Champs Again: Ponies win tough Cut Bank Invitational

Having a healthy and full lineup makes a big difference in prep wrestling, and having both of those things back in their favor, the Havre High grapplers were back to looking as impressive as any team in the state.

A week ago at the Bozeman Invitational, the Central A Blue Ponies finished in eighth place as a team. Due to some sickness and injury, the team was less than 100 percent. But coming away with yet another championship team finish over the weekend, the Ponies are back on the rise, and close to hitting full stride once again.

Friday and Saturday, the Ponies were in Cut Bank for the Cut Bank Invitational. The Ponies finished No. 1 overall with an impressive 295 team points. Great Falls High was in a distant second with 256, while CMR finished in third place with 187.

“We had a real good turnout, especially compared to the week before,” Havre High head coach Scott Filius said. “But now Great Falls High is going through the same thing, last week they were healthy, had everybody in the lineup, and wrestled at a high level while we were shorthanded. And our guys didn’t necessarily wrestle at a high level last week. But this week, Great Falls High had some kids out and the guys they had were flat. We had all of our guys this week and our guys wrestled at a high level, so it does make a big difference having everybody in the lineup.”

And while some teams may be struggling, the HHS grapplers took full advantage and turned in a very dominating performance.

Overall, the Ponies placed 14 wrestlers in Cut Bank, including individual champions in Keegan Kennelly (106), Parker Filius (138) and Tyler Adams (220). Dylan Stewart (126), Kody Pribyl (145) and Jase Billy (195) also made the finals, but finished in second place. Logan Pleninger (113), Grayson Brenna (120), Jake Williams (170) and Travis Adams (285) all placed third, while Jase Stokes (152), Dustin Odegard (182) and John Chinadle (195) placed fourth, and Thomas Gruber (132) finished fifth.

Tate Munyon (98), Dane Flammond (126) and Jared Laux (160) also performed well but didn’t place amongst the tough field of wrestlers.

Pushing individuals deep into tournaments is always the goal of HHS and is the only way to consistently win these big tournaments. And if the Ponies can continue to wrestle well, place a dominating 14 grapplers and continue to improve, then they should continue to dominate this season.

“We competed and won a lot of close matches,” Filius said. “We were very disciplined on the edge this week, where as last week we were taking ourselves out of close matches and were very sloppy on the edge.”

In the championship round, Kennelly earned an impressive 11-1 major decision over Trevor Moore. Tyler Adams was also impressive with his pin of Eric Weaver in just 1:44. Filius also turned heads with his fall victory over growing rival Austin Shupe of Great Falls High. Filius pinned Shupe in 3:57. Shupe is still the only wrestler to defeat Filius this season.

But the entire weekend was full of big matches and dominating results.

On Friday alone, the Ponies recorded 19 wins by way of fall through the quarterfinals. And the Ponies didn’t waste much time for the most part. Stokes had a pin in the first round that took just 13 seconds, followed by a pin in the second round that took 34 seconds. Billy had two pins that took just 36 and 21 seconds, while Tyler Adams took down his second round opponent in 50 seconds.

“Cut Bank has always been a real nice place to wrestle,” Coach Filius said. “But we also had a nice week of practice and came out sharp. The kids came out sharp in matches too, and we were really on a roll. I was pleased.”

Another tough weekend awaits the Ponies when they travel to the Missoula Invitational Friday and Saturday.

Cut Bank Invite

Team scores -- Havre 295, Great Falls High 256, CMR 187, Choteau 161, Harlem 109, Flathead 106, Cut Bank 99, Conrad 82, Cascade 76, Lincoln 75.5, Browning 64.5, Chinook 63, Ronan 60, Fergus 60, Shelby 55, Shepard 45, Glasgow 42.5, Belt 41, Whitefish 37.5, Malta 36, Fort Benton 28, Big Sandy 13, Chester 11, Heart Butte 4, Jefferson 3, Poplar 3

