Ponies own Class A Duals once again

If there was any lingering doubt about whether the Havre High wrestling team is the prohibitive favorite to win the Class A state championship next month, it was erased this past weekend after another dominating performance by the Blue Ponies.

The Ponies, who were in Lewistown to compete in the annual Class A Duals, once again showed, that at least right now, they are heads and shoulders above every other team in Class A wrestling.

During the two-day tournament, the Ponies were never challenged in five dual matches as they easily defended their title. Havre, the top-ranked team in Class A, knocked off Polson, the second-ranked team, in the championship round by the score of 57-18 to wrap up the title. In order to get to the championship, Havre defeated Lewistown 61-4 Saturday, as well as Laurel 53-12, Hamilton 49-18 and Whitefish 64-0, all on Friday.

"The kids wrestled really well," HHS head coach Scott Filius said. "It was a lot of fun."

Over the course of the two days, Havre's domination was impressive. In all, the Ponies dropped just nine matches during their five duals and two of those came via forfeit as HHS does not have anyone to wrestle in the 103-pound weight class.

Havre's overall record in the tournament ended up being 53-9 (including forfeits) and of those losses, only four of them were by pin. On the other hand, in five duals, the Ponies amassed an incredible 29 pins, meaning that over half of their victories were recorded in that fashion.

"We had a good day Saturday," Filius said. "We didn't lose many. We have taught the kids all year to wrestle aggressively."

Havre opened the tournament Friday and started things off with a dominating 53-12 win over Laurel, the team that finished second to HHS at the Class A Duals in 2015. Then, the Ponies turned their attention to Hamilton, which lost 49-18 but had the smallest margin of defeat of any of the five teams Havre defeated.

After winning its first two duals, Havre really ratcheted things up in its third dual, as it shut out out the Whitefish Bulldogs completely, defeating them 69-0 thanks to eight pins by HHS. The Ponies did something similar Saturday, when they used six pins to trounce Lewistown 61-4 in the semifinals.

That victory set up a showdown between the two top-rated teams in Class A. Yet, in the end, it wasn't much of a showdown. Havre dominated from start to finish and thanks to seven more wins by fall, the Ponies cruised to another easy victory and another team championship.

Seven Havre wrestlers made it through the two-day meet without suffering a loss as Ryan Stewart (113 pounds), Martin Wilkie (120 pounds), Logan Pleninger (132 pounds), Kody Pribyl (138 pounds), Dane Flammond (160 pounds), Jase Stokes (182 pounds) and Travis Adams (HWT), were all 5-0. Parker Filius, who wrestles at 152 pounds posted a 4-0 record, while Tyler Schaub (205 pounds) and Walter White (170 pounds), were each 4-1. Logan Paulson, who wrestled at 126 pounds, posted a mark of 3-2, while Jazz Schroeder (145 pounds) was 2-3. Kollin Nystrom also won a match by forfeit at 152 pounds.

"We have a lot of kids that are wrestling with a lot of confidence right now," Filius said. "Whether it's Flammond, Adams, Pleninger, Wilkie, Stokes, we are just really competing hard right now."

The Ponies will close out their regular-season schedule this week as they will dual Great Falls High Tuesday night inside the HHS gymnasium, before heading to the Malta Invitational next Saturday in Malta. The Eastern A Divisional will be held in Havre Feb. 6 and the All-Class State tournament will take place in Billings Feb. 12-13.

Class A Duals

At Lewistown

Friday

Havre 53, Laurel 12

103: Caleb Ripley Laurel won by forfeit; 113: Ryan Stewart Havre major dec Matt Glennon Laurel 10-0; 120: Martin Wilkie Havre tech fall Peyton Boltalden Laurel; 126: Lane Paulson Havre won by forfeit; 132: Loga Pleninger Havre dec Clayton Carter Laurel 3-2; 138: Kody Pribyl Havre pinned Jordan Shoval Laurel 1:01; 145: Connor Ludwig Laurel pinned Jazz Schroeder Havre 3:33; 152: Parker Filius Havre pinned Mason Fend Laurel 1:14; 160: Dane Flammond Havre tech fall Kyle Cannon Laurel 20-3; 170: Walter White Havre dec Brett McBurney Laurel 3-2; 182: Jase Stokes Havre pinned Jon Jares Laurel 1:50; 205: Tyler Schaub Havre won by forfeit; 285: Travis Adams Havre dec Brandon Connly Laurel 8-5.

