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Havre falls short against top-ranked Sidney, bounces back to pin Great Falls High
vre's Mick Chagnon, left, pins Sidney's Kolby Hutzinbiler in their 103-pound match Thursday night in the HHS gymnasium. Chagnon, who went 2-0 Thursday night, got Havre's dual against the Eagles off to a great start, but in the end, the top-ranked Eagles pulled away from the Ponies.
Havre senior Lane Paulson works on a GFH opponent during a senior night dual Thursday night in Havre. The Ponies rebounded from their loss to Sidney by beating the Bison, who are one of the top teams in Class AA.
Havre senior Austin Ratliff fights a Sidney rival during the Blue Ponies' senior night double dual Thursday in the HHS gymnasium.
Havre's Cameron Pleninger on his way to win over Sidney during the Blue Ponies' senior night double dual Thursday in the HHS gymnasium.
Marc Rameriz throws his Sidney rival during the Blue Ponies' senior night double dual Thursday in the HHS gymnasium.
Martin Wilkie dominates a Sidney opponent during the Blue Ponies' senior night double dual Thursday in the HHS gymnasium.
Connor Harris wrestle a Sidney rival during the Blue Ponies' senior night double dual Thursday in the HHS gymnasium.
Riley Pleninger wrestles in the highly-anticipated dual with Sidney Thursday night in the HHS gymnasium.
Martin Wilkie wrestle for the final time in the HHS gymnasium during his incredible Blue Pony career.
The Havre High wrestling team doesn't get a lot of home duals, so when Sidney and Great Falls High traveled to the HHS gymnasium for senior night, it was a big deal for the Blue Ponies.
Of course, whenever Havre and Sidney meet on the wrestling mat, it's a big deal, and the top two teams in Class A went head-to-head with the Eagles coming out on top by a score of 42-23.
Havre opened up the night in a strong fashion, as Mick Chagnon notched a pin against Sidney in less than a minute to put Havre up 6-0. But Sidney evened the score with a pin of its own. Cameron Pleninger won at 120 pounds by way of a 7-2 decision, however, Sidney won the matches at 113, 126, 132 and 138 and went into the 145-pound match with Martin Wilkie of Havre leading 18-9. Wilkie got a technical fall over Kade Graves to get Havre back within striking distance at 18-14.
Yet, after that Connor Harris at 160 pounds and Austin Ratliff at 205 pounds were the only other Havre wrestlers to win matches. Christian Dean beat Lane Paulson 8-3 at 138 pounds, Jace Winter beat Orion Thivierge at 152 pounds and at 170 pounds, Trevor Dean beat Taylor Gopher and at 182 pounds, Sidney got another win from Jett Jones over Brayden Stadel. Riley Pleninger and Kendall Pleninger also lost at 113 pounds and 126 pounds respectively to Kaden Cline and Everett Jensen. Havre forfeited in the heavyweight class to give Sidney its final margin of 42-23.
After taking on Sidney, the defending state champion in Class A, the Ponies turned around and battled Class AA rival Great Falls High in a second dual inside the HHS gymnasium Thursday night. Great Falls was defeated by Sidney in the first dual of the night and while the Bison did their best to knock off HHS on senior night, the Ponies walked away with a 31-26 win, thanks to a late pin from Ratliff.
Because the Ponies were going to forfeit in the heavyweight division against Great Falls High, Ratlif needed to win with his team in front 25-20 or the dual would have went to the Bison. And against Noah Cannon of Great Falls High, in a 205-pound match, the senior delivered. After coming close to a pin in both the first and second periods, Ratliff finally won by fall, getting the pin with 14 seconds left to get the win and secure the dual for the Ponies.
"All of my teammates fought really hard so I knew I had to do the same," Ratliff said. "I had to give it my all and I just tried to treat it like another match. It's kind of sad that this will be my last match here, but I am also ready to move on and create new memories wrestling in a new gym."
While Ratliff's pin played a key role in the win for the Ponies, Wilkie and Cameron Pleninger also won by fall, earning extra points for their team at 145 and 120 pounds. Chagnon led a group of wrestlers that won by decision. He earned a victory in his match against Dre Coles of Great Falls High and following in his foosteps were Ramirez, who won at 132 pounds, Lane Paulson, who won at 138 pounds and Harris who won a 12-3 decision major decision at 152 pounds.
Hunter Velk dropped his match at 113 pounds for HHS and the other that were defeated against Great Falls High were Kendall Pleninger, who lost a 6-2 decision to Mason Huber and Thivierge, who was knocked off 10-1 by Liam Swason. Gopher also dropped his match at 170 pounds to Tyson Krahe and at 182 pounds, Stadel was beaten by Elijah Davis 10-2.
The Ponies will be off for the holiday break and will not be back in action until Jan. 4 when they will travel to Cut Bank for the Cut Bank Invitational.
Sidney 42, Havre 23
103 - Mick Chagnon, HAV, pinned Kolby Hutzinbiler, SID, :54; 113 - Kaden Cline, SID, pinned Riley Pleninger, HAV, 5:56; 120 - Cameron Pleninger, HAV, dec. Jordan Darby, SID, 7-2. 126 - Evertt Jensen, SID, pinned Kendall Pleninger, HAV; 132 - Aden Graves, SID, dec. Marc Ramiez, HAV, 6-4; 138 - Christian Dean, SID, dec. Lane Paulson, HAV, 8-3; 145 - Martin Wilkie technical fall Kade Graves, SID, 15-0; 152 - Jace Winter, SID, pinned Orion Thivierge, Hav, 1:09; 160 - Connor Harris, HAV, dec. Riley Waters, SID, 7-4; 170 - Trevor Dean, SID, pinned Taylor Gopher, HAV, 1:27; 182 - Jett Jones, SID, pinned Brayden Stadel, HAV, 2:27; 205 - Austin Ratliff, HAV, dec. Austin Wyman, SID, 4-1; 285 - Ethan Deroche, SID, win by forfeit.
Havre 31, Great Falls High 25
103 - Mich Chagnon, HAV, dec. Dre Coles, GFH, 7-2; 113 - Easton Shupe, GFH, pinned Hunter Velk, HAV, 2:28; 120 - Cameron Pleninger, HAV, pinned Austin Phatavong, GFH, 4:01; 126 - Mason Huber, GFH, dec. 6-2, Kendall Pleninger, HAV; 132 - Marc Ramirez, HAV, dec. Trevin Smith, GFH, 8-4; 138 - Lane Paulson, HAV, dec. Cache Hilliard, GFH, 3-0; 145 - Martin Wilkie, HAV, pinned Donovan Mahoney, GFH, 3:31; 152 - Connor Harris, HAV, dec. Caden Hilliard, GFH, 12-3; 160 - Liam Swason, GFH, dec. Orion Thivierge, HAV, 10-0; 170 - Tyson Krahe, GFH, dec. Taylor Gopher, HAV, 9-2; 182 - Elijah Davis, GFH, dec. Brayden Stadel, HAV, 10-2; 205 - Austin Ratliff, HAV, pinned Noah Cannon, GFH, 546: 285 - Ethan Deroche wins by forfeit.
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