Championship Matches

98 Cody DeVall defeated Chase DeBoo – Fall 3:36; 106 Keegan Kennelly defeated Trevor Moore – Maj Dec 11-1; 113 Jarren Komac defeated Garrett White – Fall 4:24; 120 Kenton Evans defeated Tate Niederegger – Dec 15-10; 126 Shay Snider defeated Dylan Stewart – Dec 6-0; 132 Teague Jones defeated Thomas McMillen – Dec 7-5; 138 Parker Filius defeated Austin Shupe – Fall 3:57; 145 Isiah Yates defeated Kody Pibyl – Dec 6-3; 152 Jared Dickson defeated John Pepos – T Fall 4:00; 160 Garrett Moritz defeated Nolan Simanton – Dec 6-5; 170 NA; 182 Randy Kessler defeated Ethan Blythe – Dec 5-1; 195 Jake French defeated Jase Billy – Dec 5-2; 220 Tyler Adams defeated Eric Weaver – Fall 1:44; 285 Axel Bladholm defeated Dakota Rutherford – Fall 3:12

3rd and 4th

98 Devin Altenburg defeated Tony Roso – Maj Dec 12-8; 106 Noah Durnell defeated Gavin Martin – Fall :50; 113 Logan Pleninger defeated Tyler Schilling – Maj Dec 11-0; 120 Grayson Brenna defeated Taner Stone – Fall 2:32; 126 Travis Vermulm defeated David Bennyhoff – Maj Dec 16-4; 132 Chase Rhine defeated Tyler Davis – Fall 2:20; 138 Casey Dobson defeated JJ Werdal – Fall 1:36; 145 Reid VandenBos defeated Brenden Johnson – Dec 7-4; 152 Kessler Leonard defeated Jase Stokes – Dec 11-5; 160 Brandon Bilbrey defeated Kage Hansen – Maj Dec 12-2; 170 Jake Williams defeated Travis Brugman – Dec OT 6-4; 182 Payton Sexe defeated Dustin Odegard – Fall 2:14; 195 William Ollinger defeated John Chinable – Dec 7-4; 220 Seth Adams defeated Streeter Stirling – Fall 1:43; 285 Travis Adams defeated Mike Irvine – Dec

5th and 6th

98 James Whitmus defeated Kai Krumweide – Fall :44; 106 Keaton Anderson defeated Jimmy Smith – Fall 2:37; 113 Donovan Moon defeated Kasey Seyfert – Dec 4-3; 120 Tyler Meyer defeated Conner Debruycker – Dec 8-0; 126 Josh Schmidt defeated Mitchell Heffernan – Fall 3:45; 132 Thomas Gruber defeated Cody King – T-Fall 4:19; 138 Jace Berkram defeated Jesse Johnson – Dec 3-1; 145 PJ Ayers defeated Nikko Bakkila – Dec 8-6; 152 Trey Stone defeated Colten Mcelhinney – Fall 2:06; 160 Nick Grasseschi defeated Robert Jennings – Default Injury; 170 Steeler French defeated Hunter Mycke – Dec 8-4; 182 Mateo Amado-Cattaneo defeated Noah Danielson – Fall 4:51; 195 Ron Kinyon defeated Tanner Ronness – Fall 1:38; 220 Denver Krone defeated Christian Cottingham – Dec 6-1; 285 Roberto Smith defeated Trent Noel – Fall :26

Friday

98

1st Round -- All received Byes; 2nd Round -- All Received Byes; Quarterfinals -- James Whirmus, SHP, p. Kai Krumweide, LEW 1:24; Chase Deboo, CHO, bye; Devin Altenburg, CMR, p. Tate Munyon, HAV 2:36; Cody DeVall, FHS, d. Tony Roso, CCS 8-2

106

1st Round -- All Received Byes

2nd Round -- Keegan Kennelly, HAV. p. Dillon Thorsteinson, WHI, 4:21; Quarterfinals -- Keegan Kennelly p. Michael Schmeusser, FHS, 3:23; Noah Durnell, CMR p. Jimmy Smith, BLT, 2:51; Gavin Martin, CMR JV, p. Kenneth Hawley, HAR, :32; Trevor Moore, CHO, p. Keaton Anderson, CUT, 2:52

