THE PONIES BATTLED

BILLINGS - For the past five years, the Havre High wrestling team has had its way with the rest of Class A at the All-Class State Wrestling Tournament, but in 2018, the Blue Ponies couldn't keep up with the only rival they've ever had - the Sidney Eagles.

Sidney, which has finished second to Havre numerous times in the last decade, finally turned the tables on the Ponies, as the Eagles racked up 250 points en route to their first state championship in 12 years. Havre, on the other hand, saw its run of five consecutive state championships come to close. Ultimately, HHS settled for second, edging out Lewistown to be the runner-up with 188 points compared to 185 for the Eagles.

"We left some points on the table," HHS head coach Scott Filius said. "I think that our age showed up a little bit. I thought we were capable of doing more and we didn't. To be honest, we can't say that we are real happy with ourselves, but we got what we earned and so that is where we're at."

After Sidney won the Eastern A Divisional title in Belgrade the week before the state tournament, Havre knew it had some ground to make up and on the first day, the Ponies put themselves in position to contend. The Ponies got seven wrestlers, Cameron Pleninger, Ryan Stewart, Lane Paulson, Martin Wilkie, Connor Harris, Mason Dionne and Tyler Schaub through to the semifinals, while three others, Quinn Reno, Marc Ramirez and Mick Chagnon joined them in advancing to Saturday.

Austin Ratliff, who was ranked as high as No. 3 late in the year, dropped his quarterfinal match to eventual finalist Keegan Mires of Glendive, then was eliminated after losing a 12-6 decision to Jesse Murdock of Hardin. That was a setback for Havre. Taylor Gopher and Jazz Schroeder, two other hopefuls, lost out Friday night after winning one match apiece in the tournament. Freshman Dylan Young also competed, but went 0-2 in his state tournament debut.

Yet, when the first day was in the books, the Ponies were well within range of both Sidney and Lewistown. Sidney led the way with 119.5 points, while Lewistown was second with 102, followed by Havre in third with 99 points.

However, in order to close that gap, the Ponies were going to need to exceed expectations in the semifinals and unfortunately, for HHS, it just didn't come to fruition. The first semifinal for Havre featured Pleninger taking on Buddy Doolin of Libby. It was a hard-fought match and with less than 10 seconds to go, Pleninger clung to a 3-2 lead. The sophomore was trying desperately to hang on, but in the final seconds, Doolin scored a two-point takedown, earning himself a dramatic 4-3 victory.

The Ponies then suffered another difficult defeat at 120 pounds, as senior Ryan Stewart fell short against eventual state champion Jake Bibler of Frenchtown, who won the match 3-0. Stewart then wrestled Kade Graves of Sidney for third, in a rematch of the quarterfinals, but this time, Graves came out on top, winning a tough match 3-2 to take third. Stewart, a four-time medalist at state for Havre, finished his career with a fourth-place finish.

"I am glad that I at least got top four," Stewart said. "Obviously, I wanted to win the state title. I beat Graves yesterday, but I just didn't come through on that last match there.

"He competed hard," Filius said of Stewart. "He has been a pleasure to coach for four years and he has been a highlight just to be around him as a person. The last one got away from us, but that's OK."

Schaub and Wilkie wound up being the only Ponies to find success in the semifinals, but eight others still ended up placing. Paulson and Harris both recovered from losses to finish third. Pleninger joined Stewart by finishing fourth. Freshman Mick Chagnon wound up fifth in his first state tournament appearance, as did sophomore Mason Dionne.

"I probably need to be more aggressive on top and be more aggressive with my shots," Chagnon said. "I have kind of been shying away from shooting. It feels good to reach the podium, but I would have liked to place a little higher, but it just didn't go that way this year.

Dionne also lamented his fifth-place finish.

"I think I just need to work a little harder," Dionne said. "I didn't really do much wrestling last summer and I think I am going to have to change that."

Reno, a state champion in 2017, finished sixth at 120 pounds. He was joined by Ramirez, who suffered a major injury a few weeks ago, yet gutted through it to qualify for state and eventually to find the podium.

"I was supposed to be out for six months," Ramirez said. "But I put in too much work in the offseason to not come back. I had to come back and show what I'm made of."

By the time the consolation semifinals were finished, the team race was all but over. Sidney had separated from Havre and Lewistown, but the Ponies still found themselves in third, trailing Lewistown 167-140 with two rounds of matches to go. However, after wins by Paulson, Harris, Dionne and Chagnon in the last round of consolation matches, Havre went ahead 180-177.

Then, in the finals, Wilkie and Schaub locked up second place for Havre, as they each captured individual state championships. Wilkie, who notched three pins en route to a state title, won an 8-2 decision over Ben Stortz of Glendive to claim his third straight title. He will attempt to become a four-time state champion in 2018.

Schaub, on the other hand, won his second title in three years. He missed the 2017 state tournament due to injury, but completed his redemption story with a 4-2 victory in the finals over Will Caprata of Hardin. Those two wins and three losses in the finals by Lewistown, were enough for Havre to hold onto second place.