Havre 49, Hamilton 18

103: Double forfeit; 113: Ryan Stewart Havre dec Micheal Golden Hamilton 6-4 OT; 120: Martin Wilkie Havre pinned Adrian Garcia Hamiton; 126: Caden Brown Hamilton dec Lane Paulson Havre 10-4; 132: Logan Pleninger Havre dec Steven Banks Hamilton 9-1; 138: Kody Pribyl Havre pinned Dustin Copeland Hamilton; 145: Kris Anderson Hamilton pinned Jazz Schroeder Havre; 152: Parker Filius Havre tech fall Steven Scheffer Hamilton; 160: Dane Flammond Havre tech fall Manny Rivear Hamilton 17-2; 170: Walter White Havre pinned Christian Ellis Hamilton; 180: Jase Stokes Havre pinned Kyle Anderson Hamilton; 205: Justin Hinson Hamilton dec Tyler Schaub Havre 14-8; 285: Travis Adams Have pinned Justin Murray Hamilton.

Havre 69, Whitefish 0

103: Double forfeit; 113 Ryan Stewart Havre pinned Taisuke Matsuo WF; 120: Martin Wilke Havre pinned Eli Taylor WF; 126: Lane Paulson Havre pinned Isaac Watts WF; 132: Logan Pleninger Havre pinned Robert Bertelson WF; 138: Kody Pribly Havre pinned James Buckley; 145: Jazz Schroeder Havre won by forfeit; 152: Parker Filius Havre pinned Malik Meydon WF; 160: Dane Flammond Havre pinned Alex Mazzonett WF; 170: Walter White Havre dec Konrad Zinke WF 3-1; 182: Jase Stokes Havre won by forfeit; 205: Tyler Schaub Havre won by forfeit; 285: Travis Adams Havre pinned Steven Quimey WF.

Saturday

Championship – Havre 57, Polson 18

103 RJ Pierre Polson won by forfeit; 113 Ryan Stewart Havre won by forfeit; 120 Martin Wilkie Havre pinned Bridger Wenzel Polson; 126 Thunder Morales Polson pinned Lane Paulson Havre; 132 Logan Pleninger Havre pinned Cam Brown Polson; 138 Kody Pribyl Havre pinned Jabe Wendt Polson; 145 Parker Adler Polson pinned Jazz Schroeder Havre; 152 Kollin Nystrum Havre won by forfeit; 160 Dane Flammond Havre pinned Colton Cote Polson; 170 Walter White Havre Pinned Koby Garcia Polson; 182 Jase Stokes Havre Pinned Noah Humphreys Polson; 205 Tyler Schaub Havre dec Mike Corrigan Polson 5-1; 285 Travis Adams Havre pinned Nick Marquart Polson

Havre 61, Lewistown 4

103 Double forfeit; 113 Ryan Stewart Havre pinned Talon Arndt Fergus; 120 Martin Wilke Havre dec Caleb Birdwell Fergus 4-3; 126 Lane Paulson Havre pinned Tanner Mannin Fergus; 132 Logan Pleninger Havre pinned Chase Farrar; 138 Kody Pribyl Havre pinned Grady Gilpartick Fergus; 145 Jazz Schroeder Havre pinned Jordan Moody Fergus; 152 Parker Filius Havre dec Alex Wickens Fergus 18-3; 160 Dane Flammond Havre tech fall Chad Lander Fergus 16-0; 170 Wyatt Blythe Fergus dec Walter White Havre 16-5; 182 Jase Stokes Havre pinned Bradley Denton Fergus; 205 Tyler Schaub Havre won by forfeit; 285 Travis Adams Havre won by forfeit.