Havre wrestling opens new year with dual wins

On Tuesday night at Havre High Gymnasium, the Havre High wrestling teams kicked off the new year with a dual against Glasgow. At the beginning of a busy week for the Blue Ponies, both the HHS boy's and girl's teams won as the boys won their dual 38-30 and the girls won 15-6. In their first action of the new year, HHS head coach Beau LaSalle believed the Ponies were solid in their return to action.

"I thought we wrestled alright. Coming out of the break, we haven't gotten to wrestle anybody else so it was good to wrestle somebody else" LaSalle said. "We still got some things to work on but anytime you can come out with a win, we'll take it even when they're not pretty."

After several weeks off with the holiday break, wrestlers like Reinhard Bold were happy to be back on the mats competing.

"It was a relief getting back out on the mat," Bold said. "It's always good to wrestle your opponents instead of having to wrestle the same kid in practice over and over again."

This dual was also one of the few chances the Ponies will get to compete at home this season, so they enjoyed their time wrestling at HHS Gymnasium on Tuesday night.

"In the past few years, we haven't been wrestling at home much so it's always nice to wrestle in the corral," Bold said.

The night started with several exhibition matches. Wrestling in the 138-pound weight class, Havre's Justin Awtrey won, 7-5, against Allen Leslie. At 120 pounds, Teegan Solomon pinned Joaquin Torres. Daniel Edmonds then won his match by fall at 152 pounds.

The night continued with the girls dual between the Ponies and the Scotties. At 114 pounds, McKenna Caplette won by pin 14 seconds into her match against Kaylly Turner to give Havre a 6-0 lead. Then at 120 pounds, Brooklyn Wilting pinned Avery Pedersen 95 seconds into the match to extend Havre's lead to 12-0.

In the match at 132 pounds, Havre's Brooke Nelson and Madison Lamb found themselves tied 4-4 in the second period. But Lamb won after an injury to Nelson ended the match, cutting Havre's lead to 12-6. In the final girls match at 145 pounds, Aubree Erickson defeated Riley Clampitt, 11-3, to give the Ponies a 15-6 win in the dual.

The boys dual got started with Cody Kuka winning by forfeit at 103 pounds to give Glasgow a 6-0 lead. At 113 pounds, Teegan Solomon won by forfeit to tie the dual 6-6. In the first match of the dual at 120 pounds, Matthew Lemer pinned Ted See late in the first period to give Havre a 12-6 lead.

At 126 pounds, Colter Solomon held out to win, 9-2, over Andrew Leslie to give Havre a 15-6 lead. Carson Harris then won by forfeit at 132 pounds to extend the lead to 21-6 in the dual. The Scotties picked up a win as Khye Gamas defeated Tristian Stygles, 11-7, at 138 pounds to cut Havre's lead to 21-9. At 145 pounds, Bold won, 20-5, for a technical fall over William Kirkland to extend the lead to 26-9.

Over the next few matches, the Scotties picked up some wins to get back in the dual. At 152 pounds, Jack Cornwell pinned Daniel Edmonds in the first period to cut Havre's lead to 26-15. Then at 160 pounds, Michael King pinned Landen Caplette to cut the score to 26-21. At 170 pounds, Mason Donaldson won, 4-1, against Pierce Caplette to make the score 26-24.

The Ponies picked up a win when Kale Van Campen won by forfeit at 182 pounds. At 205 pounds, Glasgow's Ethan Nickels pinned Mason Wilting to cut Havre's lead to 32-30 in the dual. The Ponies were able to win the dual as Tommy Lewis won by forfeit at 285 pounds.

Outside of the Mining City Dual Tournament, this was the first dual for the Ponies this year. After competing in several tournaments this season, LaSalle believes getting to watch all of his wrestlers one at a time will help them moving forward.

"You just get a deeper look at each guy individually as opposed to a tournament where you have to run around a little bit and have a lot going on," LaSalle said. "It also brings the team together to watch and cheer on the other guys."

The HHS wrestling teams will be back on the mats with a dual against Hardin at HHS Gymnasium this Thursday at 6 p.m.

Havre boys 38, Glasgow 30

103 - Cody Kuka, G, wins by FFT; 113 - Teegan Solomon, H, wins by FFT; 120 - Matthew Lemer, H, pinned Ted See, 1:52; 126 - Colter Solomon, H, dec. Andrew Leslie, 9-2; 132 - Carson Harris, H, wins by FFT; 138 - Khye Gamas, G, dec. Tristian Stygles, 11-7; 145 - Reinhard Bold, H, tech. fall William Kirkland, 20-5; 152 - Jack Cornwell, G, pinned Daniel Edmonds, 1:27; 160 - Michael King, G, pinned Landen Caplette, 2:36; 170 - Mason Donaldson, G, dec. Pierce Caplette, 4-1; 182 - Kale Van Campen, H, wins by FFT; 205 - Ethan Nickels, G, pinned Mason Wilting, 1:18; 285 - Tommy Lewis, H, wins by FFT.

Havre girls 15, Glasgow 6

114 - McKenna Caplette, H, pinned Kaylly Turner, 0:14; 120 - Brooklyn Wilting, H, pinned Avery Pedersen, 1:35; 132 - Madison Lamb, G, injury default Brooke Nelson, 0:00; 145 - Aubree Erickson, H, dec. Riley Clampitt, 11-3.