George Ferguson Havre Daily News Sports Editor gferguson@havredailynews.com
For the third straight year, the second Saturday in February has been a celebration of Havre High athletics. On Saturday, both the Havre High wrestling team and the Havre High girls swimming team captured record-setting state championships. In Billings on Saturday night, the HHS wrestling team scored 294.5 points to bring home a third-straight Class A championship under head coach Scott Filius. The Ponies placed 13 wrestlers overall, had 11 grapplers finish third or better, marched seven into Saturday night's final round and claimed five individual state champions. In the process. HHS broke its own scoring record, which it set at last year's state tournament. Havre got state titles from seniors Chris Recio (112) , Myles Mazurkiewicz (135) and Ethan Hinebauch (160), as well as titles from juniors Kent Pattison (140) and Mitch Schnittgen (HWT). The trio of seniors all repeated as state champs, and Recio captured a rare third-straight state championship. "It's an awesome feeling," Recio said Saturday night in Billings. "This has been an amazing season for me and for this team. All of us worked hard to get this, and I'm proud of everything we've accomplished." HHS also got second-place finishes from freshman Eli Hinebauch at 130 pounds and senior Aaron Olson at 145 pounds. The Ponies had four more wrestlers finish third and two finish sixth. Valentine’s Day was also a good one for the Havre High girls swim team. In Great Falls on Saturday, the Blue Pony girls scored 47 points at the Montana State Swimming Championships to easily capture their continuing record-setting 10th-straight Class A state championship. HHS was spurred to victory by strong Swims from their relay teams, as well as a stellar third-place finish from freshman Megan Obrecht in the 100-yard breaststroke. After the most recent state title, the HHS girls broke their own mark for consecutive state championships by a high school gi r l s spor t s program i n Montana. HHS set the mark at nine last season. Havre will be invited to celebrate both state titles, as each team will be honored with a parade through town. The HHS wrestling team will have a parade tonight beginning at 5:30 p. m., and the swim team's parade will be on Tuesday night at 5:30 p.m.
