Blue Ponies ready for state tournament

After several months of competition, the Class A State Tournament has finally arrived for the Havre High wrestling teams. This weekend, the Blue Ponies will head to the Metra in Billings to compete for some hardware.

The HHS boys team goes into the state tournament after finishing sixth in last weekend's Eastern A Divisional Tournament. Several Ponies placed at divisionals to qualify for the state tournament and they will be hoping to do well again to finish the season.

Reinhard Bold will wrestle in the 152-pound weight class after taking second at the Eastern A Divisional. As he looks to improve on his second-place finish from last year's state tournament, Bold will start the tournament with a match against Connor Benson from Libby.

Tommy Lewis also heads to state after taking second at divisionals last weekend. At 285 pounds, Lewis will start the weekend with a match against Tyler Conklin from Stevensville. Landen Caplette qualified for the state tournament after finishing fourth at divisionals. At 170 pounds, he will look to start a run with his match against Libby's Ian Thom.

Tristan Stygles will look to repeat after winning an individual state championship last season. At 145 pounds, he qualified for this year's tournament after taking fourth at divisionals and he will begin his title defense with a match against Zekiah Meyers from Libby.

At 205 pounds, Pierce Caplette qualified for this weekend with a fourth-place finish at divisionals. As he looks to place to end his year, he will first wrestle Clayton Beall from Hamilton.

Matt Lemer took fifth at last weekend's divisionals and he will be looking to improve on last year's third-place finish at state. At 132 pounds, Lemer will start the weekend competing with Conner Jessop from Corvallis.

Reed Mantle heads to state after taking fifth at divisionals. In his bracket at 126 pounds, Mantle will first compete against Devin Rossiter from Butte Central. Carson Harris returns to state after finishing sixth at the Eastern A Divisional. At 138 pounds, Harris will first face off with Ben White from Corvallis.

Isaiah Otto finished seventh at divisionals to earn his first trip to state. In his bracket at 132 pounds, Otto will start the weekend wrestling Frenchtown's Cole Johnson. At 205 pounds, Mason Wilting returns to state thanks to a seventh-place finish at divisionals. He will start the tournament with a match against Hamilton's Noah Guisinger. Grady Haney earned his first trip to state after taking eighth at divisionals. He will start the weekend facing off against August Courville from Ronan.

The HHS girls wrestling team will also head to state after finishing third at the Eastern A Divisional. In their final action of the season, many Ponies on the girls team will be looking to perform well to bring home some hardware.

At 120 pounds, Brooklyn Wilting will start her weekend with a match against Tyler Gibson from Dillon. Her teammate Aliyah Stiffarm will wrestle at 235 pounds and will open her bracket with a bye. She will face the winner of the match between Hamilton's Carlotta Giaquinto and Billings Skyview's Reginia Phelan.

At 145 pounds, Poloma Padilla will start the tournament with a match against Hailey Daffin from Billings Skyview. Her teammate Angelina Siebanaller will wrestle at 185 pounds as she first faces off with Rylle Radcliffe from Butte.

McKenna Caplette heads to state to wrestle at 114 pounds. She will start the tournament wrestling against Cassidy Collins from Whitehall. At 100 pounds, Allyson Kaul will start her weekend with a match against Rachael Rodgers from Anaconda.

The HHS wrestling teams will compete in the Class A State Wrestling Tournament at the Metra in Billings. It will start Friday and will last through Saturday night.