Chris Peterson
Havre Daily News
cpeterson@havredailynews.com
The Cut Bank Wolves wrestling team had no idea what it was getting itself into when it squared off against the Havre Blue Ponies in a dual on Tuesday night at the HHS gymnasium.
The Wolves quickly went from being the hunter to the hunted as the Ponies disposed of their prey with an astonishing 74-0 defeat.
The dominating win was especially impressive for the Ponies due to the fact they were a little shorthanded, as they competed without the services of regulars Beau LaSalle, Nathan Harada, Logan Reichelt and others who are mainstays in the HHS lineup.
Instead, the Ponies relied heavily on freshmen, and the youngsters did not disappoint as the Wolves failed to win even a single match.
“I was really pleased with the way the young guys wrestled tonight,” HHS head coach Scott Filius said. “Everyone wrestled hard and competed well.”
The dual was highlighted by a confrontation of state champion wrestlers Evan Hinebauch of Havre and Alex Calvi of Cut Bank.
The match went scoreless late into the third period. Then Hinebauch scored a takedown and a near fall to take a 5-0 lead on his way to a dominating 9-0 decision.
“When you have two great kids like that, you expect them to go out and compete hard.” Filius said. “It obviously came out better for us than them tonight, but the experience of a match like that is going to be good for both of them in the long run.”
Havre jumped out to an early lead with victories from Cody Seely at 215 pounds and Matt Schnittgen at heavyweight. Chris Recio added to the lead with a decision over Clayton Vermulm in the 98-pound weight class. At 105 pounds, Ryan Shelstad won by a technical fall over Mike Lecheler. At that point Havre had things in firm control, leading 24-0.
At 119 pounds, Lorren Mack of Havre scored a victory over Josh Harrison of Cut Bank by a 5-3 decision.
At 130 pounds, Havre got another big victory when Ethan Hinebauch pinned Buck Lunak, as the Wolves missed one of their better opportunities to earn some points in the dual.
“We expected the kids to come out and do well,” Filius said. “The kids wrestled smart and intense tonight and I am just really pleased with the way our young guys wrestled tonight.”
Mike Hipple notched a 10-2 decision over Jeremiah Kennedy in his first action since he went down with a knee injury last month.
The Ponies also got victories from Myles Mazurkiewicz at 105 pounds, Clint Bradbury at 130 pounds, Phillip Sutherland at 140 pounds, Aaron Olson at 145 pounds, and Jeff Crawford at 152 pounds. Logan Gjesdal won by forfeit at 160 pounds.
The Ponies could not have imagined a better way to restart their season after taking two weeks off for the holiday break, and appear to be in midseason form already.
“I really hoped the kids would come out of the break wrestling well,” Filius said. “But I had no idea they were going to come out like this.”
The Ponies will look to continue their newly gained momentum as they travel to Cut Bank for the Cut Bank Invitational, which will take place on Friday and Saturday.
Havre 74, Cut Bank 0
98 - Chris Recio, Hav maj dec. Clayton Vermulm; 105 - Ryan Shelstad, Hav tech. Fall Mike Lecheler; 112 - Myles Mazurkiewicz, Hav pinned Matt Welch :24; 119 - Lorren Mack, Hav dec. Josh Harrison 5-3; 125 - Mike Hipple, Hav dec. Jeremiah Kennedy 10-2; 130 - Ethan Hinebauch, Hav pinned Buck Lunak, 4:48; 135 - Clint Bradbury - Hav pinned Chad Desch 2:40; 140 - Phillip Sutherland, Hav pinned Marshall Miller 2:38; 145 - Aaron Olson, Hav maj. dec. Josh Campbell; 152 - Jeff Crawford, Hav maj. dec. Michael Shea; 160 - Logan Gjesdal, Hav won by forfeit; 171 - Chris Buskirk, Hav pinned Brandon Porotney, :30; 189 - Evan Hinebauch, Hav dec. Alex Calvi 9-0; 215 - Cody Seely, Hav dec. Jun
