Ponies place six at Rocky Mountain Classic

The Havre High wrestling team may not have had its usual lineup this weekend, but the Blue Ponies still managed to make a strong showing at one of the state's top wrestling tournaments.

Friday and Saturday, the No. 2 Central A Ponies wrestled at the annual Jug Beck Rocky Mountain Classic in Missoula.

After finishing in fourth place last season, the Ponies finished up in the No. 10 spot this year, earning 123 points. The rolling Class AA Gr

Kennelly

eat Falls High Bison took the No. 1 spot for the second straight year, this time winning with 213 points. University High out of Spokane finished second with 190.5, while Class AA Missoula Sentinel finished in third with 171.

"I am not worried about the kids that weren't there this weekend," Havre High head coach Scott Filius said. "I am worried about the kids that were there. The kids that we did have, we placed six, so we did alright. I wasn't pleased with the weekend, but I wasn't disappointed either, just somewhere in the middle."

A handful of HHS grapplers missed their second straight weekend of competition, leaving the Ponies less than 100 percent. But a handful of Blue Ponies still did what was expected of them, and carried the load this weekend.

At 98 pounds, freshamn standout Keegan Kennelly took the Jug Beck title with a 5-2 decision over Anthony Price of Coeur d'Alene. Kennelly defeated Jake Hegel 5-0 in the semifinals to get to the championship, and was the only Pony to wrestle in the championship round.

But Grayson Brenna (105), and Grant Pattison (189) were amongst the leaders as well, as they both finished in fourth place for the Ponies. Brenna was pinned in the semifinals, and couldn't bounce back in the third-place match. He lost a tight 3-2 decision to Kwest Osborn of University High. And Pattison also lost in the semifinals (5-3 dec.), and lost a tight third-place match. Pattison was defeated by University High's Tanner Orndorff 3-1.

Tyler Adams (215) managed a fifth-place finish for the Ponies, while Dylan Stewart (112) finished in sixth place, and Jake Williams (171) finished in eighth place. Adams earned a 3-1 decision in the fifth-place match, while Stewart lost a 4-1 dec. and Williams lost a 1-0 dec.

"We didn't wrestle as well as we could of," Filius said. "I did see a lot of good things from kids, and some of those good things came from kids that didn't even place. We had some good things happen, but all-in-all it was an OK weekend, and I was glad we got to compete. We are getting better every week.

"But we have to decide that we are tough," Filius added. "And we are working on that. This was the same competition that we have been seeing all year, but we just didn't raise our level like we did early in the year. We have to stop taking breaks on ourselves, control what we control, and not worry about the stuff that that we don't control. That is the building block we have to work on, we have to be tougher between the ears."

This weekend was also a great chance for the Ponies to get a good look at a lot of other Class A programs in a tough environment. The Central A was represented well with Belgrade finishing ninth (134.5). But conferences like the Western A struggled, with teams like Columbia Falls finishing No. 24 with 43 points and Libby finishing No. 25 with just 41 team points.

This weekend the Ponies will get a closer look at Class A, as they put their No. 2 state ranking on the line at the Class A Duals in Belgrade.

Jug Beck

at Missoula

Team scores

1, Great Falls High (GFH), 213; 2, University High (UHI), 190.5; 3, Missoula Sentinel (MSH), 171.5; 4, Lewiston (LEW), 171; 5, Bozeman (BOZ), 150.5; 6, Mead (MED), 149; 7, Coeur d'Alene (CDA), 147; 8, Central Valley (CV), 144; 9, Belgrade (BEL), 134.5; 10, Havre (HAV), 123; 11, Missoula Big Sky (MBS), 116; 12, Kalispell Glacier (GLA), 103; 13, Fergus County (FRG), 85.5; 14, Kalispell Flathead (FLT), 82.5; 15, Ronan (RON), 82; 16, Frenchtown (FTN), 79; 17, Great Falls Russell (CMR), 75; 18, Butte (BUT), 74.5; 19, Bonners Ferry (BNF), 72.5; 20, Polson (POL), 68; 21, Corvallis (COR), 48; 22, Helena High (HH), 46.5; 23, Clarkston (CLK), 43.5; 24, Columbia Falls (CFS), 43; 25, Ferris (FER), 41; 25, Libby (LIB), 41; 27, Lake City (LCT), 38; 28, Missoula Hellgate (HGT), 37; 29, Hamilton (HAM), 28; 30, Superior (SUP), 24.5; 31, Helena Capital (CAP), 10.

