Parker Filius shines on the national stage yet again

Havre's Parker Filius is about to begin his collegiate wrestling career at NCAA Division I Purdue University. Filius had one big junior tournament left before he becomes a full-time Big Ten wrestler.

Earlier this month, Filius competed in the 2017 USMC/USAW Junior Freestyle Nationals in Fargo, North Dakota, where he finished third place at 138 pounds. Filius went into the tourney as the No. 2 overall seed and won three straight matches before losing a heartbreaking decision to Michael Millage of Iowa, 11-9 in the quarterfinals. Filius bounced back, however, and didn't lose again. In his final bout as a junior wrestler, he outlasted Jakob Bergeland of Minnesota, 18-17 in the third-place match. Bergeland is a University of Minnesota recruit so he and Filius could be seeing plenty more of each other as the years go on.

Havre High junior, and two-time Class A state champion Martin Wilkie also wrestled in Fargo. Wilkie wrestled at 132 pounds in the Junior Grand Nationals. He won three straight times to reach the quarterfinals of the loaded field, before falling to Jason Shaner of Oregon. Wilkie then just missed out on placing in the top eight, but still had an excellent tournament, setting him for a big junior season at HHS.

For more on Wilkie's summer, see next week's Havre Daily News.