Chris Peterson
Havre Daily News
cpeterson@havredailynews.com
The Havre High wrestling team traveled to Great Falls this weekend to test itself against some of the best competition the state has to offer in the CMR Holiday Classic and try to defend the team championship it won there a year ago.
When it was all over, the Ponies passed the test with flying colors as they finished second in one of the toughest tournaments in the state and proved that they can compete with the best - anytime, anywhere.
The Ponies made a hard charge late in the tournament as they tried to overtake defending Class AA state champion Billings Skyview for the tournament title. Havre had five wrestlers win individual titles and one other who placed third. Yet, in the end, it was not enough to catch the Falcons.
Skyview won the tournament with 227.5 points, compared to 220 points for the second-place Ponies. Kalispell finished third with 201 points, Conrad finished fourth with 182, and Great Falls High was fifth with 157.5 points.
“It was a good weekend for us,” HHS head coach Scott Filius said. “The kids wrestled very well. Everyone won matches, so everybody contributed with points this weekend.”
The Ponies had some outstanding individual performances led by Evan Hinebauch and Matt Schnittgen, as both wrestlers pinned their way through the tournament on their way to individual titles at 171 pounds and 275 pounds, respectively.
Myles Mazurkiewicz, Beau LaSalle, and Loren Mack also won individual titles.
Hinebauch pinned Jared Rohrback of CMR to capture the 171-pound title. He was awarded the Quick-Pin award as he won his five matches by fall in a total time of 12:24.
Schnittgen pinned Ethan Tweet of Fort Benton in four minutes and 31 seconds as he captured his second title of the season.
Loren Mack also had a stellar weekend for the Ponies as he beat two previously unbeaten wrestlers in Jared Giard from Conrad and Nash Hallfrisch of CMR on his way to the 112-pound individual title. Mazurkiewicz beat a defending state champion on his way to winning the 105-pound individual title. Mazurkiewicz defeated Brian Ham of Kalispell with an 11-7 decision in the championship match.
Mazurkiewicz's individual title was significant because he became one of the few freshmen to ever win an individual title at the CMR Holiday Classic. LaSalle's undefeated season continued, as he captured another individual title this weekend, defeating Ben Spencer of GFH in an 8-2 decision in the semifinals, and then he won a 14-7 decision over Austin Zapata of Kalispell in the 125-pound championship match.
Sophomore Ryan Shelstad defeated Chase Dirden of Harlem in an 8-3 decision to earn a third-place finish in the 98-pound weight class.
“We had some kids who had really good weekends,” Filius said. “We had five champions and another who placed. Matt and Ethan pinned their way through the tournament, and Loren Mack beat two kids who were undefeated coming in, so he had a really good weekend.”
Besides having five individual champions and another who finished third, the Ponies also had a number of wrestlers who won matches in the preliminary rounds and the consolation rounds that helped accumulate points for the Ponies' second-place finish.
Now the Ponies will head into the Christmas break with some good momentum as they proved they can compete at the highest level. The challenge for the Ponies is to continue to improve as the season goes on and as they get closer to the postseason.
“You always want to go in to the break on a positive note,” Filius said. “But we still have some kids that lost that are still going to be hungry. We are improving, but we still need to work to get better and just stay hungry.”
Havre High will return to the mat Tuesday night when they travel to Lewistown for a Class A dual with the host Eagles. It will be Havre's final competition before the holiday break.
TEAM SCORES
