Blue Ponies tangle with Rustlers on senior night

It has been a great season so far for the Havre High wrestling team. The Blue Ponies are gearing up for the state wrestling meet next month and are coming off their most impressive performance of the season, taking first at the Jug Beck Rocky Mountain Classic last Saturday in Missoula.

Yet, before the Ponies get too far ahead of themselves, they need to take care of business against CMR in tonight’s dual at the HHS gymnasium, not only because they want to beat their Class AA rival, but also because it’s senior night.

Havre does not get many opportunities to wrestle in front of its hometown fans and tonight will mark just the second time this season that the Ponies will compete in Havre. The first time was the season-opening Havre Invitational all the way back on Dec. 6.

So tonight’s home dual, Havre’s last, and the fact that it’s senior night, means the action inside the HHS gymnasium will be special. And that means the Ponies are going to give CMR everything they’ve got in order to make sure the senior class of Grayson Brenna, Jace Billy, John Chinadle, Dylan Stewart and Gunner Aageson goes out in style at home.

“Grayson has been a tremendous leader for us in the lighter weights,” HHS head coach Scott Filius said. “And Jace has been a really good leader these past two years for the big kids. All the seniors are just fun kids to work with. They have good hearts, they work hard and they are everything that is right about high school athletics.”

Brenna, who is coming off one of the most impressive individual titles of his career at the Jug Beck, will man his normal spot at 132 pounds. Brenna, who is slated to attend Grand View University on a wrestling scholarship next fall, has had a decorated career that includes a second-place finish at state as a freshman, a state title as a sophomore and a third-place finish as a junior.

Billy, who will wrestle for Montana-State University Northern after his days as a Pony are over, has had an equally successful career, winning an individual state title as a junior and finishing third as a sophomore. He will wrestle at 205 pounds this week for Havre.

Chinadle will man the spot at 182 pounds, while Dylan Stewart normally sees time at 120 pounds. Aageson wrestles at 160 pounds.

However, the Ponies are so deep that it may be Keegan Kennelly at 120 pounds for Havre tonight along with Jase Stokes at 160 pounds, where he is the top-ranked wrestler in Class A.

The rest of the Havre lineup includes Ryan Stewart at 103 pounds, Logan Pleninger at 126 pounds, Dane Flammond at 138 pounds, Parker Filius at 145 pounds, Kody Pribyl at 152 pounds, Tyler Schaub at 170 pounds and Travis Adams in the heavyweight class.

The Ponies have momentum on their side after defeating the strongest field in the state of Montana at the Jug Beck. And with the state meet now just weeks away, Havre is looking to close the season strong, starting with a win over CMR.

“Right now the kids are really wrestling well,” Filius said. “They are really excited to keep it going and we are looking forward to these last few weeks of the season.”

Tonight’s dual between the Ponies and Rustlers, who are coached by former Havre High standout Aaron Jensen, will start at 5 at the HHS gymnasium.