One down, one to go: Blue Ponies crush the Eastern A

The Havre High wrestling team dominated the first installment of the Eastern A wrestling meet one year ago, and Saturday in Glendive, the Blue Ponies put together an impressive repeat performance.

Havre won the tournament going away, with 294 points, compared to 166 for second-place Hardin and 162 for third-place Glendive. The Ponies crowned five individual champions and qualified 15 wrestlers for the Class A state meet which starts Friday in Billings.

Both Parker Filius (145) and Jase Stokes (205) won their fourth-consecutive divisional titles at the tournament and are now set up as top seeds in their attempts to become four-time individual state champions.

Fellow senior Dane Flammond (160) joined them, also winning a second straight title at the Eastern A, as did Martin Wilkie in the 126-pound weight class. The other individual champion for Havre was Quinn Reno, who defeated teammate Cameron Pleninger in the 103-pound championship, which was an all freshmen final.

“I thought that it was a good weekend for all of our kids,” HHS head coach Scott Filius said. “Our good kids did very well and our young kids wrestled up to their ability. I don’t think we had two matches all day that I felt bad about, so yeah, it was a good day.”

The Ponies had two others that made the finals in Ryan Stewart at 113 pounds and Lane Paulson at 120 pounds. Both finished second in their respective weights, while Marc Ramirez (113), Connor Harris (132) and Mason Dionne (152) all finished third.

Havre also qualified four other wrestlers for the state tournament. One of them was defending state champion Tyler Schaub, who finished sixth at 182 pounds. At 205 pounds, Austin Ratliff finished fifth and at 170 pounds, Taylor Gopher was eighth. In the heavyweight class, Jared Sienkowski finished seventh.

“Anytime you can gets kids down there (Billings),” Filius said. “Some kids go down there and they embrace it, but more often than not, you have to look at the big lights a few times. So the sooner you get kids down there, the more you will get out of them in the long run.”

Havre, the four-time defending Class A state champions, and who have now won divisional championships for more than a decade straight, will begin its title defense Friday at the All-Class state wrestling tournament. But that doesn’t mean that the Ponies will change their approach.

“We aren’t going to change much,” Filius said. “We practice every day and we try to hit all three, you know your technique, conditioning and then just grinding and we will continue to do that.”

The action at the state tournament will take place Friday and Saturday inside the Rimrock Auto Arena at the Metra in Billings.

Northern B-C

More local grapplers are also heading to Billings this weekend via Saturday’s Northern B-C divisional in Shelby.

At the tournament, Harlem finished eighth with 74 points, Chinoon was ninth with 69, Fort Benton was 10th with 43, Chester-Joplin-Inverness was 11th with 12 and Hays-Lodge Pole was last with five points. Fairfield-Simms edged Malta with 182 points. The Mustangs scored 178.

Harlem qualified six wrestlers for state, getting an individual title from Gavin Horn at 113 pounds. Reece Hutton finished second at 205 as well. As expected, Chinook’s Tate Niederegger won his fourth straight divisional title, as he won the 145-pound Northern B-C title. However, the Beeters are sending just three grapplers to state, so defending their 2016 Class C title will be difficult. Fort Benton also qualified three for state and CJI will send one wrestler to the meet, which runs Friday-Saturday at the Billings Metra.

Editor’s note: Havre Daily News sports editor George Ferguson contributed to this story.

Eastern A

in Glendive

Team Scores – 1. Havre 294.0; 2. Hardin 166.0; 3. Glendive 162.5; 4. Laurel 161.0; 5. Belgrade 139-0; 6. Sidney 133.5; 7. Lewistown 129.0; 8. Livingston 102.0; 9. Browning 99.5; 10. Billings Central 66.0; 11. Miles City 50.5.

