Coronavirus has been disuptive to wrestling

It has been some time since we last saw the Havre High wrestling team. In fact, the All-Class State Tournament back in February was the last major sporting event to be completed in Montana.

Usually, multiple offseasons across several sports would have already begun long ago, but the COVID-19 concern shot down many activities and social setting since it hit, leaving a gap in many athletes' day-to-day workouts and practices.

The Blue Pony matmen are one of those groups, as their offseason was abruptly halted back in the spring, putting a damper on the work that Havre planned to do at the time, including other activities involved with the sport. But things have gotten better enough to allow the Ponies to get on the mat for the offseason.

Havre head coach Beau LaSalle had some struggles when it came to practices when they started up a little bit ago, but he managed to help his team work around the COVID-19 obstacle.

"We started a couple weeks ago," LaSalle said. "Then last week, when things kind of broke out again, we postponed practice for about a week or so. We were kind of waiting to see what was going to become of it, so we started up for a day a week from there."

And despite the roadblocks that hit LaSalle and the Blue Pony matmen during the spring, there was still some hope that offseason practices would still happen.

"Our offseason kind of got taken away," LaSalle continued. "We usually have a pretty busy spring schedule. We had some tournaments and stuff like that. We had some guys commit to the first part of the spring after the season and then everything kind of happened, so we weren't able to got to the tournaments, which kind of sucked. But it's nice to be able to get back in the room a bit again."

The spring was supposed to be bountiful for Havre in regard to their offseason, where they would not only compete against other wrestlers across Montana in AAU tournaments, but the Blue Pony grapplers often find a great amount of improvement in that time, as well. Having their spring taken away for a good amount of time left things a little empty.

But, like a lot of other athletes at the time, Havre was able to make do with some individual offseason workouts for the matmen. Despite the lack of practices with other grapplers for the Ponies, besides possible siblings living in the same home, many wrestlers have been able to improve themselves at a decent rate still.

To be back on the mat for some time makes things a bit easier, of course, but COVID-19 has put some restrictions on the Havre wrestling offseason, though the athletes have been able to work on their own during this time to get better, too.

"At this time in the summer it's a little difficult to get guys in, especially with what's going on," LaSalle said. "Some guys have baseball and things like that, they're working and we're also coming up on football season, so guys are getting ready for that. It's been a little difficult considering how we've been trying to follow the guidelines and everything, but we're doing what we can. With wrestling having contact all the time, we've just been trying to do what we can do. It's been a challenge, but we had some guys on the break doing some stuff on their own."

The present has been going fairly smooth when it comes to the offseason for Havre, but there still is some uncertainty in regard to the future of the 2020-2021 wrestling season. There is no telling what could happen to the winter sports season right now, but like most others, there is still some hope that the future will hold good things for the Ponies.

As for LaSalle's insight on the future of HHS wrestling and the other winter sports, he sees a possibility of having a different look in the sports world.

"I think COVID-19 is going to definitely put some changes in place," LaSalle said. "As far as right now, we're kind of looking at it like we're hoping to have a season. We're not as much under the gun as fall sports are because fall sports are less than a month away, but we have a little time before the winter season to kind of iron things out if we need to. It's really going to depend on getting kids back in school. I think that's going to be the tell-tale thing. That's the most important thing right now."

But for now, the Blue Pony grapplers will keep working hard and building their strength with every opportunity they get. The winter season is still a ways away, but LaSalle, as well as many others, are hoping that sports will still make an appearance when the winter comes around. After all, it is quite a sting in the chest to work so hard in the offseason, only to lose the actual season, but rest assured, LaSalle and Havre are still hoping for a bright future on the mat.