Road To Billings: Ponies own the Central A mats

The wrestling meet the Havre Blue Ponies have been waiting for, the All-Class state meet, is finally the last one remaining on their schedule after they dominated the Central A divisional meet Saturday in Livingston.

And thanks to the wrestling clinic the Ponies put on in Livingston, they will send 16 individuals to state this weekend in Billings. In fact, every Havre wrestler that competed at divisionals qualified for state with no HHS wrestler finishing worse than third Saturday.

In the team competition, Havre cruised to a first-place finish with an incredible 334.5 points to finish well ahead of second-place Lewistown, which managed 136. In third place was Belgrade with 129 points, followed by Browning in fourth 126.5 and Livingston in last with just 79.

The Ponies dominating performance was highlighted by 10 individual champions, as well as four other wrestlers that were finalists who ended up in second. In addition to that, Havre also had two other wrestlers placed third. Throughout the entire weekend, the Ponies lost a total of just six matches, and only three of those came at the hands of opposing schools.

“I was pleased with the kids' effort,” HHS head coach Scott Filius said. “The kids went and wrestled loose, we had a fun weekend. I think we lost six matches in the tournament and in three of them we wrestled ourselves, so it was pretty good.”

The winning started early for the Ponies, when they got an individual title at 103 pounds from freshman Ryan Stewart. Then, at 120 pounds, in the first of two championship matches between Havre wrestlers, Keegan Kennelly knocked off senior Dylan Stewart to win the individual title.

Logan Pleninger continued to wrestle well and took home first at 126 pounds, while Parker Filius rebounded from a loss at Malta last weekend to win the title at 145 pounds. Kody Pribyl, who won the quick fall award with two pins in a combined 1:27, was first at 152 pounds, followed by Jase Stokes at 160 pounds, Tyler Schaub at 170 pounds, Jace Billy at 205 pounds and Travis Adams in the heavyweight class.

The other individual champ for the Ponies came out of the other all Havre final. That championship bout was between Grayson Brenna and Jazz Schroeder at 132 pounds. Brenna, the top-ranked wrestler in the weight class came out on top over the Schroeder, who put together a solid performance. 

“I was really pleased with our young kids, our freshmen,” Filius said.” You had Ryan Stewart, who beat a kid that has been ranked No. 1 all year. Jazz got to the finals, Tyler Schaub gets to the finals and wins. I was pleased with those guys.”

The other finishers for Havre included Dane Flammond, who finished second after losing in the finals at 138 pounds, Jordan Schroeder, who lost in the finals at 182, as well as Gunner Aageson and John Chinadle, who each came in third at 145 and 170 pounds, respectively.

“Jordan has come on and done a nice job for us,” Filius said. “He is still missing some matches but he has really helped there. It’s been nice, we have been shuffling guys in and out of 170 to 182 all year so having that guy there has been nice.”

After a dominant day at the Central A, the last divisional tourney of its kind, the Ponies now just have one more meet to conquer as they will head to Billings for in search of their third straight state title. The All-Class state meet starts Friday and runs through Saturday inside the Metra.

“I feel pretty good about the kids,” Filius said. “They work hard and they continue to get better every week. It’s been a fun year and I have really enjoyed coaching them.”

Central A Divisional

At Livingston

Team scores: 1. Havre 334.5; 2. Fergus 136; 3. Belgrade 129; 4. Browning 126.5; 5. Park 79.

Championship Matches

103 - Ryan Stewart, Hav, dec. Bridger Grover, Fer, 6-2. 113 - Sawyer Degen, Bel, mdec. Caleb Birdwell, Fer, 10-2. 120 - Keegan Kennelly, Hav, pin Dylan Stewart, Hav, 5:26. 126 - Logan Pleninger, Hav, mdec. Chase Farrar, Fer, 10-1. 132 - Grayson Brenna, Hav, tech fall Jazz Schroeder, Hav, 15-0. 138 - Jarrett Degen, Bel, pin Dane Flammond, Hav, 3:10. 145 - Parker Filius, Hav, tech fall Alex Wickens, Fer, 15-0. 152 - Kody Pribyl, Hav, pin, Wyatt Blythe, Fer, 1:01. 160 - Jace Stokes, Hav, pin, Deon Gillen, Park, 3:13. 170 - Tyler Shaub, Hav, mdec. Cody Lucke, Brown, 9-0. 182 - Devin Blythe, Fer, dec. Jordan Schroeder, Hav, 7-0. 205 - Jace Billy, Hav, pin, Grady Blewett, Bel, 2:31. Hwt - Travis Adams, Hav, pin, Bryce Blumenschein, Bel, 3:12.

Third Place

103 - Jared Rockwell, Bel, winner. 113 - Brandon Rockwell, Bel, pin Trevor James, Brown, 2:24. 120 - Emmit Augare, Brown, pin Connor Goddard, Park, 2:24. 126 - Austin New Breast, Brown, pin Haden Mushrush, Park, 4:18. 132 - Issac Wippert, Brown, mdec. Victor Howieson, Park, 13-0. 138 - Darren Houle, Brown, pin, Jordan Moody, Fer, :52. 145 - Gunnar Aageson, Hav, pin, Brady Boyce, Fer, 2:17. 152 - Quinton Dirette, Park, pin, Justin New Breast, Brown, 3:29. 160 - Hayden Van Winkle, Bel, pin, Bradley Denton, Fer, 3:34. 170 - John Chinadle, Hav, pin, Ty Shepardson, Park, 2:12. 182 - Raven Cunningham, Bel, pin Hector Bennett, Bel, 2:38. 205 - Peter Townes, Park, pin, Anthony Butcher, Fer, 1:27. Hwt - Kolton Wippert, Brown, pin, Terydon Hall, Brown, 4:26.