113

1st Round -- All received Byes; 2nd Round -- Jarren Komac, GFH, p. Colton Hillyard, CCS 2:36; Travish Hawley, JEF, bye; Kasey Seyfert, GLA, d. Blade Massey, GFH, JV 7-4; Donovan Moon, CHI, p. James Buckley, WHI 1:30; Logan Pleninger, HAV p. Brodey White, SHE, 1:30; Tyler Schilling, GFH JV, p. Michael Wark, SHP, :30; Dyan Guzman, FHS, bye; Garrett White, EUR, p. Sage Cornelius, WHI JV, 1:10; Quarterfinals -- Jarren Komac p. Tavish Hawley 2:57; Donovan Moon d. Kasey Seyfert 7-6; Logan Pleninger md. Tyler Schilling 10-2; Garrett White d. Dyan Guzman 7-4

120

1st Round -- All Received Byes; 2nd Round -- Grayson Brenna, HAV, p. Tanner Tovson, CMR 1:17; Tate Niederegger, CHI, p. Austin Gabbert, FHS. 2:27; Tyler Meyer, GFH JV, d. Taner Stone, CHO, 7-2; Chad Landers, LEW, bye; Conner Debruycher, FTB, p. Doug Diangelis, CCS, 1:51; James Spence, SHP p. Caleb Mertz, CON, :47; Carter Durnell, CMR JV, p. Garrett Rice, WHI, 3:35; Kenton Evans, GFH, p. Chase Perry, GFH JV, :50; Quarterfinals -- Tate Niederegger d. Grayson Brenna 6-4; Tyler Meyer p. Chad Landers 3:22; Conner Debruycker p. James Spence 2:19; Kenton Evans p. Carter Durnell :23

126

1st Round -- Shay Snider, HAR, bye; Lane Garcia RON bye; Keenan Schipman MAL bye; Alec Moore SHP bye; Caleb Shegley GFH bye; David Bennyhoff CMR bye; Gavyn Wilson FHS bye; Travis Vermulm CUT bye; Dylan Stewart HAV bye; Dane Flammond HAV JV bye; Brandon Albert GFH JV bye; Jake Norby CHI bye; Cooper Dailey CON bye; Mitchell Heffernan GFH , bye; Christian Newby WHI; Hunter Grover LEW, p. Josh Schmidt EUR 5:18; 2nd Round -- Shay Snider p. Lane Garcia :28; Keenan Schipman p. Alec Moore 2:28; David Bennyhoff d. Caleb Shigley 4-1; Travis Vermulm p. Gavyn Wilson 3:34; Dylan Stewart p. Dane Flammond 1:12; Jake Norby p. Brandon Albert 1:34; Mitchell Heffernan p. Cooper Dailey 2:39; Christian Newby by DQ over Hunter Grover.; Quarterfinals -- Shay Snider p. Keenan Schipman :27; Travis Vermulm d. David Bennyhoff 7-3; Dylan Stewart md. Jake Norby 9-0; Mitchell Heffernan by INJ DEF over Christian Newby.

132

Round 1 -- Teague Jones HAR p. Jace Rogers CCS 2:21; Kaleb Venmeman WHI JV bye; Billy Birdwell LEW d. Tyrell Sylvester CUT JV R 9-4; Brooks Krause WHI JV bye; Jacob Miller GFH JV bye; Tyler Davis FHS p. Anthony Nosari CMR JV :35; Randon Anderson CUT bye; Morgan Koenig CON bye; Thomas Gruber HAV bye; Jamison Hermanson GFHJV p. Mitchel Fischer CHE 1:35; Cody King GLA p. Levi Lambertson EUR 1:40; Stetson Jore RON JV bye; Skyler Bowerman WHI p. T'Jay Allen HAR JV 3:33; Garrett Tanner GFH JV bye; Chase Rhine RON bye; Thomas Mcmillen GFH md. Tanner Farren CMR 11-3; Round 2 -- Teague Jones p Kaleb Venmeman :13; Billy Birdwell p Brooks Krause 5:04; Tyler Davis p Jacob Miller :18; Morgan Koenig p Randon Anderson :18; Thomas Gruber tf Jamison Hermanson 5:06; Cody King p Stetson Jore :48; Garrett Tanner d Skyler Bowerman 10-8; Thomas Mcmillen md Chase Rhine 11-3; Quarterfinals -- Teague Jones p Billy Birdwell 3:18; Tyler Davis d Morgan Koenig 6-5; Thomas Gruber p Cody King 3:01; Thomas McMillen p Garrett Tanner 3:44

