Havre grapplers split up for the week

The weekend before Christmas break usually means the Havre High wrestling team is at the CMR Holiday Classic. And while the Blue Ponies did compete in the event, they didn't do so at full strength as a number of their top wrestles traveled to Coeur d’Alene, Idaho, to test their skills in the top wrestling meet in the Northwest, the Tri-State Tournament.

The result of the split teams was that the Ponies did not contend to win either event, which took place in Great Falls and Coeur d’Alene, respectively. Both meets began Friday and ran through Saturday. Even though Havre was not a factor in either team competition, it did place a handful of wrestlers at each meet and gained some valuable experience in the process.

With the Ponies not bringing their full roster to CMR that cleared the way for Great Falls High to take home the title at the Holiday Classic and that is exactly what happened. The Bison racked up 220.5 points on their way to first place. Choteau was second with 146.5, followed by Helena High in third with 139. Havre finished a distant 15th with 72 points.

Travis Adams put together the best individual performance of the weekend for the Ponies as he wrestled his way to a third-place finish against a strong field. In the consolation match, Adams pinned his opponent, K.J. Klingaman of CMR in 1:24.

The only other Havre wrestler to place at the CMR meet was Dylan Stewart, who was wrestling in the 120-pound weight class. Stewart ended up notching a fifth-place finish for the Ponies after pinning Wyatt Gordon of Missoula Big Sky in 1:17.

“Anytime you split your team up it’s going to be a mixed bag,” HHS head coach Filius said. “But we had two kids down there that placed, and we were pleased with the effort.”

At the Tri-State tournament in Coeur d’Alene, HHS didn’t have enough wrestlers to contend for the team title but the Ponies placed four wrestlers in a field that consisted of some of the top wrestling talent from Idaho, Washington and Oregon.

“The best part of it was the high-level competition,” Filius said. “We got to wrestle against some really good kids. We were 27-12 over the weekend and all the kids we lost to ended up in the finals. So it was a tremendous effort and it was a lot of fun. We haven’t found that level of competition in Montana.”

The top finisher for Havre at the Tri-State meet was senior Grayson Brenna, who notched a third-place finish by way of a 2-1 decision in the consolation final at 132 pounds over Michael Soler of Lake Stevens.

Keegan Kennelly also continued what’s been an impressive junior season with a fourth-place finish in the 113-pound weight class. Kennelly lost in the consolation final in a 5-2 decision at the hands of Braydon Huber of Post Falls, Idaho.

At 138 pounds, Parker Filius also came away with a fourth-place finish for the Ponies. Filius lost a closely contested match in the consolation final to Blake Beard of Central Valley. Beard edged out Filius for third by winning a 2-1 decision.

Rounding out things for Havre in terms of placing in Idaho was Kody Pribyl. The junior had a solid meet wrestling at 145 pounds and ended up finishing sixth. Pribyl was defeated in the fifth-place match by Dante Sprinsteen of Bethel, Washington, who won a 12-3 decision.

In terms of the team competition, Post Falls walked away with the team championship after finishing the meet with a total of 202.2 points. Havre finished a respectable 15th with 86.5 points.

Overall, despite the lack of team success, it appears as though the decision to split his varsity roster was a good one for Filius and the Ponies.

“I feel really good about it,” Filius said. “We will get the kids back tomorrow and see how everything goes, but I think it was a great growing experience and I'm excited about the experience some of our young kids got.”

Havre will be off for a few weeks thanks to the Christmas break, but HHS will be back on the mat Jan. 9-10, when the Ponies will compete in the Cut Bank Invitational.

CMR Holiday Classic

Final team scores

1. Great Falls High 220.5, 2. Choteau 146.5, 3. Helena High 139, 4. Bozeman 138, 5. Forsyth 137, 6. CMR 134, 7. Colstrip 108.5, 7. (tie) Kalispell Flathead 108.5, 9. Missoula Big Sky 102.5, 10. Columbia Falls 102, 11. Helena Capital 89.5, 12. Butte High 87, 13. Belgrade 83, 14. Laurel 76.5, 15. Havre 72, 16. Chinook 66, 17. Conrad 65.5, 18. Dillon 54, 19. Kalispell Glacier 53, 20. Lewistown 52, 21. Cut Bank 51, 22. Great Falls High J.V. 50, 23. Glasgow 46, 23. (tie) Ronan 46, 25. Thompson Falls 43, 26. C.M. Russell 3 34, 27. Townsend 29, 28. Harlem 28, 29. Fairfield/Simms 26, 30. Shelby 25, 31. Missoula Hellgate 24.5, 32. Flint Creek 24, 33. Anaconda 20, 34. Cascade 19, 34. (tie) Great Falls High 3 19, 36. Livingston 12, 37. Highwood 11, 38. Butte Central 10, 39. Chester-Joplin-Inverness 7, 39. (tie) C.M. Russell J.V. 7, 41. Browning 6, 41. (tie) Lone Peak 6, 43. Fort Benton 4.

