State Wrestling 2014: Ready for the Moment

One year ago, the Havre High wrestling team returned to glory and recaptured the Class A state championship. This year the Central A Blue Ponies are the No. 1 ranked team in the Class A, are coming off of another Central A divisional title, and are looking to be crowned as the Class A’s best program for the second consecutive season.

Including last year’s title, the Blue Ponies have won eight state titles under veteran head coach Scott Filius. But before returning to the top, the Ponies took third place two years ago and second place three years ago at state. However, before the second-place finish three years ago, the Ponies captured the state title four straight times, arguably making the HHS program a dynasty and one of the best to take the mat in the last decade.

But once a team gets a taste of being the best around, that success continues to be the goal.

“That is the goal of the kids and my goal as well,” Filius said. “That is what you work for, and we have never taken our eyes off of that. When I came in, that is the first thing that we did, we took the emphasis off of divisionals and put them on state, and we have had a lot of success by doing that. The kids have bought in for years and have high expectations for themselves.

“And we are ready,” Filius added about his team. “We had a great schedule all year long, and our kids have been battle ready from the Rocky Mountain Classic, Bozeman, the Cut Bank Invite, the Havre Invite, Great Falls and CMR. We are ready to roll, we just need to go out and wrestle like we are capable of, and we have been doing that, so really, we control our own destiny.”

Filius will take a lineup of 17 individual wrestlers to the Metra Park Rimrock Auto Arena in Billings this weekend for the Class A state tourney.

Making up that lineup will be 106-pounder Keegan Kennelly (division champion), 113-pounder Logan Pleninger (division champ), 120-pounder Grayson Brenna (division champ), 126-pounder Dylan Stewart (divisional runner up), 126-pounder Dane Flammond, 132-pounder Thomas Gruber (divisional runner up), 138-pounder Parker Filius (division champ), 138-pounder Gunnar Aageson, 145-pounder Kody Pribyl (division champ), 152-pounder Jase Stokes (division champ), 160-pounder Jared Laux (divisional runner up), 171-pounder Jake Williams (division champ), 182-pounder Dustin Odegard, 195-pounder Jace Billy (division champ), 195-pounder John Chinadle, 220-pounder Travis Adams (division champ) and 220-pounder Tyler Adams (divisional runner up).

Each of the Havre grapplers will have to wrestle well. The Ponies are considered a favorite to win the team title, but it may end up being a tight race. Sidney is always a frontrunner, and the Eagles enter with 11 divisional champions this year. But Columbia Falls may also find themselves in the race late, while they all three fend off the likes of Belgrade, Anaconda, Polson, Glendive and Corvallis, all teams which can score big points this weekend.

HHS isn’t looking past anybody this year, the Ponies never do. But they are aware of what they can accomplish if they continue to do what they have done all season long, wrestle smart, aggressive and at a high level. If the Ponies can manage to do those things, then being open at 98 pounds and heavyweight shouldn’t hurt their chances overall.

“I don’t know about a strong favorite, but we like our chances,” coach Filius said. “Our kids are prepared for the challenge and they will wrestle well. And that (having open weights) only hurts you if you don’t have quality in your other kids and we do. I would like to think that we have about 10 kids that have a shot at doing very well. I don’t want to single anybody out because none of them have an easy road, they will all be hard.

“We are going to do what we are capable of,” Filius added, “and we will be like all the rest of the teams, we will have matches that hurt when it’s over and some that feel good. That is just the nature of the beast, but we are going to try and put ourselves in a position to get as many of those good ones as we can.”

Billy finished in third place last year, but was one of the highlight wrestlers of the weekend after he went on a great run to get through the consolation round. Billy led 11 Blue Ponies to finish in the top six. Brenna (105) and graduate Grant Pattison (189) finished No. 1, while Kenelly (98) and Tyler Adams (215) both finished No. 2 a year ago. Stewart (112) and Pribyl (140) also both finished in third, while Pleninger (105) finished fourth, and Gruber (130) finished in fifth place. Graduate Gilbert Bara (135) and Travis Adams (215) also both finished in sixth place for Havre.

This weekend Billy, Brenna, Kennelly, Tyler Adams, Stewart, Pribyl, Pleninger, Gruber and Travis Adams all have a shot at placing again. All of the 17 HHS wresters should expect to do well, but Williams will also be looking to earn a top spot after a successful season, as is newcomer and freshman Parker Filius. He has a great shot at earning a state title in his first prep season, also giving him the opportunity to be a four-time champ, something HHS hasn’t seen in quite some time. In fact, Havre has a chance to parade quite a few wrestlers into the finals this weekend, including Kennelly, returning state champion Brenna and Tyler Adams, all grapplers who were in the finals a year ago.

And while the Ponies have several athletes that can emerge as champions, the Ponies know they need to get points whenever and wherever they can. For a team title, the third-, fourth-, fifth- and sixth-place finishes, as well as big bonus points and head-to-head wins over Sidney are just as important as the individual state championships. In fact, Havre’s depth has been one of the big reasons why the Ponies are always in the hunt for team titles under Filius. He’s cultivated a deep program, and it’s one which continues to earn points in all rounds of the state tournament.

“That is what separates your championship team from your second-place team,” Coach Filius said. “That is a huge focus. It is tough to wrestle after you get beat, but that is a reason why we go get a tough schedule, so all of our kids can end up with a loss. If you have a kid go undefeated, the schedule wasn’t tough enough. But our kids have great character, so I expect them all to have a great weekend.”

Havre High will begin its quest for a second straight state title and a ninth under Filius when the Class A state tournament gets underway Friday morning at 10 a.m. The tournament will run through Saturday’s finals which are set to begin at 4 p.m. All of the action will take place inside the Rimrock Auto Arena at Billings Metra Park.