History to be made in Hi-Line wrestling

For many, the winter sports season means basketball, but along the Hi-Line, wrestling is just as important and now, with high school wrestling just over a week away, the wait for some on-mat action won’t be long.

Certainly, wrestling fans from this area are somewhat spoiled. The Havre High wrestling team has dominated Class A for the better part of two decades and has currently won four consecutive state championships.

Yet, the Blue Ponies, led by long-time head coach Scott Filius aren’t the only dominant program around. The Chinook Sugarbeeters, who compete in Class C, are also a top program at their level. The Beeters haven’t won four straight like HHS, but they have won back-to-back state titles and captured four overall since 2011.

With that said and with those teams along the Hi-Line, there are plenty of storylines to watch heading into the 2016-17 high school wrestling season. Here are five of the most interesting things that you will want to keep an eye on when it comes to local wrestling:

Parker Filius and Jase Stokes attempt to make history

For the past few years, we have seemingly accepted that Parker Filius and Jase Stokes would each claim their fourth individual state titles and thought nothing more about it. Essentially, we have taken an incredible feat and made it seem inevitable. And while they are certainly strong bets to do so, the fact that it’s expected shows how good these two Havre wrestlers truly are.

Both Filius and Stokes will be out to make history this season, as they look to become the first four-time state champs Pony wrestling has ever had. It may seem hard to believe that there is something Havre hasn’t done in wrestling, but considering only 25 individuals have ever been four-time champions, it shouldn’t be.

Both wrestlers have already forged strong legacies in the annals of HHS, but another state title for each, would put both right near the top of the list when it comes to all-time Blue Ponies.

Tate Niederegger goes for No. 3

Much of the individual focus along the Hi-Line might be on Stokes and Filius, who is already committed to wrestle at Purdue University next fall, but don’t forget about Chinook’s Tate Niederegger, an elite wrestler in his own right.

Niederegger has been a key part of the Beeters’ last two state championship teams and the senior comes into the season as a two-time individual champion.

If not for a second-place finish his freshman year, there is a strong chance we would be talking about Niederegger’s chances of joining that elite four-time group. Yet, it didn’t work out that way. But still, winning three titles to go along with a runner-up finish, would be pretty historic and just short of Ben Stroh, the only Chinook wrestler to end up as a four-time state champ.

Havre wrestling goes for another record

You really can’t overstate just how good Pony wrestling has been over the past decade. HHS has won eight of the last 10 Class A state titles and it doesn’t appear that Havre is going to slow down any time soon.

With four individual state champions returning, Havre is heads and shoulders above the competition.

The Ponies have gotten so good, they make winning look much easier than it is. Havre may be a heavy favorite to win a fifth consecutive title, which would be a new school record, but winning state championships is never easy. Losing Jazz Schroeder to injury, hurts and could cause Havre to not be quite as strong as expected.

Yet, In the end, it shouldn’t matter and the suspense won’t be Havre winning its fifth title in a row, but instead, trying to determine where this year’s Ponies rank among the other great teams in program history.

Can Chinook wrestling win more Class C hardware?

Last year, the Beeters were so good at the Class B/C state tournament that they scored 69 points more than the second-place team in Class C. The Beeters also scored more points than all but four teams in Class B, proving just how dominant they really were, despite dealing with the passing of the late Jesse Dannels.

However, like the Chinook football team, which lost tons of players from its state title team in 2015, Chinook wrestling is without a tremendous group of 2016 seniors that includes Kevin Young, Jake Norby, Ken Pruttis and Derek Bell.

Arlee took home a team title with 18 points once and with Niederegger poised to win an individual title again, Chinook may not need many points elsewhere to bring home a trophy. Seeing whether the Beeters can develop and qualify more wrestlers who can score at state, will determine if Chinook has any shot at a 3-peat.

Can Martin Wilkie get halfway to 4

There is no doubt that Filius and Stokes are the foundation of the Havre program right now, but coach Filius has some other impressive pieces as well, led by Martin Wilkie.

Wilkie, a sophomore, isn’t the only underclassman who is going to make a name for himself this season, but after winning an individual state title as a freshman, Wilkie has a chance to do something special.

Usually, for great wrestlers, the first state championship or two are the toughest (relatively) to get. Wilkie won his pretty easily last season, putting together a flawless state tournament. If he can do that again this season, when he is almost certainly going to be better, he could be well on his way to joining Stokes and Filius as four-timers in 2019.

For many, the winter sports season means basketball, but along the Hi-Line, wrestling is just as important and now, with wrestling just over a week away, the wait for some on-mat action at the high school level, won’t be long.