Pony grapplers wrap up the regular season

The postseason is right around the corner for the Havre High wrestling team, where the Blue Pony grapplers look to make some noise on the mat and take home some hardware. But, before the Divisional Tournament in Lewistown next weekend, Havre has one more meet to attend.

The Ponies will be on the road for the Malta Invitational Saturday in Malta to take on some more competition before the postseason. The Class B host will have a lot of tests for the Havre matmen to finish off the regular season. The one-day tournament has a lot in store for the Blue Ponies.

The meet in Malta is the last leg for Havre to prepare for the postseason and HHS head coach Beau LaSalle is excited to go head-to-head with some familiar faces.

"It's a good tournament for us going into divisionals." LaSalle said. "It's a smaller tournament. We go and get three to four matches and see some of the Hi-Line schools we've seen in the past, like Cut Bank. It's just a really good warmup tournament going into the postseason for us."

Havre has been making strides throughout the season, but some big moments have happened for the Ponies lately. Last week in the Class A Duals, senior Connor Harris, junior Mick Chagnon and sophomore Orion Thivierge all went undefeated throughout the two-day competition. The three grapplers were forces to be reckoned with and, in Malta, they will all look to keep that reputation.

At the same time, matmen like seniors Joey Bender and Cameron Pleninger will be looking to finish off the last leg of the regular season on a high note. Both seniors are quick and scrappy, which is never an easy opponent to take down. Others like Randy Tommerup are aiming to keep rising through the season as it ends.

Then, wrestlers like Riley and Kendall Pleninger, Kale VanCampen and Brayden Stadell have ambitions to give their careers at Havre a great boost. Overall, there is a lot of talent and determined young men that are focused on going big rather than going home.

Speaking of focus, with the final moments of the regular season ticking away, LaSalle has his team lasered in on key things.

"Just fixing the little things individually," LaSalle said. "We're getting the guys mental preparation ready to go for the postseason and just sharpening things up."

The nitpicking at the end of the season will be crucial for the Blue Ponies, especially against some tough opponents that will be at Malta. Teams like Cut Bank, which has given the Havre grapplers tough matches already this season, and many of the Hi-Line schools that will look to give it their all on the mat Saturday. The one-day tournament will be action-packed and intense with all the exciting competition.

But the one team that will look to stand out Saturday will be the host, the Malta Mustangs. Malta has been making good strides throughout the season and will look forward to the tough competition coming to their country. After all, wrestling against teams like Cut Bank and Havre will bring about some great motivation to do well.

In LaSalle's assessment of the Mustangs, the team has a major strength that can make facing them a good challenge.

"They've got a couple of older kids that are pretty tough," LaSalle said. "Around their 152 to 160-pounders are pretty tough, I think."

Area rivals like Chinook and Harlem will also be in Malta, closing out their regular season as well.

The last leg of the regular season Saturday in the Malta Invitational will be the final countdown for the Blue Ponies, who will look to finish strong.