Blue Ponies get season started on the mats

The Havre High wrestling teams finally made their debut this winter with the Havre Invitational at Havre High Gymnasium this past Friday and Saturday. The Blue Ponies and other teams did not keep track of team scores, but HHS head coach Beau LaSalle was happy to see how his wrestlers performed in their first action of the year.

"I thought we wrestled pretty well in this first weekend," LaSalle said. "There were some technical mistakes that we need to look at on film and fix but across the board, I thought the kids competed really hard and overall wrestled well."

The Ponies were happy themselves to finally get on the mats this season. The Ponies will have a long season ahead with many meets and duals on the road, so they were also happy to get the chance to compete at home to start the year.

"It felt great. We've been itching to get after it for the last two weeks," Havre's Matthew Lemer said. "It's a good environment. It gets you going."

In their home gymnasium, several Ponies took advantage to place in their weight classes. Lemer took first wrestling in the 120-pound weight class as he won a 2-0 decision over Cut Bank's Bradin Murphy in the first-place match.

As a freshman, Reed Mantle wrestled well to take first at 132 pounds. He started the tournament with a fall 58 seconds into his match against Lewistown's Jake Simac. He then won by fall over Butte Central's James Holmes. In the first-place match, Mantle won by forfeit over his teammate Braydon Knoles.

"He's put in a lot of time on his own and in the offseason," LaSalle said about Mantle's performance. "You like to see it when they put in the time and it comes to fruition on their first weekend out."

Carson Harris also had a strong start to the season as he took first wrestling at 138 pounds. Harris started the weekend with a fall over Butte Central's Marcus Shutey. He then won by fall over his teammate Jack Gillen before winning by fall over Malta's Kohner Shipman in the first-place match.

"It's a good start to the season," Harris said about his first-place finish. "It feels good (to get back on the mats). It's been a long wait and I'm ready for the season."

Reinhard Bold also took first wrestling at 152 pounds. He first defeated Chinook's Ayden Alisch with a 17-1 technical fall to start things off. He then earned a 6-0 decision over Cut Bank's Tristan Sydenstricker to win the bracket.

While they did not take first, many other Ponies placed in the tournament. Teegan Solomon finished second in 113 pounds after he won by fall over Butte Central's Holmes. Tristan Stygles finished second in the 145-pound weight class. He started the tournament with a win by pin over Cut Bank's Alex Wahl before another win by pin over Malta's Taylin Johannsen to secure his second-place finish.

Daniel Edmonds finished second at 160 pounds thanks to a pin against Malta's Colton Honey. Rowdy Doney took second at 170 pounds as he pinned Cut Bank's Peyton Volkman. At 126 pounds, Colter Solomon took third after he pinned Chinook's Fletcher Anderson.

At 138 pounds, Jack Gillen took third as he pinned Butte Central's Shutey. Landen Caplette took third at 170 pounds and Knoles finished fourth at 132 pounds for the Ponies. At 145 pounds, Justin Awtrey finished fifth thanks to a couple of wins. In the tournament, he pinned both Lewistown's Joe Cunningham and Lewistown's Richard Clark.

Kale Van Campen finished fifth at 182 pounds as he pinned Lewistown's Seth Hicks. At 205 pounds, Pierce Caplette finished fifth. In the tournament, Pierce pinned both his teammate Brandon Healy and Cut Bank's Jacob Hjartarson. Healy finished fifth at 205 pounds thanks to a pin against Cut Bank's Ron Grant.

The HHS girls wrestling team also got its season started this past weekend at the Havre Invitational. Over the course of the tournament, several Ponies did well to place in their brackets.

At 235 pounds, Aliyah Stiffarm finished first thanks to a pin against Cut Bank's Haylee Fetters. Clara Laird also took first at 185 pounds as she pinned her teammate Angelina Caplette and Malta's Ava Hanson.

McKenna Caplette finished first at 120 pounds as she pinned Lewistown's Rebecca Birdwell and Chinook's Emma Klingaman. Maleigha Azure finished first wrestling at 138 pounds. She started the tournament with a pin against Trinity Carter from Chester-Joplin-Inverness and then won, 13-4, for a major decision over her teammate Brooke Nelson. In the first-place match, Azure pinned her teammate Brooklyn Wilting.

Nelson finished second at 138 pounds as she won a 6-2 decision over Wilting and then pinned CJI's Carter. Angelina finished second at 185 pounds as she won, 12-0, for a major decision over Malta's Hanson. Wilting finished third at 138 pounds as she pinned CJI's Carter and Aubree Erickson took fifth at 145 pounds.

Now that they have finally gotten on the mats, the Ponies can get on with their season. There are many weekends on the road between now and the postseason in February, so they will be looking to build off this tournament to open the year and get better as the season goes along.

"We need to get in better shape, push the pace a little bit more, get a little more physical and just build confidence in ourselves and our abilities on the mat," LaSalle said. "We'll really hit hard on the mental aspect of the sport here in the next couple of weeks."

The HHS wrestling teams will next compete in the Butte Central Mixer and Mining City Duals in Butte this Thursday through Saturday.