Powerful Ponies head east to battle divsional rivals on the mat

The Havre High wrestling team is off to a tremendous start this season, just like many predicted. Now, the Blue Ponies will close out their 2017 with a pair of duals against tough Eastern A rivals.

Tonight, Havre is in Sidney to dual not only the host Eagles, but also the Glendive Red Devils. The action starts at 5 with the Ponies wrestling back-to-back.

Tonight's dual with Sidney is the second year in which the Ponies and Eagles, the two premier Class A teams of the last two decades, have met in the regular season. Sidney came to Havre last January, and the Ponies are making the return trip tonight.

Sidney is coming off an impressive showing last week in Wyoming, and the Eagles are currently ranked third in Class A. Their top wrestlers include Kaiden Cline, ranked fourth at 103 pounds, Kade Graves, ranked fifth at 126, Christian Dean, ranked third at 132, Waylon Van Buren, ranked sixth at 138, Jace Winter, ranked fifth at 145, Jace Johnson, ranked fifth at 152, Jett Jones, ranked sixth at 170, Trevor Dean, ranked sixth at 182, Sawyer Thorgerson, ranked third at 205 and Ryan Horner, ranked fourth at heavyweight.

Glendive should also be a tough challenge for the top-ranked Blue Ponies. The Red Devils are ninth in the latest Class A Poll, but they also have some top firepower, including Ben Stortz, ranked third at 145, Tyler Clapp, ranked second at 160 and Keegan Mires, ranked fourth at heavyweight.

However, there's no denying the Ponies have the most firepower in tonight's triangular. Havre is coming off back-to-back weeks in which it won the Mining City Duals for the fifth straight year, and finished fourth at the prestigious Tri-State last weekend in Idaho.

Martin Wilkie and Tyler Schaub pace the Ponies, both ranked No. 1 at their respective weight classes, but Havre's depth is really what stands out. Freshman Mick Chagnon is ranked second at 103 pounds, while defending state champ Quinn Reno is second at 120 and Cameron Pleninger is second at 113. Ryan Stewart is ranked fourth at 132, while Lane Paulson is third at 138.

Sophomores Marc Ramirez and Connor Harris are also ranked at 126 and 152, respectively, while Mason Dionne is fourth at 170 and Austin Ratliff is fifth at heavyweight.

Tonight's duals should also give the Ponies two good bouts to take into the Christmas break. Following tonight's trip to Sidney, Havre won't be back in action until Jan. 5-6 when the Ponies go to Cut Bank to defend their Cut Bank Inivtational championships.