Blue Ponies back on the mat in Cut Bank

After taking a couple weeks off for the holidays, the Havre High wrestling team will be back on the mat, starting Friday in Cut Bank.

The Blue Ponies, who are making their annual stop in the Cut Bank Invitational, a tournament they have dominated in recent years, will be looking to win their 15h consecutive team championship at the meet. The 2017 version will get underway Friday in Cut Bank at 10 a.m. and will conclude Saturday with championship matches beginning at 4 p.m.

While the Ponies have been historically dominant in Cut Bank, Havre has essentially knocked off all comers this season, winning each tournament it has entered, including the prestigious Tri-State wrestling tournament in Coeur d'Alene, Idaho, before the holiday break. HHS also has just one loss in dual competition.

"We have got some great senior leadership this year," HHS head coach Scott Filius said. "And we have come out of the break wrestling well in the past, I guess I didn't realize it was that many years, but you know, over the break, we just try to have fun when we are in the room, and I think that speaks volumes for how we come out."

Over the years, there has been some good competition in Cut Bank and Filius said he expects no difference this year with 30 teams expected to be in attendance from Class AA, Class A, Class B and Class C.

"There are usually a lot of teams, not all of them are full, some of them are," Filius said. "It's usually 32-man brackets and then 16 in some of the shorter weights. Great Falls High will send their JV, CMR has their varsity coming, Flathead has brought their varsity in the past, I am not sure what they are doing, so the AA teams kind of rotate their team through there."

Of course, the Ponies, and their deep and talented lineup will be the favorite to win the team crown. Havre is led by returning state champions Parker Filius (145), Jase Stokes (205) and Martin Wilkie (132). But the Ponies have a number of other strong wrestlers such as Dane Flammond at 160 pounds, Ryan Stewart at 113 pounds and Walter White at 182 pounds.

Havre will also have its other lineup regulars such as Cameron Pleninger (103), Quinn Reno (120). Lane Paulson (126) Connor Harris (138), Mason Dionne (152) and Taylor Gopher (170).

HHS will also have Jared Sienkowski wrestling as a heavyweight this week, which will be difficult with Cut Bank's Justin Pfeifer, the top-ranked wrestler in Class B in that same weight class. Yet, Pfeifer will not be the only challenging match Havre will see this weekend, as teams and individuals from across the Hi-Line will be in attendance to challenge HHS.

"You get some great kids from along the Hi-Line," Filius said. "You get kids from Fairfield, Simms, Cut Bank, Shelby, Harlem, Malta, Big Sandy, Choteau, Conrad, Glasgow, so it's a nice one."

The Ponies are certainly focused on starting the second-half of the season off on the right foot with another win in Cut Bank, but another focus is starting to fine-tune some things with the All-Class state wrestling tournament just more than a month away.

"The first part of the year, you really push for effort and by and large, we've got it," Filius said. "In the second part of the year, you start trying to wrestle smarter matches. And by that I mean, starting to score on the edges and at the end of periods and denying guys from scoring at the end of periods, stuff like that."

Havre will begin the defense of its team title in Cut Bank Friday at 10 a.m. The championship round of the tournament starts Saturday at 4 p.m.