Blue Ponies edge Belgrade for Central A wrestling championship

Heading into the divisional tournament, the Havre High wrestling program was more concerned with advancing grapplers into the state rather than winning yet another Central A title.  But just as the Blue Ponies have done so often, they were able to accomplish both.  On Saturday the Ponies were in Livingston, where they faced off against the rest of the Central A. And taking the top spot was HHS with 305.5 points, barely outdoing the Belgrade Panthers who finished No.  2 with 302 points.  “It’s probably the most exciting divisional tournament we have been to in 15 years,” Havre High head coach Scott Filius said.  “You always want to go into everything and win it, but our kids wrestled well and put ourselves in good spots in the bracket for state.” The Lewistown Golden Eagles finished No.  3 with 185.5 points, while the Livingston Rangers were No.  4 with 138.  The Browning Indians were No.  5 with 100.5 and the Butte Central Maroons finished No.  6 with just 22.5 points.  With four alternates, the Ponies sent 18 individuals to compete in Livingston this weekend.  And with only the top four in each weight class advancing to the Class A State tournament, they were able to advance 14 kids.  Making their way to state for the Ponies will be Gilbert Bara (105), Duell Stadel (112), Zack Smith (119), Brett Normandy (125), Dillon Seely (130), Tyson Gruber (140), Eli Hinebauch (145), Kent Pattison (152), Kameron Pribyl (160), Casey Schaub (171), Josh Salapich (189), Jared Ruttofsky (215) and Mitch Schnittgen (285).  Kolton Lodge entered divisionals as an alternate, but also earned a spot in the state lineup at 215 pounds. “I am greedy,” Filius said.  “I wanted all the kids to go.  Anytime you take a kid to that tournament and they come up short you feel bad because they put in a long season.  But the 14 we have got it done this week and I expect them to get it done next week.” The Ponies had 10 individuals in the finals, seven of which earned Central A titles.  And of those seven, six earned wins over the second-place Panthers.  The matches the Ponies won over the Panthers were key in the HHS victory.  For the majority of the tournament the Panthers led, but the Ponies were able to make their move in the finals winning six out of eight head-to-head matchups.  Bara (105) pinned Bryce Weatherston in 3:46, while Stadel (112) earned a 19-3 technical fall over Ethan Bristol.  Seely (130) earned a pin over Ryan Guenther in 2:57, and Pattison (152) earned a 13-5 major decision over Tucker Taylor.  Ruttofsky (215) pinned Michael Lingo in 3:24, and Schnittgen (285) pinned Clint Robinson in 3:22.  Hinebauch also achieved a No.  1 finish with a 3-2 decision over Lewistown’s Rex Martin.  Normandy (125), Gruber (140) and Schaub (171) were also in the finals for the Ponies, and came away with second- place finishes.  Normandy lost by an 18-9 major decision to the Panthers' Seth Sewell, while Schaub was defeated in a 19-14 decision by Belgrade's Levi Cade.  Gruber was pinned in 2:25 by the Eagles' Ryan Martin.  The third-place round was also well represented by the HHS grapplers.  Smith (119) defeated the Ranger’s Carson Tillett in an 8-0 major decision, Pribyl (160) defeated the Panthers' Justin Ricker in a 5-3 decision and Salapich (189) pinned Browning's Wyatt Wippert in 3:50 for three No.  3 finishes.  Lodge (215) fell to the Indians' Collin Johnson in 3:31 to take the Ponies only No.  4 finish, but in doing so claimed a trip to the state tournament.  The Ponies were also able to find wins against the Panthers where they had lost before, an area stressed before the start of the weekend.  Bara defeated Weatherston after losing 9-8 previously in the season.  And Guenther had defeated the Ponies in their meetings the past two years before Seely was able to get the better of him on Saturday.  Pribyl’s win over Ricker also came in at the most opportune time, finding redemption after losing to Ricker twice before.  Ruttofsky also fell earlier in the season to Lingo, but earned a win by fall this time around.  “We turned four matches around, matches we had lost before we had won,” Filius said.  “Our kids got better every week and believed they could go out and compete at a high level when it counts and they did that.” Friday and Saturday the Ponies are back in action.  And the 14 individuals earning their spot in the Class A State tournament will travel to Billings in an attempt to defend Havre’s title.  “I expect we have one more gear left,” Filius said.  “We are wrestling as well as we have all year, but I think we have one more level to go.”