98 lbs

Semifinals – Anthony Price, CDA, pinned Tyler Meyer, GFH, 1:49; Keegan Kennelly, HAV, dec. Jake Hegel, 5-0.

Seventh place match – Cameron Swanson, FTN, dec. Dalton Port, 6-1.

Fifth place match – Jake Hegel, MSH, pinned Cody Warner, 4:24.

Third place match – Jon Conklin, MBS, pinned Tyler Meyer, 5:59.

Championship – Keegan Kennelly, HAV, dec. Anthony Price, 5-2.

105 lbs

Semifinals – Kale Evenson, BOZ, pinned Grayson Brenna, 3:15; Jarren Komac, GFH, maj. dec. Kwest Osborn, 11-0.

Seventh place match – Demetri Koures, HGT, pinned Carson Graham, 1:54.

Fifth place match – Anthony Parkin, SUP, dec. Dyan Guzman, 14-8.

Third place match – Kwest Osborn, UHI, dec. Grayson Brenna, 3-2.

Championship – Kale Evenson, BOZ, dec. Jarren Komac, 8-6.

112 lbs

Semifinals – Bryson Beard, CV, dec. Shonn Roberts, 7-2; AJ Konda, CDA, maj. dec. Dylan Stewart, 3:09.

Seventh place match – Dylan Duffalo, MSH, pinned Riley Wavra, 3:36.

Fifth place match – Tommy McMillen, GFH, dec. Dylan Stewart, 4-1.

Third place match – Cameron Sorensen, UHI, dec. Shonn Roberts, 7-0.

Championship – Bryson Beard, CV, dec. AJ Konda, 3-0.

119 lbs

Semifinals – Hunter Grover, FRG, dec. Dakota Erickson, 10-3; Kenton Evans, GFH, maj. dec. Josh Tucker, 11-0.

Seventh place match – Marshall Bowen, LEW, dec. Drew Gorringe, 8-6.

Fifth place match – Josh Tucker, BNF, pinned Dakota Erickson, 1:30.

Third place match – Carlos Quinones, POL, dec. Logan McGreevey, 7-3.

Championship – Kenton Evans, GFH, dec. Hunter Grover, 7-2.

125 lbs

Semifinals – Jarrett Degen, BEL, dec. Blake Beard, 12-9; Dylan Schulte, MSH, dec. Landon Bailey, 7-6.

Seventh place match – Trei Bulluck, FRG, pinned Drake Randall, 3:57.

Fifth place match – Silas Hopkins, BOZ, pinned Landon Bailey, default.

Third place match – Blake Beard, CV, dec. Casey Dobson, 5-1.

Championship – Jarrett Degen, BEL, maj. dec. Dylan Schulte, 22-12.

130 lbs

Semifinals – Colton Orrino, CV, dec. Justin Rodgers, 9-5; Austin Shupe, GFH, dec. Nick Wells, 7-1.

Seventh place match – Justin Conklin, MBS, pinned Jake Marr, 4:18.

Fifth place match – Nick Wells, LCT, maj. dec. Tanner Johnson, 10-1.

Third place match – Justin Rodgers, LEW, maj. dec. Ben Miller, 11-0.

Championship – Colton Orrino, CV, dec. Austin Shupe, 6-3.

135 lbs

Semifinals – Bryce Parson, LEW, tech fall Blaine Invernon, 15-0; Bryce Weatherston, BEL, dec. Lucas Mantel, 9-5.

Seventh place match – Jesse Johnson, CMR, dec. Elijah Kilborn, 3-0.

Fifth place match – Lucas Mantel, GLA, dec. Dane Frobe, 4-0.

Third place match – Blaine Invernon, BNF, maj. dec. Cody Lemons, 11-2.

Championship – Bryce Parson, LEW, maj. dec. Bryce Weatherston, 10-0.

