Havre wrestling dominates Hardin on the mats

The Havre High wrestling teams started 2023 with dual victories over Glasgow earlier this week. However, HHS head coach Beau LaSalle believes there was plenty of room for improvement for the Blue Ponies. On Thursday night at Havre High Gymnasium, LaSalle saw that improvement as the Ponies boys dominated their dual against Hardin for a 47-21 victory.

"I thought we wrestled well. I thought we wrestled better than we did on Tuesday," LaSalle said. "They're a good team and they all wrestle hard so it's fun to see our guys go out and compete and wrestle at home.

Before the wrestling started, the Ponies held their senior night to honor Kale Van Campen and Justin Awtrey from the boys team and Aubree Erickson from the girl's team. While they will get to wrestle again at home with the Eastern A Divisionals later this season, it was an emotional night for the seniors.

"It's kind of mixed emotions," Van Campen said. "It was a fun experience and sad at the same time with it being the last time wrestling here."

"I was really excited because this is our last home dual and a lot of people were showing up for senior night," Awtrey said. "I was amped up to wrestle in front of everyone."

Van Campen has wrestled for the Ponies for years, but Awtrey and Erickson were new additions to the program this season. While they did not have long careers for the Ponies, LaSalle believes they made an immediate impact for the program this winter.

"Justin and Aubree have been a great addition to the team. A lot of fun to be around and very willing to learn and be a part of it," LaSalle said. "Kale's been a staple in our lineup for quite a while. We watched him grow up and he's just a kid that will be hard to replace, but I'm happy I got the opportunity to coach him."

Before the HHS boys wrestling team began its dual, the HHS girls wrestling competed in a dual that consisted of two matches. In her match in the 113-pound weight class, McKenna Caplette pinned Annie Saldana in the first period to give Havre a 6-0 lead. Then at 145 pounds, Erickson defeated Carmelia Horn, 13-6, to give Havre a 9-0 victory in the dual.

After the girls wrapped up, the Ponies held several exhibition matches. At 285 pounds, Havre's Brandon Healy pinned Ashton Orthman in the first period. In another match at 285 pounds, Havre's Mason Wilting quickly pinned Tarver Roundstone in the first period.

The boy's dual got started with Hardin's Koyt Krieger winning by forfeit to give the Bulldogs a 6-0 lead in the dual. In a match at 113 pounds, Cale Nedens won an 11-2 decision over Matt Lemer to extend the Hardin lead to 9-0.

The Ponies responded with a couple of forfeits. At 120 pounds, Teegan Solomon won by forfeit to get Havre on the scoreboard. Then at 126 pounds, Reed Mantle won by forfeit to give Havre a 12-9 lead in the dual.

In his match at 132 pounds, Havre's Carson Harris pinned Keith Little Light late in the second period to extend Havre's lead to 18-9. On his senior night, Awtrey pinned Rockland Bends at 138 pounds to push the lead to 24-9.

At 145 pounds, Havre's Reinhard Bold had an impressive win over Sean Mehling as he took a 15-0 lead to win by technical fall. Mehling finished third at last year's state tournament, so LaSalle was impressed by Bold's dominance in the match.

"I thought it was going to be a much closer match than that," LaSalle said. "Bold just kind of picked his way through and picked him apart so I'm happy to see that all of his hard work come to fruition."

At 152 pounds, Hardin's Wesley Walks won by forfeit to cut into the deficit. The Bulldogs then picked up a win in the match at 160 pounds between Miles Wells and Havre's Landen Caplette. In the third period, Wells finished the match with a pin to cut Havre's lead to 29-21.

But the Ponies dominated their last few matches to close out the dual. At 170 pounds, Havre's Pierce Caplette pinned Robert Koyama in the first period. Then at 182 pounds, Van Campen pinned Shawn Wilson in the first period to stretch Havre's lead to 41-21. In his first action of 2023, Van Campen believes he performed well.

"I thought I wrestled well going into this weekend," Van Campen said. "It was good to get back on the mat after the break and we got a good start off the new year."

In the heavyweight match, Havre's Tommy Lewis pinned Weston Boggs just 18 seconds into the match to close out the dual and give Havre a 47-21 victory. The Ponies will have little rest as they begin the Cut Bank Invitational today. With this being their first tournament of 2023, the Ponies hope to carry over their performance from their dual against Hardin.

Havre boys 47, Hardin 21

103 - Coyt Krieger, HAR, wins by FFT; 113 - Cale Nedens, HAR, dec. Matt Lemer, 11-2; 120 - Teegan Solomon, HAV, wins by FFT; 126 - Reed Mantle, HAV, wins by FFT; 132 - Carson Harris, HAV, pinned Keith Little Light, 3:23; 138 - Justin Awtrey, HAV, pinned Rockland Bends, 1:10; 145 - Reinhard Bold, HAV, tech. fall Sean Mehling, 15-0; 152 - Wesley Walks, HAR, wins by FFT; 160 - Miles Wells, HAR, pinned Landen Caplette, 4:39; 170 - Pierce Caplette, HAV, pinned Robert Koyama, 1:34; 182 - Kale Van Campen, HAV, pinned Shawn Wilson, 1:04; 285 - Tommy Lewis, HAV, pinned Weston Boggs, 0:18.

Havre girls 9, Hardin 0

113 - McKenna Caplette, HAV, pinned Annie Saldana, 1:21; 145 - Aubree Erickson, HAV, dec. Carmelia Horn, 13-6.