Blue Ponies overpower Scotties on senior night

The regular season is almost done for the Havre High wrestling team and after fighting through a tough schedule, the Blue Pony grapplers were ready for a great test from the Glasgow Scotties.

Havre closed out its home schedule by taking on the top-ranked Scotties inside the HHS gymnasium. And Havre put the pedal to the metal against Glasgow, beating the No. 1 Class B-C Scotties 42-31 on the mat. Glasgow brought the fire, too, giving the Ponies a good competition before the big Class A Duals in Lewistown Friday and Saturday.

HHS head coach Beau LaSalle was proud of the work he saw on the mat and that Glasgow came up with a itch to compete hard.

"It was a good test for us," LaSalle said. "We had some young guys that performed well. Forfeits made the dual a bit closer and put us in a hole, but they had a couple, too, so that evened things out, and it was good on senior night to have all three seniors get a win."

Those seniors, Connor Harris, Cameron Pleninger and Joey Bender put on a show on the mat Tuesday. Bender opened the dual with a bang, pinning Jake Kuka in 2:37 in the 103-pound weight class. Cameron Pleninger followed not long after with a pin of his own, doing so to Jack Cornwell in 0:34 at 126. Harris capped off the senior spectacle with a pin on Mo Fast in 1:23 at 152.

Pleninger had the fastest pin of the night, as well, proving his prowess and quickness on the mat. Pleninger has been making a lot of noise in his final year and was glad to see the team add to it Tuesday.

"Every opportunity we had to win, we did," Pleninger said. "And we did it with pins, which set us up for the win. It was very critical to get those pins and we did it."

On top of the seniors winning by pins, many other wrestlers did so, too. Randy Tommerup pinned Ethan Nickels in 1:53 at 160 and Orion Thivierge won by pin over Ty Kittleson in 4:37 in the 170-pound weight class. Havre suffered some losses in the dual, as well, but the pins by multiple wrestlers lifted the Blue Pony wrestlers to victory.

Next up for HHS is the Class A Duals in Lewistown Friday and Saturday. The window is very small between the Glasgow Dual and the Class A Duals, but LaSalle knows that time will be utilized to keep his team sharp and ready to go.

"We want to get our guys healthy and get ready to go on Friday," LaSalle said. "It's kind of a quick turn-around, so we're looking to get guys healthy and ready to go."

Havre heads to its second-to-last regular season meet in Lewistown for the Class A Duals on Friday and Saturday, followed by a wrap-up of the regular season in Malta on Feb. 1 before heading to Divisionals in Lewistown.

Blue Ponies 42, Glasgow 31

103 – Joey Bender, HAV pinned Jake Kuka, GLA, 2:37; 113 – Mick Chagnon, HAV, won by FFT; 120 – Hunter Velk, HAV, won by FFT; 126 – Cameron Pleninger, HAV, pinned Jack Cornwell, GLA, 0:34; 132 – Mason Donaldson, GLA, win by forfeit; 138 – Kale VanCampen, HAV, maj. dec. Colten Fast, GLA, 0-8; 145 – Kendall Pleninger, HAV, dec. John Cremer, GLA, 2-8; 152 – Connor Harris, HAV, pinned Mo Fast, GLA, 1:23; 160 – Randy Tommerup, HAV, pinned Ethan Nickels, GLA, 1:53; 170 – Orion Thivierge, HAV, pinned Ty Kittleson, GLA, 4:37; 182 – Brayden Stadell, HAV, pinned Dylan Nieskins, GLA, 1:59; 205 – Cooper Larson, GLA, GLA won by FFT; 285 – Cole Adams, HAV, pinned by Mayson Phipps, GLA, 0:56.