By Rob Everingham
Four-peat?
Not something you hear every day, but the Havre High wrestling team has done it. The Blue Ponies picked up their fourth straight Central A divisional wrestling title on Saturday.
Havre won the title on the weight of five individual champions. The final team score for the Blue Ponies was 241. Dillon placed a distant second with 203.5 points.
The top five in some weight classes and the top six in others will advance to next weekend's state tournament in Billings.
At 105 pounds, Nick Newell pinned Jason Parke of Dillon at the 4:40 mark in their match to win the individual title.
Nick Holt won the individual title at 130 pounds as he downed Kris Lookhart of Park High in an 8-5 decision. The win was Holt's 100th career victory.
Havre High's Jake Szudera won the 135 pound weight class by injury default 5 minutes 7 seconds into the match over Jeff Harrison of Dillon.
At 140 pounds, Cody Hanson won a close match over Paul White of Browning. Hanson won by a slim 4-3 decision.
Finally for the Blue Ponies, K.P. Fisher won his first individual title, as he captured an 11-4 decision over Jesse Stovall of Belgrade.
Havre's Aaron Jensen also made it into the championship round, but lost by fall at the 2:29 mark to Nate Stillwagon of Butte Central.
At 171 pounds, Willie Hulett made it to the championship round, but had to withdraw due to an injury, giving Kevin Dighans of Belgrade the individual title.
Ryan Chagnon wrestled back to a third place finish at 142 pounds. Chagnon won a 12-0 major decision over Robert Flamand of Browning.
At 112 pounds, Travis Velk also finished in third place as he won a 9-0 decision over David Barrick of Fergus County High School.
Another third place finish for Havre came from Chad Hedges who won by pinning Shad Albrecht of Park at the 2:57 mark in their 119 pound match.
Blue Pony Chad Maney also wrestled back to a third place finish as he won a 10-7 decision over Casey McDonald of Browning.
At heavyweight, Havre High's Cliff Springer finished third as he won by fall at the 1:47 mark against Brandon Bailey of Belgrade.
At 152 pounds, Garrett Hanson wrestled all the way into overtime against Jordan Holland of Dillon. It was tied 0-0 in the overtime and Holland won it 2-0.
Havre's only other wrestler was C.J. Reichelt at 189 pounds. Reichelt lost by fall in his first match and then was barely edged out in a 6-5 decision in his second match.
Blue Pony head coach Scott Filius said he was very pleased with how his team wrestled. Filius said this is the most people they have placed in the top three.
Filius said they came in and accomplished what they set out to do. Also, Filius said, it was a very competitive tournament.
Now, Filius said, they will enjoy the win for a couple of days and then hit the mat hard and get prepared for state next weekend.
Next weekend, Filius said, they need to go to Billings and just get the job done.
Hanson said the win feels good. He said he hopes he can go to state next weekend and perform well.
As for going, Hanson said, he can't wait to go.
"It's been a long year and we've been working really hard," Hanson said.
Fisher said he was very pleased with winning the divisional title and happy to get his first individual divisional title.
"I finally did something my brother did all four years," Fisher said of older brother Kyle, who was a four-time divisional title winner and now is a member of the defending NAIA National Champion MSU-Northern Lights wrestling team.
Fisher said he hopes the team can go to Billings and wrestle well this weekend.
1. Havre, 241.0; 2. Dillon, 203.5; 3. Park, 147.0; 4. Browning, 144.0; 5. Belgrade, 132.5; 6. Anaconda, 88.0; 7. Fergus, 75.0; 8. Butte Central, 74.0
Round 1
119 -- Chad Hedges won by pin over Q. Ohman (Bel), 2:57; 125 -- Chad Maney lost by dec. to C. McDonald (Brown), 6-7; 130 -- Nick Holt won by pin over J. Casey (Ana), 1:30; 135 -- Jake Szudera won by pin over L. Racine (Brown), 3:56; 140 -- Cody Hanson won by pin over J. Lower (Dil), 3:06; 145 -- Aaron Jensen won by pin over L. Gray (Brown), 3:26; 152 -- Garrett Hanson won by pin over C. Sheppard (Brown), 1:26; 160 -- KP Fisher won by pin over M. Gruber (Ana), :32; 171 -- Willie Hulett won by pin over M. Humphries (Fer), 1:21; 189 -- CJ Reichelt lost by pin to J. Connors (Bel), 3:57; Hwt -- Cliff Springer won by pin over M. Rohan (BC), :42
Semi Finals
98 -- Ryan Chagnon lost by dec. to M. Dettori (Park), 8-9; 105 -- Nick Newell won by pin over D. Senter (Park), :47; 112 -- Travis Velk lost by pin to G. White (Brown), 1:36; 119 -- Chad Hedges lost by dec. to C. Hilton (Dil), 2-4; 130 -- Nick Holt won by pin over D. Harlow (Brown), 2:29; 135 -- Jake Szudera won by maj. dec. over J. Cox (BC), 16-6; 140 -- Cody Hanson won by dec. over B. Westling (Ana), 4-1; 145 -- Aaron Jensen won by dec. over C. Peterson (Dil), 3-1; 152 -- Garrett Hanson lost by dec. to B. Stulc (Bel), 2-7; 160 -- KP Fisher won by pin over B. Stern (Park), 4:36; 171 -- Willie Hulett won by pin over B. McDonald (Park), 5:02; Hwt -- Cliff Springer lost by pin to D. McGinley (Dil), :59
Wrestle Backs
125 -- Chad Maney won by pin over C. Kulaski (Ana), 2:37; 189 -- CJ Reichelt lost by dec. to D. Connelly (Brown), 5-6
Wrestle Backs
112 -- Travis Velk won by pin over J. Buffington (Dil), :45; 119 -- Chad Hedges won by pin over S. Galle (Ana), 2:28; 125 -- Chad Maney won by dec. over B. Cox (BC), 4-3; 152 -- Garrett Hanson won by pin over B. Anderson (BC), 1:42; Hwt -- Cliff Springer won by pin over N. Woods (Fer), :37
3rd and 4th
98 -- 3. Ryan Chagnon won by maj. dec. over R. Flammond (Brown), 12-0; 112 -- 3. Travis Velk won by maj. dec. over D. Barrick (Fer), 9-0; 119 -- 3. Chad Hedges won by pin over J. Carter (Park), 2:37; 125 -- 3. Chad Maney won by dec. over C. McDonald (Brown), 10-7; 152 -- 4. Garrett Hanson lost by dec. to B. Bailey (Bel), 0-2 (ot); Hwt -- 3. Cliff Springer won by pin over B. Bailey (Bel), 1:42
Championships
1st and 2nd
105 -- 1. Nick Newell won by pin over J. Park (Dil), 4:40; 130 -- 1. Nick Holt won by dec. over K. Lookhart (Park), 8-5; 135 -- 1. Jake Szudera won by injury default over J. Harrison (Dil); 140 -- 1. Cody Hanson won by dec. over P. White (Brown), 4-3; 145 -- 2. Aaron Jensen lost by pin to N. Stillwagon (BC), 1:29; 160 -- 1. KP Fisher won by dec. over J. Stovall (Bel), 11-4; 171 -- 2. Willie Hulett lost by injury default to K. Dighans (Bel).