103

First – Quin Reno, Hav tf. Cameron Pleninger, Hav 15-0

Third – Kaiden Cline, Sid dec. Braxton Scheeler, MC 1-0

Fifth – Aden Rogge, Liv dec. Keith Pretty Weasel, Har 4-0

Seventh – Garret Sletten, Lau p. JC Larson, Bro 2:08

113

First – Matthre DeWitt, Lau p. Ryan Stewart, Hav 5:04

Third – Marc Ramirez, Hav dec. Adam Bankert, Liv 2-0

Fifth – Everett Johnson, Sid p. Austin Rollins, Bel :54

Seventh – Roystanlee Deguzman, Bel p. Alex Derbyshire, BC 2:54

120

First– John Mears, Bel md. Lane Paulson, Hav 10-2

Third – Keagan Campbell, Lau p. Tanner Mannin, Lew :37

Fifth – Gage Meyer, Bel, p. Caleb Gilliand, Liv 2:21

Seventh – Jake Murnion, MC forfeit over Trajen Calica

126

First – Martin Wilkie, Hav p. Sean Comstock, BC 1:47

Third – Ethan Boyce, BC dec. Brendan Gill, Liv 8-3

Fifth – Brandon Rockwell, Bel dec. Payten Batalden, Lau 3-1

Seventh – Keagan Thompson, Lau p. Tommy Campbell, Bro 2:45

132

First – Caleb Birdwell, Lew dec. Travis Kinn Gle 7-5

Third – Connor Harris, Hav p. Matt Glennon, Lau 2:38

Fifth – Jose Rodriquez, BC md. Kaid Campbell, MC 11-3

Seventh – Aaron Wells, Bro p. Ashton Swenson, Sid 2:43

138

First – Sawyer Degen, Bel dec. Ben Stortz, Gle 10-3

Third – Jace Winter, Sid p. Duane Otto II, Lew 2:53

Fifth – Conner Schwend, Har p. Austin NewBreast, Bro 2:24

Seventh – Jacob Morgan, BC dec. Kayne Johnson, Lau 5-1

145

First – Parker Filius, Hav p. Bryce Roan, Har 1:33

Third – Jace Johnson, Sid dec. Brandon Held, Gle 4-3

Fifth – Chase Farrar, Lew dec. RJ Gill, Lau 7-3

Seventh – JJ Thomas, Bro p. Joel Raisler, MC 4.25

152

First – Brenden Roan, Har p. Mason Fend, Lau 1:34

Third – Mason Dionne, Hav p. Brandt Ackerman, Glen 5:25

Fifth – Calvin Racine, Bro p. Avery Gurney, Sid 2:40

Seventh – Ray Knerr, Liv p. Eric Amaya, Bel 3:45

160

First – Dane Falmmond, Hav tf. Tyler Clapp, Gle 15-0

Third – Alex Wickens, Lew p. Gidion Herbel, Har 5:12

Fifth – Jett Jones, Sid p. Emmit Augare, Bro :30

Seventh – Nick Verlanic, Lau dec. Ryan Kipp, Bro 10-3

170

First – Wyatt Blythe, Lew dec. Justin Zier, Har 12-8

Third – Nelson Crisafuli, Gle dec. Cameron Younger, Lau 7-2

Fifth – Steven Adams, Bel dec. Trevor Dean, Sid 7-3

Seventh – Thomas Cooper, BC dec. Taylor Gopher, Hav 13-8

182

First – Shane Bigson, Liv dec. Sawyer Thompson Sid 5-2

Third – Uriah Turner, Har dec. Brett McBurney, Lau 8-4

Fifth – Jermal Williams, Bel inj. Tyler Schaub, Hav

Seventh – Casimir Melton, Gle p. Tyler Harms, MC 3:15

205

First – Jase Stokes, Hav p. Tyler Laverty, Liv 4:25

Third – Brady Boyce, Lew p. Jesse Murdock, Har :39

Fifth – Austin Ratliff, Hav p. Will Caprata, Har 2:30

Seventh – Will Blewett, Bel p. Matt Fulton, Gle 3:42

285

First – Wacey Zuback, Bro p. Keegan Mires, Gle 5:10

Third – Grant Scalpcane, Har p. Eli Marley, Gle 4:56

Fifth – Ryan Horner, Sid p. Archie Swift, MC 1:33

Seventh – Jared Sienkowski, Hav p. Mason Roberts, BC 3:37

NORTHERN B-C

at Shelby

Team scores – 1. Fairfield-Simms 182; 2. Malta-Whitewater 178; 3. Valier 94; 4. Choteau 90; 5. Shelby 88; 6. Conrad 84; 7. Cut Bank 79; 8. Harlem 74; 9. Chinook 69; 10. Fort Benton 43; 11. CJI 7; 12. Hays-Lodgepole 5.

103

First place –Connelley, Valier, p. Stratton, Chelby :29.

Third place –Jackson, HAR, bye.

113

First place – Horn, Harlem, p. Sanders, Fairfield-Simms, 1:17.

Third place – Kirkaldie, Harlem, bye

120

First place –Schipman, Malta, d. Henderson, Choteau 5-3

Third place – Schnabel, Fort Benton, p. Johnson, Fairfield-Simms, 4:38

Fifth place – Richter, Conrad, p. Whitson, Shelby, 1:16

126

First place – Romas, Valier, p. Mears, Malta 5:20

Third place – Mishler, Fairfield-Simms, p. Andersen, Cut Bank, 2:40

Fifth place – Todd, Fort Benton, p. Barnhill, Conrad 4:43

132

First place – Moore, Malta p. Brusven, Shelby 5:07

Third place – Hauer, Chinook, p. Entz, Fairfield-Simms 4:40

Fifth place – Barsness, Cut Bank, p. Decker, Fairfield-Simms 4:24

138

First place – Simanton, Malta, p. Giles, Fairfield-Simms 1:46

Third place – Running Crane, Valier, d. White, Shelby 10-4

Fifth place – Tran, CJI, d. Larsonb, Shelby 10-3

145

First place– Niederegger, Chinook, p. Mears, Malta 5:15

Third place – Taylor, Fort Benton, d. Hansen, Shelby, 4-3

Fifth place – Maples, Choteau, by fft. over Staigmiller, Fairfield-Simms

152

First place – Peterman, Fairfield-Simms d. Anderson, Cut Bank 10-5

Third place – Finley, Choteau, p. VandenBos, Valier, 1:13

Fifth place –Anderson, Fairfield-Simms, p. Runs Above, Hays-Lodgepole

160

First place – Stone, Choteau, p. Seewald, Cut Bank, 2:42

Third place – Gentillion, Fairfield-Simms, p. Monroe, Valier :59

Fifth place – Dailey, Conrad, p. Davis, Fort Benton 3:50.

170

First place – Rauscher, Conrad, d. Anderson, Fairfield-Simms 6-0

Third place – Schipman, Malta, p. Lopez Malta 3:37

Fifth place – Ballard, Choteau, md. Colby Chinook 14-3.

182

First place – Epperson, Malta, p. Like, Fairfield-Simms 1:17

Third place – Taylor, Shelby, p. Monroe, Valier :33

Fifth place – McCrea, Fairfield-Simmer bye

205

First place – Mycke, Conrad, p. Hutton, Harlem 3:32

Third place – Daley, Choteau, p. MacDonald, Fairfield-Simms 3:56

Fifth place – Swanson, Chinook, p. Benk, Malta 1:50

285

First place – Pfeifer, Cut Bank, p. Vanderbush, Conrad, 3:08

Third place – Humphreys, Harlem, p. Lawless, Malta :34

Fifth place – Werk, Malta, bye