will be pushing for team titles at state later this season, but Big Sandy, Chester/J-I, and Chinook made another strong showing as another wrestling season got underway on the Hi-Line.