138

Round 1 -- Austin Shupe GFH bye; Jeffrey Berger POP JV bye; Jessen LaFond MAL bye; Gunnar Aageson HAV JV d. Max Sechena CMR JV 7-0; Jace Berkram CUT p Steven Were CHO JV 1:23; Dakota Suta CON bye; Layne Gorder POP bye; Brandon Dumont RON bye; Casey Dobson GFH JV p John Bell HAR 1:42; James Dunn EUR bye; Daniel DeVall FHS bye; Darren Houle BRO bye; Jesse Johnson CCS bye; Parker Filius HAV bye; Chase Marmon CMR p Josh Solf BGS :54; JJ Werdal CHO bye; Round 2 -- Ausitn Shupe p Jeffrey Berger 3:52; Gunnar Aageson p Jessen LaFond 2:51; Jace Berkram p Dakota Suta 1:34; Brandon Dumont p Layne Gorder 2:33; Casey Dobson p James Dunn 2:32; Darren Haule p Daniel DeVall 3:17; Parker Filius d Jesse Johnson 7-1; JJ Werdal md Chase Marmon 10-0; Quarterfinals -- Austin Shupe p. Gunnar Aageson 2:49; Jace Berkram p Brandon Dumont 2:35; Casey Dobson p Darren Houle 1:16; Parker Filius d JJ Werdal 3-1.

145

Round 1 -- Kody Pribyl HAV p Duane Arnold WHI JV :53; Connor Benn RON bye; Thad Kucera LEW p Michael Nielson GFH JV 1:43; Morgan Bunnell SHP JV p Seth Moran CUT :1:12; Nikko Bakkila EUR p Lance Brannon EUR JV :31; Spencer Dougherty SHP p Casey Ward SHE :48; Hayden Eaton WYHI JV d Carter Epperson MAL 7-3; PJ Ayers FTB bye; Isiah Yates CMR bye; Zues Rutherford BRO md Kainan Lacasse GFH 10-1; Ben Rauscher CON JV p Cody Wood FHS 3:09; Brenden Johnson HAR bye; Chase Short GFH JV bye; Tyler Righter CON p Flint Brewer CHI :30; Judah Prestegaard WHI p Jeonghoon Kim RON JV :30; Reid VandenBos CUT p Steven Michal RON JV :21; Round 2 -- Kody Pribyl p Connor Benn 1:22; Thad Kucera p Morgan Bunnell :27; Nikko Bakkila p Spencer Dougherty 2:23; PJ Ayers p Hayden Eaton 1:29; Isiah Yates d Zues Rutherford 10-5; Brenden Johnon md Ben Rauscher 12-3; Tyler Richter d Chase Short 8-3; Reid VandenBos p Judah Prestegaard :27; Quarterfinals -- Kody Pribyl p Thad Kucera 5:09; Nikko Bakkila d PJ Ayers 14-10; Isiah Yates d Brenden Johnson 8-5; Reid VandenBos p Tyler Richter 1:59

