State Wrestling 2017: Ponies dominate; Filius, Stokes two wins away

Billings – There is no question that the Havre High wrestling team is awfully comfortable inside the Rimrock Auto Arena at the Metra. And Friday, on the first day of the All-Class state tournament, the Blue Ponies showed why.

After going 12-2 in the opening round of the tournament, Havre qualified nine for the semifinals and advanced 13 of its 14 wrestlers to the second day of the meet. As far as the team competition goes, HHS has a commanding lead over the rest of the Class A field, with 112 total points. Columbia Falls is second with 89.5 and Hardin is third with 65.

"So far so good," HHS head coach Scott Filius said. "The kids are wrestling really well."

Among the nine Havre wrestlers into the semis are Parker Filius (145) and Jase Stokes (205). The two three-time state champions are now just two victories away from becoming the first four-time champions in school history.

Yet, Filius and Stokes who each won both of their matches with ease, were far from the only Ponies who dominated their competition.

In the 103-pound weight class, freshman Quinn Reno and Cameron Pleninger both advanced to the semis and set up a possible all-Havre final Saturday night. Fellow freshman Mason Dionne also got a big win in the quarterfinals, rallying for a 5-2 deficit in the second period to notch a pin over Columbia Falls senior Mason Fetters in 3:42.

"Yea that kid had gotten us earlier and pinned (Mason) twice," Filius said. "So it was nice to turn that around."

Senior Dane Flammond, who received a bye in the first round at 160 pounds, notched a technical fall to earn his third-straight trip to the semifinals, while defending individual champion Martin Wilkie also advanced through following two easy wins at 126 pounds. The other semifinalists for Havre are Ryan Stewart at 113 pounds and Lane Paulson at 120.

"Those young kids are wrestling lights out," Filius said. "They are competing really well and having a lot of fun right now."

Marc Ramirez (113), Connor Harris (132) and Austin Ratliff (205) all won their first match of the day for Havre, but fell in the quarterfinals. Yet, all three rebounded to win in the consolation second round, which keeps their hopes of reaching the podium alive.

Jared Sienkowski, another Havre senior, dropped his first match of the tournament, but rallied back for wins in the first and second round of consolation matches, including a win in double overtime in his last match to advance to Saturday.

The action will start up again inside the Metra early Saturday morning, with the semifinals and consolation quarterfinals starting at 9:30. The consolation semis will be at 11:30 a.m., followed by consolation finals at 1:30 and the championship finals, which are slated to start at approximately 3:30 p.m.