Tough Havre Invite kicks off the season

Every year the Havre High wrestling invitational kicks off the winter sports season along the Hi-Line. This year, that will be the case once again as teams from across the state will converge on Havre for the two-day tournament.

The tournament will get underway this afternoon inside the HHS gymnasium. It will run through Saturday and the second day of the meet will begin at 9:30 a.m. The championship matches will take place Saturday afternoon.

“We are definitely excited about wrestling someone different,” HHS head coach Scott Filius said. “We have been working hard in the room here for the past few weeks, so it will be nice to get out there and go against someone besides ourselves.”

For years, the Havre Invite has boasted a strong field and it will once again this year.

There will be two state championship teams competing as the Blue Ponies, the champions of Class A and the Chinook Sugarbeeters, the champions of Class C will both be in attendance.

In addition to those teams, there will also be others in attendance such as Class AA powers Great Falls High and CMR, and a number of other teams from along the Hi-Line. Filius is, however, excited about one new addition to the meet, Shepherd, which finished fourth at state last year in Class B.

“Shepherd has 18 kids and last year, they had three or four scrappy kids,” Filius said. “They should have some tough kids again, and it’s exciting to get some new blood and we are excited to have them.”

While Havre comes into the meet as the four-time defending champions in Class A, one of the most exciting things about the Havre Invite will be some of the young talent on display for the Ponies.

Havre will enter the meet with a total of 20 wrestlers and 11 of them are going to be underclassmen. Certainly, the strength of the team still lies with veterans like Parker Filius (145) and Jase Stokes (205), who each enter the season as three-time individual champions. HHS has two other individual champions, one is Martin Wilkie, who will wrestle at 132 pounds and Tyler Schaub, who will wrestle at 205. Schaub is dealing with an injury from football and may not wrestle right away to start the season.

In addition to those four, Havre has other veterans like Ryan Stewart (120) and Dane Flammond (160) to rely on, as well as other experienced returners such as Jared Sienkowski, in the heavyweight class, Jared Laux at 160 pounds, JayR Caplette at 170 pounds and Walter White at 182 pounds.

The Ponies' lineup this week, also features some other talented sophomores such as Lane Paulson (126), Austin Ratliff (205) and Taylor Gopher (170), who are all looking to build on promising freshmen campaigns. All seven freshmen will also be in action this weekend for the Ponies, which is one benefit of being the host team. Coach Filius said, seeing his first-year guys in action is also one of the things he is most looking forward to.

“We know what a lot of our guys can do,” Filius said. “But I am really excited to see what these freshmen go out there and do. I want to see how those guys go out and compete.”

The Havre Invite provides a great chance for Havre wrestlers to get some matches, but it will also provide some great experience for the rest of the teams in attendance as well. Chinook, which boasts a two-time individual champion of its own in Tate Niederegger, will also be showcasing a number of young wrestlers looking to gain some experience.

The seven freshmen from Havre who will see action are Cameron Pleninger at 103 pounds, Marc Ramirez at 133 pounds, Quinn Reno also at 113 pounds, Shawn Sullivan at 126 pounds, Connor Harris and Cameron Nelson at 132 pounds, along with Mason Dionne and Isaiah Stiffarm at 152 and 160 pounds respectively.

The wrestlers will hit the mats inside the HHS gymnasium this afternoon, and will return Saturday at 9:30 a.m.