"Obviously watching Tyler and Martin go out was fun," Filius said. "I also liked watching Lane Paulson come back and wrestle as well as he did and it was nice to see Mick Chagnon contribute. There were a lot of nice things."

In the end, Havre fell short of winning a sixth consecutive state championship and for the first time since 2012, Class A has a new champion. But the Ponies don't anticipate being down for long and, as Filius said, it's time to get back to work.

"We just have to get to work," Filius said. "Same thing you always do with your offseason, you try to get better and get more kids involved. We just have to learn from it and go from there."

2018 Class A State Wrestling Results

Team scores: Sidney-Fairview 250, Havre 188, Lewistown 185, Polson 134, Frenchtown 130, Glendive 117.5, Hardin 110, Columbia Falls 108, Ronan 70, Hamilton-Darby 66, Libby-Troy 53.5, Dillon-Twin Bridges-Sheridan 42.5, Miles City 39.5, Belgrade 38, Browning 30.5, Laurel 29, Billings Central 23, Stevensville-Victor 20, Corvallis 17, Livingston 16, Butte Central 15, Whitefish 10.

Individual results

103

First place: Kaiden Cline, Sidney, dec. Wyatt Mager, Lewistown, 8-4; Third place: Trapper Mcallister, Ronan def. Eli Warner, Frenchtown 6-1; Fifth place: Mick Chagnon, Havre def. Landon Stewart, Frenchtown, forfeit.

113

First place: Cooper Birdwell, Lewistown, dec. Buddy Doolin, Libby, 7-3; Third place: Mateo Quinones, Polson def. Cameron Pleninger, Havre, 6-2; Fifth place: Rene Pierre, Polson pinned Walker Dyer, Frenchtown, 2:33.

120

First place: Jake Bibler, Frenchtown, major dec. Damian Leidholt, Miles City, 10-0; Third place: Kade Graves, Sidney def. Ryan Stewart, Havre, 2-1; Fifth place: Spencer Stagg, Ronan def. Quin Reno, Havre, 8-3.

126

First place: Caleb Birdwell, Lewistown, dec. Christian Dean, Sidney, 4-2; Third place: Michael Golden, Hamilton def. Keagan Campbell, Laurel, forfeit; Fifth place: Clay Fisher, Butte Central def. Marc Ramirez, Havre, 6-5.

132

First place: John Mears, Belgrade, dec. Bridger Wenzel, Polson, 9-2; Third place: Lane Paulson, Havre pinned Ethan Boyce, Billings Central, 3:44; Fifth place: Waylon Van Buren, Sidney md. Brandon Thomas, Columbia Falls, 10-0.

138

First place: Riley Gurr, Frenchtown, p. Jace Winter, Sidney, 4:45; Third place: Bridger Williams, Hamilton pinned Hunter Peterson, Ronan, 1:50; Fifth place: Treyvn Nave, Lewistown pinned Offenbacher, Libby-Troy, 2:15.

145

First place: Martin Wilkie, Havre, dec. Ben Stortz, Glendive, 8-2; Third place: Cameron Brown, Polson pinned Jace Johnson, Sidney, 2:31; Fifth place: Kyler Pancake, Stevensville def. Nathan Hader, Columbia Falls, 7-5.

152

First place: Bryce Roan, Hardin, p. Parker Adler, Polson, 5:24; Third place: Connor Harris, Havre pinned Cooper Hoffman, Dillon, 5:34; Fifth place: Chase Farrar, Lewistown def. Brandon Held, Glendive 6-1.

160

First place: Brent Tezak, Dillon, dec. Tyler Capp, Glendive, 9-4; Third place: Jett Jones, Sidney def. Avery Gurney, Sidney 4-0; Fifth place: Michael Edwards, Frenchtown def. Landon Farrar, Lewistown, 9-7.

170

First place: Ben Windauer, Columbia Falls, p. Alex Wickens, Lewistown, 1:38; Third place: Hunter Fritsch, Polson def. Trevor Dean, Sidney, 4-2; Fifth place: Mason Dione, Havre def. Brenden Roan, Hardin, injury default.

182

First place: Justin Zier, Hardin, p. Wyatt Blythe, Lewistown, 2:23; Third place: Nelson Crisafulli, Glendive def. Gidion Herbel, Hardin 10-8; Fifth place: Justin Mays, Ronan def. Shane Gibson, Livingston, 4-4 OT, criteria.

205

First place: Tyler Schaub, Havre, dec. Will Caprata, Hardin, 4-2; Third place: Sawyor Thorgerson, Sidney def. Kyle Anderson, Hamilton 5-2; Fifth place: Brady Boyce, Lewistown pinned Jakob Freeman, Columbia Falls.

285

First place: Ryan Horner, Sidney, p. Keegan Mires, Glendive, 5:59; Third place: Taylor Gladeau, Columbia Falls pinned Wacey Zuback, Browning, 3:00; Fifth place: Kyle Koski, Columbia Falls def. Jesse Mecham, Frenchtown, injury default.