152

Round 1 -- Trey Stone CHO bye; Jordan Moody LEW bye; John Pepos CCS p Jacob Schuster BGS 2:50; Marcus Jackson WHI JV bye; Nate Summers FHS bye; Jase Stokes HAV p Austin Taylor SHE :13; Javan Carrol CON JV bye; Matthew Sampson WHI p Ryan Tempel CHE 1:06; Kessler Leonard GFH bye; Ken Pruttis CHI p Austin Running Crane HTB 3:54; Colby Hammack EUR bye; Graydon Irish RON p Jacob Rasch JEF 3:09; Evan Finstad CUT bye; Colton Mcelhinney GFH d Brandon Gilham BRO 9-2; Kevin Hawley HAR bye; Jared Dickson CMR p. Tyler Schultz CON 3:35; Round 2 -- Trey Stone p Jordan Moody :27; John Pepos p Marcus Jackson 1:13; Jase Stokes p Nate Summers :34; Matthew Sampson d Javan Carroll 13-10; Kessler Leonard p Ken Pruttis 2:21; Colby Hammack md Graydon Irish 11-3; Colton Mcelhinney d Evan Finstad 6-0; Jared Dickson p Kevin Hawley 2:43; Quarterfinals -- John Pepos p Trey Stone 3:31; Jase Stokes p Matthew Sampson 1:34; Kessler Leonard p Colby Hammack 2:47; Jared Dickson md Colton Mcelhinney 11-3

160

Round 1 -- Nolan Simanton MAL bye; Joe Fehr EUR JV d Levi Garcia EUR JV 9-5; Joey Clark CHO bye; Adrian Gasvoda BGS p. Cory Kelly CHE JV :31; Nick Grasseschi CMR p Anthony Wright FHS 4:35; Jared Berkram CUT JV bye; Christian Peterson JEF bye; Kage Hansen SHE p Brandon French CON JV 5:48; Robert Jennings CUT bye; Tony Kaiser GLA p Jared Laux HAV 3:13; Denton Cornell HAR p Jordan Pierce MAL JV 2:56; Brandon Bilbrey GFH bye; Wyatt Miller LIN p Kal Running Crane HTB 2:50; Lawrence Gannon CCS bye; Dillon Kuntz CMR bye; Garrett Moritz CON p Brett Henke CHE :35; Round 2 -- Nolan Simanton p Joe Fehr 1:10; Joey Clark p Adrian Gadvoda 3:03; Nick Grasseschi p Jared Berkram 3:18; Kage Hansen p Christian Peterson 1:10; Robert Jennings p Tony Kaiser 2:40; Brandon Bilbrey p Denton Cornell 1:05; Wyatt Miller tf Lawrence Gannon 4:48; Garrett Moritz p Dillon Kuntz :18; Quarterfinals -- Nolan Simanton p Joey Clark, NTA; Nick Grasseschi d Kage Kansen 7-1; Robert Jennings d Brandon Bilbrey 4-2; Garrett Moritz p Wyatt Miller – Fall 1:16

170

Round 1 -- Hunter Croff BLT bye; Benn Grass SHP p Tucker Herzog JEF JV :22; Travis Brugman CMR p Michael Nagel MAL 2:22; Hunter Geiger JAV JV bye; Jake Williams HAV bye; Lance Massey GFH JV bye; Marcus Irvin SHE bye; Roman Lorance CCS p Cayden Adams BLT JV 1:34; Steeler French CHO bye; Samuel Deffinbaugh CHE bye; Logan Wilson FHS bye; Jesse Dannels CHI p Kevin Frigon GLA 2:46; Travis Catina WHI bye; Hunter Mycke CON p Brenden Zelenka JEF 2:41; Devin Blythe LEW p Anthony Butcher LEW JV :47; Walker Ferda GFH bye.; Round 2 -- Hunter Croff p Ben Grass 1:12; Travis Brugman by forfeit over Hunter Geiger; Jake Williams p Lance Massey 5:12; Roman Lorance p Marcus Irvin :32; Steeler French p Samuel Deffinbaugh 3:11; Logan Wilson p Jesse Dannels 1:27; Hunte Mycke p Travis Catina 3:12; Walker Ferda d Devin Blythe 6-5; Quarterfinals -- Hunter Croff md Travis Brugman 12-1; Jake Williams p Roman Lorance 1:18; Steeler French p Logan Wilson 1:11; Walker Ferda md Hunter Mycke 13-0.

