State Wrestling 2016: THE DRIVE FOR A 4-PEAT

For the Havre High wrestling team, there really is only one meet that matters, one meet that defines its season - the Class A state tournament. And after waiting all season long for it, the Blue Ponies are dying to get the tournament started.

Havre will enter the tournament at the Rimrock Auto Arena at the Metra in Billings as the three-time defending Class A champs, shooting for a fourth-straight title, which would tie a school record. And after a historic 2015 tournament, in which the Ponies set the Class A record for points (297.5) and a school record for individual state champs (5), another historic weekend could be on tap.

HHS will hit the mats with the rest of its competitors at 10 a.m. Friday for the parade of athletes and from there, the matches will go on for two days until 13 individuals and one team is crowned state champions.

"We have been after it all year," HHS head coach Scott Filius said. "So yeah, we are ready. We are prepared."

Yet, as excited as the Ponies are to go to Billings and compete in the prestigious All-Class state meet, they will do so with heavy hearts. That is due to the recent death of Chinook wrestler Jesse Dannels, who was well-known and well-liked by the Hi-Line wrestling community.

"I don't think it has affected our preparation," Filius said. "We are prepared, but the wrestling family is a tight group and it's just tough when you know someone is hurting."

While Havre and the rest of the participants will be wrestling with Dannels in their hearts, when the action does get underway, Filius and the Ponies expect to dominate. In terms of challengers, if there are any serious ones, Havre doesn't fear them.

"I think that if we show up," Filius said. "Everything will take care of itself."

Yet, in addition to having the chance to make some history as a team, two Havre wrestlers, juniors Parker Filius and Jase Stokes will be looking to get even closer to making history of their own.

Filius and Stokes, who have already won two individual state titles each, will both be going for their third consecutive title this weekend. And if successful, both wrestlers would be just one title away from becoming four-time state champions, which is something that has never been done in the history of Havre wrestling and has only been done 28 times statewide.

"It will be a lot of fun," coach Filius said. "I have been dragging those two around for years. They have been a pleasure to work with. They are very coachable, they work hard and they compete well. If they have a chink in their armour, we haven't found it yet."

Parker Filius will be looking to win his title in the 152-pound weight class, while Stokes will do so at 182 pounds.

"We talk about it a lot," Stokes said. "Havre has never had one before and I think it would cool if we could get two in the same year (2017). It's definitely a lot of motivation to get that third one, so you can at least have the chance to get the fourth."

However, Havre has another returning champion in senior Travis Adams, who will be looking to win the heavyweight class for the second consecutive year. And he is not the only other title contender for the Ponies as Ryan Stewart (113 pounds), Martin Wilkie (120 pounds), Logan Pleninger (132 pounds), Kody Pribyl (138 pounds), Dane Flammond (160 pounds) and Tyler Schaub (205 pounds) all have legitimate chances to make a run at an individual crown.

"We are taking 13 kids down there," Filius said. "And I think we have nine that have a really good chance to be wrestling on Saturday night. Now, how late they will be wrestling on Saturday night will be determined. But, I do think that all 13 of our kids are capable of wrestling on Saturday."

In addition to those nine wrestlers, eight of whom placed at state a year ago with Wilkie being the lone exception as a freshman this season, Havre also has Jazz Schroeder back at 145 pounds. Schroeder, a sophomore won a match at state last season and is the 10th Havre wrestler with previous state experience.

The other three wrestlers competing, Lane Paulson (126 pounds), Jared Laux (152 pounds) and JayR Caplette (205 pounds) are all state first-timers.

Even though there may not be many teams that can contend with the depth of the Ponies, there are a few, such as Columbia Falls, the Western A champion, Polson, the Western A runner up and Sidney, the Eastern A runner up, that have some horses. Yet, in the end, if the meet is anything less than a Havre romp, it will be a surprise.

And with the team competition expected to be less than riveting, one of the more significant storylines of the weekend for Havre will be whether seniors Pleninger and Pribyl, each three-time placers at state, can cap their careers with individual titles.

"It's extremely important," Pleninger said. "That is one of the goals that I have not completed in my career and that's what I'm shooting for this year, it to complete that."

"It would mean a lot," Filius said of Pleninger and Pribyl winning individual titles. "We have taken those kids all over the country and you invest so much in them that you want to see them do that. But yeah, those are two kids that I care very much about how they leave the sport."

Whoever wins and whatever happens, there is no doubt that the Ponies have waited long enough for the state tournament to arrive and that they are ready to get back on the mats at the Metra.

"This group of kids has been fun," Filius said. "They have worked really hard and now it's time for them to go do what they set out to do, it's what every team competing has set out to do."

The first round matches at the All-Class state wrestling meet with commence Friday at 10:10 a.m. The Championship round will close out the tournament on Saturday at approximately 3:15 p.m.