Havre Individual Results

103 – Mick Chagnon (5th Place)

1st rd – pinned Ashton Flamand, BRO, 1:11; Quarterfinals – lost dec. Wyatt Mager, LEW, 5-4; Consolation 2nd rd – pinned Colton Picco, LEW, :24; Consolation 3rd rd – pinned Matt Foley, BEL, 2:11; Consolation Semis – pinned by Trapper McCallister, RON, 3:30; 5th Place Match – won by FFT Landon Stewart, FTN.

113 – Cameron Pleninger (4th Place)

1st rd – pinned Nicolai Blanchard, FTN, 2:54; Quarterfinals – pinned Mateo Quinones, POL, 3:37; Semifinals – lost dec. Boody Doolin, LIB, 4-3; Consolation Semi – pinned Rene Pierre, POL, 2:13; Consolation Final – lost dec. Mateo Quinones, POL, 6-2.

113 – Dylan Young

1st rd – pinned by Mateo Quinones, POL, :28; Consolation 1st rd – lost dec. Nicolai Blanchard, FTN, 9-5.

120 – Ryan Stewart (4th Place)

1st rd – pinned Kedrick Baker, POL, 1:51; Quarterfinals – dec. Kade Graves, SID, 5-2; Semifinals – lost dec. Jake Bibler, FTN, 3-0; Consolation Semi – pinned Quin Reno, HAV, 2:18; Consolation Final – lost dec. Kade Graves, SID, 2-1.

120 – Quin Reno (6th Place)

1st rd – maj. dec. Zane Walchuk, POL, 11-2; Quarterfinals – lost dec. Damian Leidholt, MC, 5-2; Consolation 2nd rd – maj. dec. Tanner Mannin, LEW, 12-1; Consolation 3rd rd – dec. Kedrick Baker, POL, 1-0; Consolation Semi – pinned by Ryan Stewart, HAV, 2:18; Fifth Place Match – lost dec. Spencer Stagg, RON, 8-3.

126 – Marc Ramirez (6th Place)

1st rd – pinned Owen Brown, RON, 1:20; Quarterfinals – lost dec. Christian Dean, SID, 6-2; Consolation 2nd rd – dec. Mason Sams, LIB, 10-5; Consolation 3rd rd – maj. dec. Everett Jensen, SID, 13-4; Consolation Semi – pinned by Keagan Campbell, LAU, 2:51; Fifth Place Match – lost dec. Clay Fisher, BUT, 6-5.

132 – Lane Paulson (3rd Place)

1st rd – tech. fall Benji Opatt, COR, 18-3; Quarterfinals – tech. fall Ethan Boyce, BC, 21-5; Semifinals – pinned by Bridger Wenzel, POL, 5:47; Consolation Semi – dec. Waylon Van Buren, SID, 4-2; Consolation Final – pinned Ethan Boyce, BC, 3:44.

145 – Martin Wilkie (State Champion)

1st rd – pinned Kaleb Unger, POL, 1:14; Quarterfinals – pinned Duane Otto, POL, 1:40; Semifinals – pinned Kyler Pancake, STV, :51; Championship – dec. Ben Stortz, GLE, 8-2.

152 – Connor Harris (3rd Place)

1st rd – pinned Dawson Young, LIB, :55; Quarterfinals – dec. Mason Fend, LAU, 12-10; Semifinals – lost dec. Parker Adler, POL, 7-4; Consolation Semi – dec. Chase Farrar, LEW, 13-6; Consolation Final – pinned Cooper Huffman, DIL, 5:34.

160 – Taylor Gopher

1st rd – pinned by Brent Tezak, DIL, 2:46; Consolation 1st rd – pinned Rob Gunderson, BC, :26; Consolation 2nd rd – pinned by Connor Schwend, HAR, 2:27.

170 – Mason Dionne (5th Place)

1st rd – pinned Ash Norris, DIL, :26; Quarterfinals – pinned Emmit Augare, BRO, 3:41; Semifinals – pinned by Ben Windauer, CF, 3:36; Consolation Semi – lost dec. Hunter Fritsch, POL, 5-1; Fifth Place Match – won by FFT, Brendan Roan, HAR.

170 – Jazz Schroeder

1st rd – pinned by Emmit Augare, BRO, 1:34; Consolation 1st rd – pinned Ash Norris, DIL, :44; Consolation 2nd rd – pinned by Hunter Fritsch, POL, 2:23.

205 – Tyler Schaub (State Champion)

1st rd – pinned Jacob Woods, STV, 2:55; Quarterfinals – pinned B.H. Hatcher, LAU, 2:30; Semifinals – pinned Brady Boyce, LEW, 4:37; Championship – dec. Will Caprata, HAR, 4-2.

285 – Austin Ratliff

1st rd – pinned Tyler Woods, STV, 1:17; Quarterfinals – pinned by Keegan Mires, GLE, 4:54; Consolation 2nd rd – lost dec. Jesse Murdock, HAR, 12-6.