Pony girls will hit the mat this winter

It was a decision that didn't get much attention initially. But a unanimous vote by the Havre Public Schools Board of Trustees earlier this month set in motion a historic path to what is sure to already be an unusual high school wrestling season.

The HPS board passed a request to officially add girls wrestling as its own Blue Pony sport, effective immediately. The Montana High School Association had made girls wrestling official last school year, and many schools immediately picked up the sport. However, at the time, Havre High hadn't had a female wrestler in the program in recent years.

That, however, changed this winter.

The Blue Pony wrestling room has four girls competing this season, and that's a big jump from none the year before.

The girls competing for HHS this season are Aliyah Stiffarm, Clara Laird, Brooklyn Nelson and Maleigha Fuzesy for head coach Beau LaSalle.

Of course, girls wrestling is only part of what will be an extremely different season for not only the Blue Ponies, but also all of high school wrestling in Montana, and beyond.

"Unfortunately, the fans will be limited," LaSalle said of what to expect when wrestling's regular season starts next month. "It's made things a lot different. Harder in some respects that just be able to reach the kids, since they're not in school every day, is keeping tabs on them and them being able to keep tabs on each other. Usually they're good at getting on one another in school and things like that, but with them being split up, we don't get that every day. They do a very good job, and we have a great group of kids. It's just a little bit different and a little bit harder, but with safety precautions like wearing our masks and sanitizing, we've done a pretty good job of that."

Meanwhile, girls wrestling for the Blue Ponies will be new, but girls wrestling in Montana is anything but.

For years, girls have been wrestling against the boys in Montana high school wrestling, and many girls have not only competed, but found their way onto the podium. On the Hi-Line, Chinook's Rebecca Stroh has won matches at the B-C state tournament. So, even if girls wrestling had not been approved, there still would have been plenty of girls competing this winter, as the number of girls competing in wrestling has risen dramatically in the last decade.

Now, though, the girls will have their own classification at the state tournament. That, however, will really be the only difference between the way girls competed in Montana before the sport was added last year.

In girls wrestling, they will still travel with the boys team and compete against boys in invitationals - though those are banned this season due to coronavirus - and in duals. Due to numbers, the girls will also not have a divisional tournament or state qualifier. Instead, there will be an All-Class state girls tournament for every girl who participates in the sport. The only other major difference to girls wrestling is, they are no longer allowed to practice against the boys. They must compete against themselves in practice.

And while now, the girls get a chance to compete against other girls, and for state championships, as Montana became the 28th state to add girls wrestling, in general, girls will still be competing against and holding their own against the boys, and for the first time, girls will be doing it under the umbrella of the historic, and ultra successful Blue Pony wrestling program.

The Blue Ponies are slated to open the season Jan. 2 with two duals in Miles City.