Havre wrestling defeats Cut Bank in home dual

After competing in several tournaments to start the season, the Havre High wrestling team got the chance to compete in a dual against Cut Bank on Tuesday at Havre High Gymnasium. In their first dual of the season, HHS head coach Beau LaSalle believes the Blue Ponies wrestled well to win the dual, 36-24.

"We wrestled well. They gave us a good match like we thought they would," Beau LaSalle said. "They're a tough team, one of the better teams in Class B and I thought we wrestled good. We still got some improving to do but I thought we wrestled pretty well."

Before the dual got started, there were a pair of exhibition matches to get things started. In the 205-pound weight class, Havre's Clara Laird wrestled against Haycee Fetters. In the second period, Fetters pinned Laird to win the match. Havre's Reinhardt Bold then wrestled Tristan Sydenstbicker at 145 pounds. 3:49 into the match, Bold pinned his opponent to win the match.

The dual itself began when Havre's Matthew Lemer wrestled at 133 pounds against Cut Bank's Richard Schmidt. Lemer took an early lead to control the match en route to a 7-0 decision. His win gave Havre a 3-0 lead to start the dual.

At 120 pounds, Havre's Colter Soloman wrestled Kellan Cassidy. Just like Lemer, Soloman controlled the match for a 6-0 decision. His win pushed Havre's lead to 6-0. At 126 pounds, Havre's Carson Harris won by forfeit to give Havre a 12-0 lead in the dual.

At 132 pounds, Alex Wahl pinned Havre's Dominic Perkins 52 seconds into the match. With their first loss of the night, the Ponies' lead was cut to 12-6. The dual was then tied, 12-12, when Kanon Branch pinned Havre's Jacob Kunz when they wrestled at 138 pounds.

But the Ponies were able to bounce back. Tristan Stygles gave Havre an 18-12 lead when pinned Matt Larson 5:40 into the match at 145 pounds. At 152 pounds, Havre's Riley Pleninger pinned Raice Strand 59 seconds into the match to extend the Havre lead to 24-12.

In a tight match at 160 pounds, Ty Curry defeated Havre's Kendall Pleninger for a 2-1 decision to cut the lead to 24-15. But in the match at 170 pounds, Orion Thivierge pinned Jacob Hjartarson 1:23 into the match to extend the lead to 30-15.

At 182 pounds, Austin Vanek defeated Havre's Kale VanCampen for a 7-0 decision to cut Havre's lead to 30-18 in the dual. At 205 pounds, Pierce Caplette pinned Ron Grant 1:17 into the match. In the last match of the dual, Jeremy Gallagher pinned Havre's Randy Tommerup 3:13 into the match. But Havre ended the night with a 36-24 win in the dual.

After the dual, another exhibition match was held between Havre's Aliyah Stiff Arm and Hailey Fetters. At 205 pounds, Fetters pinned Stiff Arm 2:52 into the match. The Ponies will not get many chances to compete at home this season with the Havre Mixer already behind them and not other duals currently on schedule, so Tuesday's dual was a nice return to the Blue Pony Corral.

"Anytime you get to wrestle at home it's great," LaSalle said. "Anytime you're in your home gym it's nice. We don't get many home duals so it's good to be back home with a good crowd."

The Ponies will next wrestle Jan. 7 at the Cut Bank Invite.

Havre 36, Cut Bank 24

113 - Matthew Lemer, H, dec. Richard Schmidt, C, 7-0; 120 - Colter Soloman, H, dec. Kellan Cassidy, C, 6-0; 126 - Carson Harris, H, wins by FFT; 132 - Alex Wahl, C, pinned Dominic Perkins, H, 0:52; 138 - Kanon Branch, C, pinned Jacob Kunz, H, 3:04; 145 - Tristan Stygles, H, pinned Matt Larson, C, 5:40; 152 - Riley Pleninger, H, pinned Raice Strand, C, 0:59; 160 - Ty Curry, C, dec. Kendall Pleninger, H, 2-1; 170 - Orion Thivierge, H, pinned Jacob Hjartarson, C, 1:23; 182 - Austin Vanek, C, dec. Kale VanCampen, H, 7-0; 205 - Pierce Caplette, H, pinned Ron Grant, C, 1:17; 285 - Jeremy Gallagher, C, pinned Randy Tommerup, H, 3:13.