Pony grapplers look to step up in Cut Bank

If the Havre High wrestling team can continue to get healthy and plug some holes in the lineup, then the Central A Blue ponies should be able to return to their early season dominance.

Last weekend in Bozeman, the Ponies found themselves finishing the weekend as the No. 8 team. But with some key injuries, including Jace Billy at 195 pounds, and some late scratches due to the dreaded cold and flu season, it was clear that the Ponies were less than 100 percent. Prior to Bozeman the Ponies had either won, or finished in second place at each of the tournaments they competed at this season.

Friday and Saturday the Ponies will look to rebound at the Cut Bank Invitational in Cut Bank.

“Last week we had several guys get sick and out of the lineup,” Havre High head coach Scott Filius said. “But everybody has to deal with that stuff, that sickness is going to go through everybody, and we still have some guys struggling. But we are a lot closer to being back, and we are getting a lot better.

“Everything is a stepping stone towards the end,” Filius added. “I would like all my kids to be as good as they can be every week so we can improve, but I don’t know if it is necessary every week. It is tough to peak every week, but we need to improve every week.”

A year ago the Ponies dominated the competition in Cut Bank.

But with teams like Choteau, Lewistown, Harlem, Great Falls High, Cut Bank, Chinook, Eureka, Whitefish, Conrad, Glasgow, Wolf Point, CMR, Browning, Malta, Fort Benton, Big Sandy, Cascade-Simms, Chester/J-I, Shelby, Jefferson, Poplar and Heart Butte also in attendance, there will be plenty of team and individual talent to test the Ponies. Last year the Ponies finished in first place with 247 points. Choteau was second with 217 and Lewistown was a distant third with 159. This year the varsity lineups from CMR, GFH and Kalispell Flathead will also be in attendance, making the talent pool even deeper.

The Ponies had a handful of individuals place in the top six, while Keegan Kennelly and Grayson Brenna led the way with individual championships. Kody Pribyl and Jordan Schroeder also made the championship round and returned to Havre each with second-place finishes.

“There are going to be a lot of good wrestlers from the smaller schools as well as bigger schools,” Filius said. “It is going to be fun, and we always wrestle well there.”

If HHS can get to 100 percent, expected grapplers will be Tate Munyon (98), Keegan Kennelly (106), Logan Pleninger (113), Grayson Brenna (120), Dylan Stewart (126), Thomas Gruber (132), Parker Filius (138), Kody Pribyl (145), Gunnar Aageson (145), Jase Stokes (152), Jayson Kohler (160), Jordan Schroeder (160), Jake Williams (170), Dustin Odegard (182), Tyler Adams (220), Billy (195), and Travis Adams (285).

Dane Flammond (126) and Jared Laux (160) have also been in and out of the varsity lineup this season.

Friday and Saturday the Ponies will be in Cut Bank for the stellar Cut Bank Invitational wresting tournament.