182

Round 1 -- All Received Byes; Round 2 -- Ethan Blythe LEW p Christian Pfeifer SHP :37; Noah Danielson, CMR JV bye; Kevin Young CHI p Cody Lucke BRO 1:17; Dustin Odegard HAV p Mateo Amado-Carraneo GFH 2:44; Paxton Sexe CMR bye; Payton Boyce FHS p Lauren Christopher RON 3:20; Kiin Salois BRO JV tf Miles Plemmons EUR 5:50; Randy Keesler GFH p Drew Debolt CCS 2:56; Quarterfinals -- Ethan Blythe d Noah Danielson 4-0; Dustin Odegard tf Kevin Young 5:03; Payton Sexe p Payton Boyce :35; Randy Keesler p Kiin Salois 1:28

195

Round 1 -- Jake French CHO p Nate Williams GFH 2:26; Matt Carr WHI bye; Brandon Riggs JEF JV bye; Luiz Gonsalez RON bye; Denis Karasev JEF bye Zach Wippert BRO JV bye; Tyler Norstedt BLT p Ron Kinyon SHE 5:09; Tanner Ronness GLA bye; Travis Field CHO JV bye; Jacari Murphy CMR bye; Antonio Lopez MAL bye; William Ollinger BRO md John Chinadle HAV JV 13-0; Bradley Vanderbush CON bye; Wyatt Wickum CHE p Kaelan Yanak EUR, NTA; Jaiden Little Dog CUT bye; Jase Billy HAV bye; Round 2 -- Jake French p Matt Carr :24; Luiz Gonzalez p Brandon Riggs 1:03; Zack Wippert p Denis Karasev 2:41; Tanner Ronness p Tyler Norstedt 3:23; Travis Field p Jacari Murphy 3:22; William Ollinger p Antonio Lopez 1:26; Wyatt Wickum p Bradley Vanderbush 1:04; Jase Billy p Jaiden Little Dog :36; Quarterfinals -- Jake French p Luiz Gonzalez :33; Tanner Ronness d Zack Wippert 1:38; William Ollinger d Travis Fields 10-3; Jase Billy p Wyatt Wickum :21

220

Round 1 -- All Received Byes; Round 2 -- Tyler Adams HAV p Chisum Mavity SHP :50; Justin Pfiefer CUT d Walter Snyder CHO JV 6-1; Denver Krone CHO, p Nick Nordell, CMR 1:52; Che' Little Dog CUT JV over Gage Haugen CHI; Streeter Stirling SHE p Daniel Orcutt POP 1:20; Schristian Cottingham BLT over Eddie Daggett GLA; Pierceston Crawford GFH R p Jack Fritz CHE :53; Eric Weaver GFH p. Seth Adams HAR 3:54; Quarterfinals -- Tyler Adams d Justin Pfeifer 10-3; Denver Krone p Che' Little Dog 5:57; Christian Cottingham d Streeter Stirling 9-5; Eric Weaver p Pierceston Crawford 1:44

285

Round 1 -- Dakota Rutherford BRO, bye; Kalvin Rohrer CCS JV bye; K J Klingaman CMR bye; Lucas Dekker SHP bye; Joe Clemens CCS bye; Steven Quimby WHI bye; Trent Nowl HAR bye; Travis Adams HAV bye; Roberto Sith GFH bye; Colten Stiffarm HAR JV bye; Kelin King MAL bye; Treydon Hall BRO JV bye; Axel Bladholm FHS bye; Logan Williams HTB bye; Gerome Lamb MAL JV bye, Mike Irvine RON p. Tanner Mead RON JV :57; Round 2 -- Dakota Rutherford p Kalvin Rohrer 1:02; Lucas Dekker p K J Klingaman 3:53; Joe Clemens p Steven Quimby 1:36; Mike Irvine d Trent Noel 3-1; Travis Adams d Roberto Smith 8-2; Kelin King p Colten Stiffarm 1:30; Axel Bladholm p Treydon Hall 1:38; Gerome Lamb p Logan Williams 2:56; Quarterfinals -- Dakota Rutherford p Lucas Dekker :33; Mike Irvine p Joe Clemens 4:59; Travis Adams d Kelin King 2-1; Axel Bladholm md Gerome Lamb 11-1.