Ponies out to defend yet another title

It seems like the Havre High wrestling team is defending a team title in just about every tournament it enters this season and that feeling won't change this week as the Blue Ponies head to the Class A Duals in Lewistown, with their sights set on a third straight championship.

The meet may not be as prestigious as the Mining City Duals earlier in the year or even the Jug Beck Rocky Mountain Classic, which HHS won a week ago. But, the Class A duals offer a chance to see what the rest of what Class A has to offer, maybe more than any other meet the Ponies will compete in, which is what makes it more interesting than the average meet.

The tournament will begin Friday morning in Lewistown as HHS will wrestle Laurel at 12:30 p.m., Hamilton at 3 p.m., and Whitefish at 4:30 p.m. The meet will conclude Saturday with a single elimination tournament to determine the champion.

Of course, the Class A duals do not feature every Class A team. Last year, both Sidney and Columbia Falls, two traditional powers, were not in attendance and they do not plan on being in attendance this year. Yet, there will be a number of other schools in attendance, such as second-ranked Polson which will afford head coach Scott Filius and his team a chance to get to know their competition for the 2016 Class A state title, a little better.

"It's basically going to be like our state tournament because Sidney is down this year," Filius said. "It helps you prepare for individual kids and individual matches. I think it’s always an advantage to wrestle somebody because then you have the ability to adjust."

Yet, no matter which team Havre faces, the top-ranked Ponies will be the heavy favorite. And, with a near-perfect dual record this season, even against Class AA schools, few, if any teams in attendance actually stand the chance of pulling the upset.

"I think we will be fine," Filius said. "We have some great individual matchups with kids from some other teams, but as a team I think we are just too deep for anybody."

The only real weakness in the Havre lineup has been the fact that it normally has two open weights at 126 and 132. However, having two open spots has not hurt HHS yet this season in dual competition and with Lane Paulson set to the fill in at 126 pounds this weekend, it won't in Lewistown either.

"For duals it's huge not having to give up that six points," Filius said. "We have had to give away two (weights) most of the year and sometimes three so it will be nice. It will be the least we have forfeited."

Whenever you are talking about the Ponies, the conversation has to start with their three returning individual state champions, Parker Filius, Jase Stokes and Travis Adams.

Filius, who wrestles at 152 pounds, Stokes, who wrestles at 182 and Adams, who is a heavyweight, are each coming off individual titles at the Jug Beck last weekend. And each wrestler seems to be on the top of his game right now, which is bad news for their opponents.

"They have set the tone in the practice room," coach Filius said. "They have been our leaders the past few years but they are really stepping up in terms of the work ethic and the rest of the team has followed."

However, the Ponies are about much more than Filius, Stokes and Adams. There are many teams with two or three good wrestlers, but few can match the depth Havre has.

That's because after their big three, the Ponies have numerous other wrestlers capable of big-time performances, starting with Ryan Stewart at 113 pounds and freshmen Martin Wilkie at 120 pounds. Then there is Logan Pleninger at 132 pounds, Kody Pribyl at 138 pounds, Jazz Schroeder at 145 pounds, Dane Flammond at 160 pounds, Walter White at 170 pounds and Tyler Schuab at 205 pounds.

That is the normal Havre lineup, but with the Eastern A Divisional meet and the Class A state meet just weeks away, coach Filius also said he would use the meet to get some of his inexperienced wrestlers, more time on the mat. Those wrestlers, in addition to Paulson, are Jared Sienkowski (HWT) and Kollin Nystrom (145).

After the Class A Duals in Lewistown this weekend, the Ponies are scheduled to dual Great Falls High inside the HHS gymnasium on Jan. 26, before closing the regular season Jan. 30 in Malta.