140 lbs

Semifinals – John Kenyon, LEW, maj. dec. Kessler Leonard, 14-3; Ryan Gabel, UHI, dec. Jordan Hegel, 4-3.

Seventh place match – Cooper Ryan, HH, dec. Kaleb Mitchell, 8-7.

Fifth place match – Kessler Leonard, GFH, dec. Isiah Yates, 3-0.

Third place match – Jordan Hegel, MSH, dec. Craig Feistner, 3-0.

Championship – Ryan Gabel, UHI, dec. John Kenyon, 3-1.

145 lbs

Semifinals – Ryan Klemp, LEW, dec. Ty Johnston, 3-2; Tommy Challeen, BUT, pinned Jared Dickson, 3:24.

Seventh place match – Wyatt Lott, COR, pinned Tim Ruebush, 2:54.

Fifth place match – Keaton Sterling, BEL, pinned Alek Mitchell, default.

Third place match – Jared Dickson, CMR, dec. Ty Johnston, 2-1.

Championship – Ryan Klemp, LEW, dec. Tommy Challeen, 3-0.

152 lbs

Semifinals – Jim Malone, FRG, maj. dec. Drew Randall, 11-2; Bryce Armstrong, BUT, dec. Luke Entzel, 3-2.

Seventh place match – Nick Iavicoli, FLT, dec. Zach Kies, 8-5.

Fifth place match – Sean White, CDA, pinned Quentin Denton, default.

Third place match – Luke Entzel, MBS, dec. Drew Randall, 4-0.

Championship – Jim Malone, FRG, dec. Bryce Armstrong, 9-4.

160 lbs

Semifinals – Tyler McLean, MED, pinned Jackson Barber, 5:33; Michael Cloud, MSH, pinned John Fairbanks, 3:30.

Seventh place match – Jared Lambert, LCT, pinned Gabe Ross, default.

Fifth place match – Jackson Barber, GLA, pinned Shelby Grant, :46.

Third place match – Jacob Egley, FLT, dec. John Fairbanks, 6-5.

Championship – Tyler McLean, MED, maj. dec. Michael Cloud, 8-0.

171 lbs

Semifinals – Chandler Rogers, MED, pinned Dawson Day, 3:38; Hudson Staub, CDA, dec. Ethan Blythe, 6-0.

Seventh place match – David Anderson, FTN, dec. Jake Williams, 1-0.

Fifth place match – Randy Keesler, GFH, pinned Ethan Blythe, 4:33.

Third place match – Dawson Day, GLA, dec. Austin Stannard, 10-3.

Championship – Chandler Rodgers, MED, pinned Hudson Staub, 3:08.

189 lbs

Semifinals – Tanner Davis, CV, dec. Tanner Orndorff, 5-4; Colby Roberts, RON, dec. Grant Pattison, 5-4.

Seventh place match – Carman Krichbaum, BNF, pinned Jacob Waller, default.

Fifth place match – Keavon Buckley, BOZ, dec. Reece Baldwin, 5-2.

Third place match – Tanner Orndorff, UHI, dec. Grant Pattison, 3-1.

Championship – Tanner Davis, CV, dec. Colby Roberts, 8-2.

215 lbs

Semifinals – Mason Ju, MED, dec. Sam VanBeek, 2-1; Darby Maier, MBS, pinned Keyten Anderson, 5:08.

Seventh place match – James Weidow, COR, pinned Zach Dolezal, 1:22.

Fifth place match – Tyler Adams, HAV, dec. Keyten Anderson, 3-1.

Third place match – Andreas Geranios, GFH, dec. Sam VanBeek, 3-1.

Championship – Darby Maier, MBS, dec. Mason Ju, 5-4.

Hwt

Semifinals – Jaydn Wilson, MSH, pinned Axel Bladholm, 1:39; Tate Orndorff, UHI, dec. Lane Urick, 7-5.

Seventh place match – Bryce Blumenschein, BEL, dec. Zach Dennehy, 5-1.

Fifth place match – Jordan Zuraff, FTN, dec. Axel Bladholm, 4-2.

Third place match – Josh Felecia, BOZ, pinned Lane Urick, 1:44.

Championship – Jaydn Wilson, MSH, dec. Tate Orndorff, 11-4.