Trifecta was the perfect ending for Orion

BILLINGS - Orion Thivierge's weekend at the Metra in Billings would be an extraordinary performance for most high school wrestlers. But if you look at his career and season before then this past weekend was just another feather in the cap of Thivierge's incredible career.

After placing sixth in state his freshman season, Thivierge did not falter in the postseason again, as he won state titles in both his sophomore and junior seasons. As he began this season, he looked primed for another run to end his Blue Pony career.

He started his senior season all the way back in December with the Havre Invitational. In his first action of the season, Thivierge emerged with a first-place trophy. At the Mining City Duals in Butte, Thivierge went 5-0 in his matches. The low point of Thivierge's season came at the CMR Holiday Classic in Great Falls where he placed second.

But that was a minor hiccup on the road as he got things rolling again in January. He took first in both the Cut Bank Invitational and Jug Beck Rocky Mountain Classic. He then went undefeated in the Class A Duals as well as the Ponies' duals through January and February. He again took first at the Eastern A Divisionals to qualify for state. A third straight state title seemed inevitable at that point.

Thivierge's dominance continued through all four matches of the state tournament. He won all four matches by pin, including his first two in less than a minute. In the semifinals, Thivierge got some resistance from Columbia Falls' Brandon Role, but Thivierge eventually won with a pin 3:03 into the match. Thivierge returned to his dominance in the championship match as he won by pin 48 seconds in against Sidney's Grady Nelson. Even in his final match as a Pony that clinched a third straight title, Thivierge continued to make it look easy.

With this being the last weekend of his Blue Pony career, Thivierge just enjoyed dominating on the mats and spending time with his teammates one last time.

"Having the tournament that I had was just a lot of fun," Thivierge said. "I'm really proud of the team. We had an awesome weekend and that made it really enjoyable."

As he moves on from the program, Thivierge will be hard to replace both on the mats and in the locker room.

"He put himself in the record books and he's just been a great kid to be around and great for the program," HHS head coach Beau LaSalle said.

Thivierge plans on continuing to wrestle in college but has not decided where he wants to do that yet. As the end of his high school career sets in, he hopes that his legacy is not just felt in the record books.

"I hope I inspired some of the younger kids to keep continuing the legacy of Havre wrestling because it's a pretty special place," Thivierge said.

With the way you dominated on the mats, and the way you carry yourself off it, no doubt Orion, you inspired an entire generation of Ponies to come!