Championship matches

103 Bjorn Schroeder, Bozeman p. Chase DeBoo, Choteau, 1:17

113 Trae Vasquez, Flathead d. Nathan Weber, Forsyth, 10-4

120 Clayton Currier, Colstrip d. Sawyer Degen, Belgrade, 5-3

126 Jarren Komac, Great Falls p. Landon Bailey, Helena, 5:43

132 Tate Niederegger, Chinook d. Jordan Komac, Great Falls, 3-2

138 Jarrett Degen, Belgrade d. Shonn Roberts, Columbia Falls, 4-2

145 Casey Dobson, Great Falls md. Colton McElhinney, Great Falls J.V., 14-2

152 Luke Weber, Forsyth md. Reid VandenBos, Cut Bank, 12-3

160 Jared Dickson, C.M. Russell d. Kessler Leonard, Great Falls, 3-2 OT

170 Luke Entzel, Missoula Big Sky tf. Hunter Mycke, Conrad, 16-1

182 Steeler French, Choteau md. Randy Keesler, Great Falls, 13-4

205 Payton Sexe, C.M. Russell d. Lee Cannon, Butte, 4-3

285 Jake Sessions, Colstrip p. Spencer Ross, Columbia Falls, 2:57

3rd-4th place

103 Justin Gibson, Glacier p. Deven Altenburg-Lasher, C.M. Russell, 5-1

113 Demo Koures, Missoula Big Sky p. Caleb Birdwell, Fergus, 2-0

120 Seth Schroeck, Helena Capital p. Kale Evenson, Bozeman, 7-3

126 Caleb James, Bozeman p. Dyan Guzman, Flathead, 3-0

132 Logan Harms, Forsyth p. Kaleb Gravelin, Columbia Falls, 2:01

138 JJ Werdal, Choteau d. Noah Manibusan, Helena, 3-1

145 Colt McDaniel, Forsyth d. Tony Bergerson, Flint Creek, 8-2

152 Gage Bentley, Great Falls d. Trey Stone, Choteau, 5-2

160 Brenden Johnson, Harlem d. Austin Blaede, Colstrip, 7-0

170 Jeremy Van Dyke, Helena d. Nick Grasseschi, C.M. Russell, 3-2

182 Raven Cunningham, Belgrade d, Devin Blythe, Fergus, 2-1

205 Parker Tezak, Dillon d. Cody Wiers, Bozeman, 7-3

285 Travis Adams, Havre p. KJ Klingaman, C.M. Russell 3, 1:24

5th-6th Place

103 Austin Murphy, Helena d. Caleb McMillen, Great Falls, 6-3

113 Nick Kunz, Helena Capital d. Trevor Moore, Choteau, 5-0

120 Dylan Stewart, Havre p. Wyatt Gordon, Missoula Big Sky, 1:17

126 Kwin Stoddard, Dillon d. Brandon Bisch, Anaconda, 3-2

132 Clayton Carter, Laurel d. Brent Tezak, Dillon, 4-3

138 Double Forfeit

145 Taner Stone, Choteau d. Chase Short, Great Falls 3, 4-2

152 Quinn Barber, Glacier d. Taran Bennett, Butte, 5-2

160 Caiden Crawford, Helena p. Tyler Schultz, Conrad, 2:20

170 Joey Clark, Choteau d. Evander Wilber, Broadwater, 7-6

182 Jesse Dannels, Chinook d. Cian Randall, Butte, 3-0

205 Connor Gordon, Missoula Big Sky d. Streeter Stirling, Shelby, 5-1

285 Alan Schmitz, Helena Capital p. Brandon Connolly, Laurel, 1:47

Tri-State Classic

TEAM SCORES - 1, Post Falls 202. 2, Moses Lake 166. 3, University 144.5. 4, Tahoma 138. 5, Lake Stevens 135. 6, Kuna 115. 7, Orting 113.5. 8, East Valley 108. 9 (tie), Bethel, Colville 103.5. 11, Central Valley 95. 12, Hermiston 93. 13, North Central 88. 14, Lakeland 87. 15, Havre 86.5. 16, Sentinel 78.5. 17, Freeman 68.5. 18, Chiawana 67. 19 (tie), Auburn, Union, Vashon Island 66. 22, Mead 61.5. 23, McCall-Donnelly 59. 24, Lakeside 57. 25 (tie), Lake City, Rocky Mountain 55. 27, Sandpoint 52. 28, Todd Beamer 51. 29, Royal 49. 30, Liberty Bell 48.5. 31, Deer Park 47. 32, Tonasket 45.5. 33 (tie), Kentridge, Timberlake 44. 35, Coeur d'Alene 43. 36, Kellogg 39. 37, Juanita 37. 38, Graham-Kapowsin 36. 39, Liberty (Issaquah) 35. 40, St. Maries 33.5 41, Omak 32. 42, Libby 31. 43 (tie), Blaine, Evergreen, La Grande, Meadowdale 30. 47, Kentlake 29. 48, Kamiakin 27. 49, Rochester 26. 50, Darrington 25. 51 (tie), Liberty (Spangle), Mt. Spokane 24. 53, Frenchtown 22. 54, Reardan 21. 55 (tie), Mary Walker, Potlatch 20. 57, Ferris 19. 58, Wapato 14. 59 (tie), Gonzaga Prep, Polson, Quincy, Washington 12. 63 (tie), Bonners Ferry, Kelso, Northwest Christian 10. 66, Selkirk 9. 67 (tie), Moscow, Riverside 0.