Hi-Line grapplers succeed in Havre

Chinook's Angelo Flores tangles with a GFH wrestler in a 112-pound match at Saturday's Havre Invitational wrestling tournament.

The annual Havre Invitational is a growing wrestling tournament with a lot of good talent. And with Havre just down the road from a lot of Hi-Line teams, some local talent took full advantage.

Friday and Saturday the Havre Invite was held at the Havre High gymnasium. 14 teams were in attendance, including Chinook, Chester/J-I and Big Sandy. Chinook finished with 76 points and as the No. 8 team. And C/J-I grabbed 44 points and the No. 13 spot, while Big Sandy earned 18 points and the No. 14 finish.

The Sugarbeeters placed four wrestlers into the top six, with two No. 1's, one No. 3 and one No. 5.

Chinook seniors Ben Stroh (189) and Jorell Jones (215) both dominated the competition as they earned individual Havre Invite titles. Stroh went 4-0 on Saturday and won by way of fall in all four matches. Stroh pinned Chinook's Gage Haugen (1:38), Cut Bank's David Atkins (:35) and Great Falls High's Sean Warner (:47). Stroh also pinned Havre's Casey Sachaub (1:40) in the championships. And for Jones, he went 3-0 after a first round bye. Jones pinned Roberto Smith of Great Falls High (2;44) and got a 7-0 decision over Bryan Evans of CMR. In the championship Jones earned a 13-2 major decision over Adreas Gernios of Great Falls High.

Robbie Klingaman (171) finished third for the Beeters when he pinned Havre's Grant Pattison in the consolation match. And Donovan Moon (98) went 0-2, but still earned the No. 5 finish.

Angelos Flores (CHI), Geoff Qualls (130) and Gage Haugen (189) also competed for Chinook.

The C/J-I Hawks earned a No. 2 and a No. 3 finish individually.

Leonard Pugsley (152) was 3-1, not losing until the championship match. He pinned Jacoby Chase-Collins of Glasgow in the first round and pinned David Borris of Havre in the second. And to reach the championships, Pugsley won with a 9-3 decision over Justin Lebrun of CMR. But once in the finals, Havre's Eli Hinebauch pinned Pugsley in 3:01. Shalon Norrick (285) also performed well for the Hawks, pinning Lane Urick of Great Falls High (1:26) in the consolation match. Norick was 3-1 on the day.

Ryan Temple (130), Erik Kelly (145), Jake Fritz (215) and Jack Fritz (215) also wrestled for C/J-I.

For Big Sandy, a much smaller squad than most teams at the invite, it was good for them to push one grappler into the top six.

Jacob Schuster had a tough road this weekend, but managed to win one of his four matches. Schuster had a first round bye, and then beat Alex McAdam of Browning 17-11 in the quarterfinals. But in the semis, Schuster was pinned by Josh Morin (:55) of Great Falls High. Shoester then lost to Matt Emge of Havre, then Nathan Applegate of Fort Benton in the fifth/sixth place match.

Kasey martin (135), Adrian Gasvoda (145) and Dusty Gasvoda (145) also wrestled for Big Sandy this weekend.