Billings Skyview 227.5, Havre 220, Kalispell 201, Conrad 182, Great Falls High 157.5, C.M. Russell High 141.5, Billings Senior 140, Bozeman 133, Missoula Big Sky 103.5, Anaconda 103, Cut Bank 103, Fairfield 99.5, Cascade-Simms 98, Whitefish 86, Helena High 84, Helena Capital 83, Fort Benton 82.5, Glasgow 73.5, Shelby 70, Dillon 65.5, Choteau 51, Laurel 51, Harlem 38, Billings West 31.5, Missoula Hellgate 31, Lewistown 25.5, Anaconda JV 24, Chinook 22, Browning 21, Havre JV 19, Great Falls High JV 18, Belgrade 17.5, Valier 11, Big Sandy 10, CMR JV 10, Belgrade JV 7, Butte Central 5, Glasgow JV 2, Chester-Joplin-Inverness 4, Great Falls High extra 4, Anaconda extra 3, Great Falls High extra 3
CHAMPIONSHIP SEMIFINALS
98-Scott Schlosser, CON, pinned Ryan Shelstad, HAV, 3:59; Brice Gretch, BSV, pinned Chase Dirden, HAR, 2:42; 105-Myles Mazurkiewicz, HAV, dec. David Demo, BOZ, 15-4; Brian Ham, KAL, pinned Mike Pfaff, MBS, 3:05; 112-Loren Mack, HAV, dec. Jared Giard, CON, 9-3; Nash Hallfrisch, CMR, pinned Kallen Klienschmidt, CAP, :51; 119-Trent Sprenkle, BSR, pinned Josh Harrison, CBH, 1:45; Ricky Janes, KAL, dec. Byron Hirst, FAR, 10-6; 125-Beau LaSalle, HAV, dec. Ben Spencer, GFH, 8-2; Austin Zapata, KAL, dec. Paul Clark, CAS, 11-5; 130-Leo Pattison, GHS, dec. Zach Gregoire, GFH, 7-2; Jeff Jones, BSV, dec. Buck Lunak, CBH, 8-0; 135-Marcus Lussy, ANA JV, dec. Spencer Bailey, CMR, 6-0; Derek Solan, ANA, pinned Malcolm Kintzing, BSV, 3:43; 140-Colby Johnson, CON, dec. Ryan Nelson, KAL, 12-7; Nick Lang, BOZ, dec. Andy Kohn, BSV, 4-3; 145-Vince Salminen, BSV, dec. Bobby Vinson, GFH, 9-7; Thad Zempel, CON, dec. Daniel Madel, CHO, 7-1; 152-Tel Todd, BOZ, dec. Ross Mosher, CHO, 5-3; Jordan Duffield, BSV, dec. Mikey Kuehne, KAL, 6-5; 160-Trent Zempel, CON, dec. Ty Vinson, GFH, 8-4; Brad Watterud, WHS, pinned Cory Shilhanek, BSR, 3:58; 171-Evan Hinebauch, HAV, pinned Tony May, FAR, 5:08; Jared Rohrback, CMR, dec. Levi Holt, KAL, 8-6; 189-Alex Calvi, CBH, dec. Ryan Fetherston, HHS, 6-1; Chris Tacke, FAR, dec. Kendall Hazen, FBN, 10-1; 215-Zach Jones, BSV, pinned Damien Farrier, KAL, 1:48; Matt Bellon, ANA, dec. Brandon Bouchee, BSR, 8-6
Hwt-Matt Schnittgen, HAV, pinned JD Olson, CAS, 2:30; Ethan Tweet, FBN, pinned Russell Patera, HHS, 1:22
THIRD-FOURTH PLACE
98-Ryan Shelstad, HAV, dec. Chase Dirden, HAR, 6-2; 105-Zach Mendenhall, GFH, dec. David Demo, BOZ, 13-3; 112-Ryan Leonard, CAS, dec. Logun Norris, DIL, 11-1; 119-Josh Harrison, CBH, pinned Byron Hirst, FAR, 4:10; 125-Ben Spencer, GFH, dec. Kevin Kaltschmidt, WHS, 14-6; 130-Buck Lunak, CBH, dec. Zach Gregoire, GFH, 9-5; 135-Duran Flaget, KAL, pinned Spencer Bailey, CMR, 2:59; 140-Andy Kohn, BSV, dec. Ryan Nelson, KAL, 11-8; 145-Tay Todd, BOZ, dec. Daniel Madel, CHO, 5-0; 152-Ross Mosher, CHO, dec. Mikey Kuehne, KAL, 3-2; 160-Cory Shilhanek, BSR, dec. Ty Vinson, GFH, 6-4; 171-Levi Holt, KAL, dec. Tony May, FAR, 12-6; 189-Ryan Fetherston, HHS, pinned Danny Laforge, MBS, 2:02; 215-Logan Tweet, FBN, dec. Jack Scott, CAP, 8-4; Hwt-Skyler Best, BSR, dec. Andrew Voorhees, CMR, 8-3.
CHAMPIONSHIP FINALS
98-Scott Schlosser, Conrad, pinned Brice Gretch, Billings Skyview, 5:22; 105-Myles Mazurkiewicz, Havre, dec. Brian Ham, Kalispell, 11-7; 112-Loren Mack, Havre, dec. Nash Hallfrisch, CMR, 3-1 in OT; 119-Trent Sprenkle, Billings Senior, by default over Ricky Janes, Kalispell; 125-Beau LaSalle, Havre, dec. Austin Zapata, Kalispell, 14-7; 130-Jeff Jones, Billings Skyview, dec. Leo Pattison, Glasgow, 4-3; 135-Derek Solan, Anaconda, dec. Marcus Lussy, Anaconda JV, 5-2; 140-Colby Johnson, Conrad, dec. Nick Lang, Bozeman, 4-1; 145-Vince Salminen, Billings Skyview, pinned Thad Zempel, Conrad, 3:19; 152-Tel Todd, Bozeman, dec. Jordan Duffield, Billings Skyview, 7-6; 160-Trent Zempel, Conrad, pinned Brad Watterud, Whitefish, 1:12; 171-Evan Hinebauch, Havre, pinned Jared Rohrback, CMR, 1:54; 189-Alex Calvi, Cut Bank, pinned Chris Tacke, Fairfield, 5:58; 215-Zach Jones, Billings Skyview, pinned Matt Bellon, Anaconda, 1:56; Hwt-Matt Schnittgen, Havre, pinned Ethan Tweet, Fort Benton, 4:31.
