Ponies mine gold in Butte, again

There’s just something about the Havre Blue Ponies and the Mining City Duals. No matter the season, no matter the generation, the Blue Ponies are also in the mix at the prestigious dual tournament in Butte.

And for the second straight year, the Blue Ponies left Butte as Mining City Duals champions. Saturday night, Havre edged defending Class AA state champion Great Falls High in the championship dual to claim yet another Mining City title under head coach Scott Filius.

“I thought the kids worked very hard and raised their level on intensity in each dual,” Filius said. “It's a fun weekend because the kids come together as a team, and I thought it was a great experience and it was great to win it again.”

And Havre beat the Bison in dramatic fashion, by a score of 36-30. The dual came down to a battle of two of the best wrestlers in all of Montana in Blue Pony senior Grayson Brenna and GFH junior Jarren Komac. Their 132-pound match was the difference in the dual, as Brenna defeated Komac 6-5. Both are former state champions, and it was a monumental win for Brenna, who lost to Komac twice at last week’s Havre Invitational.

And as expected, the dual between the two deepest wrestling programs in Montana was intense throughout. The Bison were missing a pair of starters, but their depth showed through as they battled HHS all the way. GFH picked up wins at 103, 38, 152, 160 and 182 pounds to make things interesting. But, Keegan Kennelly and Logan Pleninger earned pins at 120 and 126 pounds, respectively, and bonus points were key in the match.

And in another crucial matchup, Blue Pony sophomore Parker Filius worked is way to a 9-4 win over GFH star Casey Dobson to keep Havre in the hunt. And in the upper weights, Jase Stokes (170), Jace Billy (205) and Travis Adams (HWT) all picked up pins to help Havre stave off the Bison.

The Mining City Duals features all of Class AA, as well as some of the top Class A programs in the state, and in the semifinals, HHS ran into an old nemesis, as the Ponies took on the Sidney Eagles. Like the championship bout, the match between HHS and Sidney was just as fierce, but the Ponies were able to pull away from the Eagles, winning 40-30.

In the victory over their bitter Class A rival, Havre got key wins from Brenna, Filius, Billy and Adams, all by way of pin. But Kody Pribyl’s 11-6 decision at 160 pounds, as well as Dylan Stewart’s pin at 120 pounds were the difference in the matchup.

Overall, Havre was a perfect 7-0 in the tournament. HHS opened up Friday by easily winning its pool. Havre defeated Anaconda 57-0, Billings Senior 33-22 and CMR 40-27. In elimination action Saturday, Havre bested Billings West 57-9, then took down former Class AA power Kalispell Flathead 50-18 to advance to the semifinals.

Highlights for the Ponies also included Adams and Filius both going a perfect 7-0, while freshman Ryan Stewart was 4-0 on the weekend.

“I was really proud of our young kids,” coach Filius said. “(Dane) Flammond, Tyler Schaub and Ryan Stewart all wrestled really well. Sometimes it's hard for those young kids this weekend because the competition is so good. But they competed really hard and they never backed down, so that was good to see”

With another Mining City title in the books, the powerful Ponies will now turn their attention to the top regular season tournament around. The Ponies will try and unseat the Bison at this weekend’s CMR Holiday Classic in Great Falls. The tournament, in which HHS finished second a year ago, starts Friday morning and runs through Saturday night at the CMR Fieldhouse.

“We need to get better at scoring points on the edge and scoring at the ends of periods,” Filius said. “Other than that, we just need to keep working hard and competing at a high level.”

Mining City Duals Championship

Havre 36, Great Falls 30

103 – Caleb McMillen (GF) pin Ryan Stewart, 1:50; 113 – Russell Wienholz (GF) by forfeit; 120 – Keegan Kennelly (H) pin Tyler Loch, 5:41; 126 – Logan Pleninger (H) pin Chase Perry, 2:28; 132 – Grayson Brenna (H) dec. Jarren Komac, 6-5; 138 – Jordan Komac dec. Dane Flammond (H), 4-2; 145 –Parker Filius dec. Casey Dobson (GF) 9-4; 152 – Gage Bentley (GF) pin Gunnar Aageson, 3:03; 160 – Kessler Leonard (GF) dec. Kody Pribyl, 8-4; 170 – Jase Stokes (H) pin Kainan Lacasse, :57; 182 – Randy Keesler (GF) pin Tyler Schaub, 3:40; 205 – Jase Billy (H) pin Pierceston Crawford, :13; HWT – Travis Adams (H) pin Colten Rue-Zindell, 1:58

Semifinals

Havre 40, Sidney 30

103 – Ryan Stewart (H) by forfeit; 113 – Wyatt Vanburen (S) by forfeit; 120 – Dylan Stewart (H) pin Waylon Vanburen, 3:23; 126 – Gresh Jones (S) pin Logan Pleninger, 1:51; 132 – Grayson Brenna (H) pin Brady Gorder, 1:22; 138 – Ethan Graves (S) dec. Dan Flammond, 4-2; 145 – Parker Filius (H) pin Bridger Coffmann, :35; 152 – Ryan Chatterton (S) pin Gunnar Aageson, 1:54; 160 – Kody Pribyl (H) dec. Doug Rooney, 11-6; 170 – Cody Johnson (S) dec. Jase Stokes, 5-1; 182 – Cody Christian (S) pin Tyler Schaub, 1:11; 205 – Jace Billy (H) pin Hunter Severson, 2;22; HWT – Travis Adams (H) pin Christian Gomez, 3:00

Notes: Havre was awarded an additional team point because of unsportsmanlike conduct. Also, no other dual results were made available to the media.