Dynasty To Be Continued

There is no question that Havre High wrestling coach Scott Filius has built the Blue Ponies into a dynasty. HHS has won three consecutive Class A state titles and is the prohibitive favorite to win a fourth this season.

Yet, winning is never easy. And often times, the biggest threat to teams that have won as much as Havre has in wrestling, is the ability to handle success. Well, unlike most teams, Filius and his squads have never lost their hunger and so far this season, the Ponies are working as hard as ever to maintain their spot at the pinnacle of Class A wrestling.

"Things are going really good," Filius said. "Right now, the kids are really buying into the hard work in the room. We are sitting at 22 kids right now and we have the right 22, so we are pretty pleased."

When it comes to wrestling rosters, few if any, can compare to the one the Ponies will bring into the 2015-16 season. To start things off, Havre boasts three returning individual state champions from last year in Parker Filius, Jase Stokes and Travis Adams.

Stokes and Filius will each be juniors this season and both have captured individual state championships in their first two seasons. Adams won his first state title last year, after a second-place finish as a sophomore. He also placed at state as a freshman, which gives the Ponies a total of three seniors that have placed in all three seasons leading up to this one, as Logan Pleninger and Kody Pribyl have also achieved that feat.

"There might be some guys on our team that have more accolades, but those three guys, Adams, Pribyl and Pleninger, are very important to what we do," Filius said. "We have some great leadership on this team and those three guys are some of our best leaders."

While the Ponies did lose some incredibly talented seniors, including two state champions in Jace Billy at 205 pounds and Grayson Brenna at 132 pounds, HHS also graduated Gunnar Aageson, who earned a second-place finish a season ago, losing to Filius in the finals of the 145-pound weight class.

"We did lose three really good kids that have been in the program a long time," Filius said. "But, we picked up some really good freshmen this year and we have some great leadership, so we are in a good spot."

In all, the Ponies will return eight wrestlers, who placed at state last year, including seven that finished in the top four. Sophomore Ryan Stewart will look to build on a third-place finish from last year, as will junior Dane Flammond. Pleninger also finished third last season, while Pribyl and Tyler Schaub each finished fourth in their respective weight classes. Keegan Kennelly also finished fifth.

Yet, as coach Filius mentioned, there is a lot of young talent in the program and it's more than just the freshmen class.

Jazz Schroeder (145), Walter White (170), JayR Caplette (170), John Berg (HWT) and Brock Smith (HWT) are among the sophomores that could turn into contributors this season. While, the freshmen class boasts Lane Paulson at 120 pounds, Martin Wilkie at 120 pounds, Kollin Nystrom at 145 pounds, Taylor Gopher at 160 pounds, Austin Ratliff at 170 pounds, Thor Abbasi at 170 pounds and Jacoby Fox at 182 pounds.

While Filius has done a great job of building depth, his lineup should be as solid as ever with Stewart at 113 pounds, Pleninger at 132, Pribyl at 138, Parker Filius at 152, Stokes at 182, Schaub at 205 and Adams in the heavyweight division. Flammond will compete for time at 160 pounds along with Jared Laux and Jared Sienkowski who will also factor in the heavyweight class.

"We have some kids that have high goals," Filius said. "And right now, they are working hard to try and achieve them. We had some younger kids that were an important part of what we did a year ago and this year, they are going to be at the heart of what we do."

Even though the Ponies are loaded with talent, one thing that will be different in 2015-16 from year's past is going to be the divisional tournament. Havre will no longer just compete against Central A teams Belgrade, Livingston, Lewistown and Browning for spots in the state tournament, it will now compete against the rest of the Eastern A, which includes Sidney, Miles City, Glendive, Billings Central, Hardin and Laurel. All nine teams will meet in Havre for the Eastern A divisional on Feb. 6.

"I don't think it's really going to change much," Filius said. "I think it might be like we are wrestling the state tournament two weeks in a row. The teams from the western part of the state just don't have the depth or the high quality kids like we do, so we are going to see that really good competition back-to-back weeks. But, it will prepare us well for state and it could also make things different and help us know better who we are going to be wrestling when we get into the semifinals."

Like always, Sidney should be the top contender to Havre's crown this season, but the Ponies could also see challenges from many other teams, but at this point, Filius is focused on taking it one week at a time.

"I haven't really thought that far ahead to be honest with you," Filius said. "The only way that you win championships is by working hard and getting better every week. That's what we have done in the past and that's what we want to do again."

The Ponies will have a hectic early-season schedule as they open the season this Friday, when they will host the two-day Havre Invitational, which will be run through Saturday at the HHS Gymnasium. After that, HHS will head to Butte for the Butte Central Mixer on Dec. 10 as well as the Mining City Duals, which will take place Dec. 11 and 12. Then, before Christmas break, the Ponies will compete in Coeur d'Alene, Idaho. The Ponies will also participate in the Cut Bank Invitational Jan. 8-9, the prestigious Jug Beck Invitational in Missoula Jan. 15-16, the Class A Duals in Lewistown on Jan. 22-23, as well as a dual against Great Falls High on Jan. 26 and a dual against Malta on Jan. 30.

Following the Eastern A Divisional, Havre will shoot for its fourth consecutive straight at the Metra in Billings Feb. 12-13.