Road to Billings: Ponies pin Rustlers

For just the second time this season, the Havre High wrestling team got to compete in front of its hometown fans. And the fans that ended up attending the Blue Ponies' dual against CMR did not walk away disappointed.

On senior night inside the HHS gymnasium Thursday night, Havre showed why it's been the top-ranked team in Class A all season long as the Ponies dismantled CMR by the final score of 42-16. It was an impressive follow-up performance to Havre's first-place finish at the Jug Beck Rocky Mountain Classic in Missoula last weekend, and a great way to send the senior class out on a high note.

"It was a good performance," HHS head coach Scott Filius said. "We got all the seniors in tonight and they performed well, so I was pleased with them."

While senior night is always a special night, it meant something even more to Havre senior Jordan Schroeder, who wrestled at 182 pounds for the Ponies after missing the entire football season and all of the wrestling season up to this point due to injury.

Schroeder picked a good time to return to the mat and made sure that he made the most of his opportunity by pinning CMR's KC Buday in 2:36.

"It felt good," Schroeder said when asked how it felt to be back in action. "I hadn't wrestled since last year at the Havre invite so I was pretty anxious to get out there. I need to work on getting my conditioning a little better, but I felt pretty good out there."

In all, the Ponies captured nine of the 13 matches, with one of the losses coming via forfeit at 113 pounds. Parker Filius opened the dual with a win for the Ponies at 145 pounds after pinning Tanner Grubb in 1:20, and from there the Ponies didn't look back.

At 152 pounds, another Havre senior, Gunner Aageson made the most of his last home match, knocking off Max Sechena by way of a 7-6 decision. At 120 pounds, fellow senior Dylan Stewart took care of business with a win by fall in 1:37, while at 132 pounds, senior Grayson Brenna defeated Jake Artis 16-0 in a technical fall.

The other Havre seniors in action were Jace Billy, who lost a close decision to Payton Sexe 5-4 in the 205-pound weight class and John Chinadle, who lost a 14-5 major decision to Nick Grasseschi at 170 pounds.

One of the few losses on the night for the Ponies came at 103 pounds, where Devan Altenburg of CMR defeated Ryan Stewart of Havre with a 3-0 decision. But the remainder of the matches were dominated by Havre.

At 160 pounds, Jase Stokes pinned Ryan Lukasik in less than a minute to earn the win, while at 126 pounds, Logan Pleninger earned a 10-0 decision over CMR's Noah Durnell, and at 138 pounds

Dane Flammond of Havre also had an impressive performance with a 7-0 decision over David Bennyhoff.

"I was really happy with Flammond," Filius said. "That kid (Bennyhoff) had beaten him up three times and tonight we beat him 7-0 so I was really pleased with that. And that's good improvement on his part."

Closing things out for the Ponies in the heavyweight division was Travis Adams, who notched a 3-0 decision over Nick Nordell to help Havre cruise to the 26-point victory.

Havre will be back in action this Friday, when the Ponies will travel to Belgrade for the first day of the Class A Duals. The tournament will run through Saturday.

Havre 42, CMR 16

103 – Devan Altenburg CMR, dec. Ryan Stewart, Havre, 3-0.; 113 – Teagan Sowers, CMR, wins by forfeit; 120 – Dylan Stewart, Havre, pinned Tanner Tovson, CMR, 1:37; 126 – Logan Pleninger Havre major dec. Noah Durnell, CMR, 10-0; 132 – Grayson Brenna, Havre, tech. fall Jake Artis, CMR 16-0; 138 –Dane Flammond, Havre dec. David Bennyhoff, CMR, 7-0; 145 –Parker Filius, Havre, pinned Tanner Grubb, CMR, 1:20; 152 – Gunner Aageson, Havre, dec. Max Sechena, CMR, 7-6; 160 – Jase Stokes, Havre, pinned Ryan Lukasik, CMR 0:55; 170 – Nick Grasseschi, CMR, major dec. John Chinadle, Havre, 14-5; 182 – Jordan Schroeder, Havre, pinned KC Buday, CMR, 2:36; 205 – Payton Sexe, CMR, dec. Jace Billy, Havre, 5-4; 285 – Travis Adams, Havre, dec. Nick Nordell, CMR, 3-0.