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Blue Pony wrestlers getting back on the mat

Nearly reaching the middle of their season, the Havre Blue Pony wrestling team is anxious to once again take the mat.

With the holiday break ending, it has been two weeks since the Central A Blue Ponies have competed. Their last source of co

Havre High's Thomas Gruber throws a CMR opponent over his back during a Havre Invitational wrestling match last month in Havre. Friday and Saturday, the Blue Ponies return from the holiday break by heading to the Cut Bank Invitational.

mpetition was a dual with conference rival Lewistown, and before that, the Mining City Duals and the CMR Holiday Classic.

"It has been a while since we got on the mat with anybody else," Havre High head coach Scott Filius said. "We had Lewistown a couple weeks ago, but we are getting tired of practicing without traveling or meeting somebody else. We are hoping it was a refreshing break."

The Ponies entered the break after finishing the toughest stretch in their schedule. Now reentering the schedule, the Ponies are thrown right back into the thick of things.

Friday and Saturday the Ponies will be on the road for the Cut Bank Invite in Cut Bank. It isn't a huge tournament compared to some the Ponies attend during the season, but the talent will still be tough. With teams like Lewistown, Browning, Shelby, Cut Bank, Chinook, Malta, Glasgow, Conrad, Choteau and Cascade in the mix, the Ponies expect to run into solid competition across the board.

"The nice part about Cut Bank," Filius said. "Is that there are enough teams competing so that you will get tough kids at every weight. There probably aren't any really tough teams like Great Falls, but a lot of great individuals."

HHS had a lot of opportunity to prepare and maintain their progress during the break. They didn't have any glaring issues to work on, but did focus on just getting better. This meant getting on the mat as much as possible and getting plenty of reps.

Tyler Adams is still out with an injury for the Ponies. And besides Adams, the lineup is pretty much the same as it was the last few outings for HHS. Tentatively, the Blue Pony roster will be made up of Grayson Brenna (98), Dylan Stewart (105), Nate Kennelley (112), Dustin Seely (119), Thomas Gruber (125), Gunnar Aageson (130), Dillon Seely (135), Eli hinebauch (152), Kameron Pribyl (160), Grant Pattison (171), Casey Schaub (189), Dustin Odegard (215) and Kolton Lodge (HWT). At 140 and 145-pounds, the Ponies have seen several wrestlers make their mark, including Kyle Gooch and Jordan Schroeder.

But no matter the lineup, the Ponies are still looking for consistency. They have a talented mix from seasoned veterans, to freshman still trying to find their way. If the Ponies want to continue to grow and be a relevant team late in the season, they need to keep competing and find that consistency.

"We need that consistency from the top of our lineup to the bottom of our lineup," Filius said. "Especially in terms of just our effort all the time. Sometimes some of our young guys get thumped on and we think there is an easy way out. But sometimes there isn't an easy way out, and we just have to buckle down and do as well as we can regardless."

The Ponies will get back to action this weekend with another good test. Friday and Saturday the Ponies will be in Cut Bank for the Cut Bank Invitational.

 

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