Hi-Line Athlete Profile: Grayson Brenna, Havre Wrestling

Already a Class A state champion, Havre High's Grayson Brenna won't stop working hard

Looking at the Havre High history books, the Blue Ponies have no doubt been a dominant force in prep wrestling, both with state team titles and with almost endless individual talent.

Junior Blue Pony grappler Grayson Brenna is well on his way to leaving his name on that long list of HHS stars.

Brenna has been involved with Havre wrestling since a very young age. Signing up to compete with the Havre Wrestling Club at the age of five, Brenna has now been wrestling for over 12 years. But none have been as big as the last two for Brenna. As a freshman he wrestled at 98 pounds and took second at the Class A state tournament. Just last season, Brenna moved up to 105 pounds and captured an individual state title, as well as helping the Ponies capture another Class A state title as a team.

This season, Brenna wrestles at 120 pounds and has already gotten off to a great start. In the first weekend of the season, Brenna took first place at the Havre Invitational. In the championship round he pinned Great Falls High’s Tyler Meyer in 1:00, also key in helping the HHS team win the annual season opening tournament.

But Brenna has also dabbled in a little bit of everything growing up on the HI-Line. Growing up he played basketball, soccer, baseball and football. But after realizing wrestling was his best sport, Brenna chose to focus his efforts there. And it paid off, not only winning an individual and team state title, but also earning Academic All State honors the last two seasons.

Brenna is known as a hard-working grappler, too. He puts in countless errors with wrestling, and it’s certainly paying off as he’ll have a chance to be a three-time state champion before all is said and done.

Here are five questions with Brenna as he and the Blue Ponies get ready to embark on the Mining City Duals this weekend in Butte.

HDN: When and what first got you interested in wrestling?

Brenna: “My dad got me started in the Havre Wrestling Club when I was little. It started on and off and was just one of the many sports I did, but I really started to like it more and more when I got into middle school and then high school. I was little, so I think he was just getting me to do something to get all my energy out.”

HDN: What food or craving tempts you the most when trying to eat right and make weight?

Brenna: “It is mostly sweets and pop you have to try to avoid. Every once in a while you can have a little bit and that doesn’t hurt, but you can’t have a lot of it until after the season. We all just try to eat four to five meals a day, smaller portions of healthier, protein-filled foods.

HDN: If you weren’t a state caliber wrestler, what other sport or activity do you think you would have attempted in high school?

Brenna: “If I was bigger I would have liked to play football and I still kind of like baseball. My freshman and sophomore years I was pretty small, about 100 pounds, and guys were way bigger than me, but I still have favorite teams that I like to watch like the Broncos and Auburn Tigers.”

HDN: What is the transition like moving up in weight classes?

Brenna: “Mostly it is working out a lot over the summer and putting on muscle. That is where a lot of the weight gain comes from and it makes you stronger and better for the next year. I worked out a lot over the summer and really worked to get bigger. And most of the time you see the same kids moving up the same weight, and sometimes you wrestle new kids. But you use a lot of the same technique and work on a lot of the same stuff.”

HDN: What does the Havre wrestling program do differently than other programs to find the success it has found over the years?

Brenna: “I don’t really know about the other programs around the state, but we do a lot of conditioning and strength training early. Everything we do is so it pays off late in the year when it counts. We just work hard all year long and use that conditioning from the beginning of the year as motivation. Before the Christmas break a lot of kids aren’t in the best shape, but once you start to get out of that break, kids are starting to learn and use more technique and their strength and conditioning. By the end of the year you can really see the changes.”