Pony matmen can't quite catch the Bison

There probably won’t be too many teams entering the holiday break hotter then the Havre High wrestling team has gotten just three weeks into the season.

The Central A Blue Ponies have been dominant in nearly every outing this season, and the trend continued over the weekend in Great Falls. The Ponies were one of several teams to compete in the annual CMR Holiday Classic, one of the toughest outings on the HHS schedule year in and year out.

For the second straight year, the Ponies finished as the second-place team, this year scoring 230 team points, finishing behind only the Class AA Great Falls High Bison. The Bison scored 272 points and proved they are still the team to beat in the Class AA ranks. Bozeman was a distant third with 181 points.

“We did well and I was pleased with the kids,” Havre High head coach Scott Filius said. “But Great Falls High is just a little bit deeper than we are. They dropped their kids down and got all of their kids in the lineup, and are back at full strength. They look pretty good.”

But the Ponies looked good as well. Through the first couple of rounds Friday, the Ponies wrestled 21 matches and dropped just three of those. Those three losses came in the second round and gave the Ponies 125 points through the first day. Great Falls led after day one with 147 points.

And as the weekend continued, the Blue Ponies pushed a great group of individuals deep into the tournament. Nine total Pony grapplers placed in the top six this weekend and wrestled very well in doing so.

Keegan Kennelly (106), Parker Filius (138), and Tyler Adams (220) all won their title matchups, while Thomas Gruber (132) made the championship but finished in second place.

Kennelly, who has now won back-to-back CMR titles, earned a 5-4 decision over Missoula Big Sky’s Jon Conklin, while Tyler Adams pinned Seth Adams of Harlem in 4:08. Filius earned a 6-3 decision over J.J. Werdall of Choteau in the chipper, but first took down Austin Shupe of GFH 7-3 in the semifinals. Shupe previously defeated Filius four times this season, his only losses as a freshman.

The win for Filius in the semifinals was big stepping stone in his young career.

“The big thing isn’t the result as much as if you get beat once,” Coach Filius said. “You get beat once, you get beat a third time and sometimes you lose the ability to get out there and compete. Just the fact that you have your nose in it, you stick in their long enough, and eventually something good is bound to happen. That was a fun one for him.”

Grayson Brenna (120), Jace Billy (195) and Travis Adams (285) also finished in third place. Brenna took down Chinook’s Tate Neideregger 5-2, Billy took down Butte’s Lee Cannon 3-1, and Travis Adams took down Dillon’s Donovan Hucke 5-2 in the third-place round. Other placers included Dylan Stewart (126) and Jake Williams (170). Stewart and Williams battled their way into the fifth-place round. Stewart got a 6-3 decision over Lane Torgerson of Colstrip while Williams finished with a 7-5 loss to Tanner Stupack of Glacier.

Havre is still a little banged up and remained open at 160 pounds. But at 98 pounds, Tate Munyon had a solid outing, but ended the weekend with a loss in the consolation’s fourth round. Dustin Odegard (182) also lost out in the fourth round of the consolation bracket, while Logan Pleninger (113), Kody Pribyl (145), and Jase Stokes (152) had a decent weekend. Both Pleninger and Pribyl made the consolation fifth round before losing out, while Stokes lost out in the consolation second round.

"In order to rack up 200 points, you have to place a pile of kids,” Filius said. “We had nine kids place and we had three others right on the cusp of placing. We went seven of nine in those placing rounds, so the kids really ended on a good note. We found our kids are going to compete very hard against everybody, the highest caliber of kids. I was very pleased with the performance of all of our guys, they really competed hard.

“Nobody had a cakewalk,” Filius added, “and everybody had quality matches. Tyler Adams and Travis Adams wrestled as well as they have all year and had phenomenal weekends, and Parker Filius and Thomas Gruber were both at the top of their game as well. Jace Billy is also still improving, and I am very pleased with our little guys from Greyson Brenna on down. They did very, very well, and I was very pleased with the kids this weekend.”

The Ponies are off until Jan. 3-4 when they compete at the Bozeman Invitational.

CMR Holiday Classic

Team Scores

1. Great Falls 272.5; 2. Havre 230.5; 3. Bozeman 181.5; 4. Missoula Big Sky 151.5; 5. Forsyth 151; 6. Choteau 141; 7. Colstrip 115; 8. Belgrade 114; 9. Helena Capital 113; 10. CMR 104; 11. Harlem 100.5; 12. Anaconda 84; 13. Helena 81.5; 14. Dillon 80; 15. Cut Bank 72; 16. Butte 69; 17. Flathead 67; 18. Glacier 66; 19. Conrad 65.5; 20. Great Falls J.V. 52; 21. Cascade 46; 22. Ronan 40.5; 23. Fergus 37.5; 24. Chinook 35; 25. Laurel 29; 26. Wolf Point 26.5; 27. Glasgow 24.5; 28. CMR J.V. 21; 29. Butte Central 20.5; 30. Park 20; 31. Shelby 16; 32. Browning 15; 33. Missoula Hellgate 13; 33. (tie) Townsend 13; 35. Fort Benton 12; 35. (tie) Great Falls 3 12; 37. Big Sandy 11; 38. Chester-Joplin-Inverness 9; 39. Belt 3; 39. (tie) Heart Butte 3; 41. CMR 3 0; 41. (tie) Poplar 0

1st-2nd Place

98-Bjorn Schroeder, Bozeman, dec. Sawyer Degen, Belgrade, 12-7 OT; 106-Keegan Kennelly, Havre, dec. Jon Conklin, Missoula Big Sky, 5-4; 113-Seth Schroeck, Helena Capital, dec. Tyler Meyer, Great Falls, 9-6; 120-Jarren Komac, Great Falls, pinned Gage Currier, Colstrip, :55; 126-Tommy McMillen, Great Falls, pinned Landon Bailey, Helena, 2:44; 132-Jarrett Degen, Belgrade, dec. Thomas Gruber, Havre, 5-2; 138-Parker Filius, Havre, dec. JJ Werdal, Choteau, 6-3; 145-Luke Weber, Forsyth, dec. Bryan Armstrong, Anaconda, 11-5; 152-Brandon Weber, Forsyth, dec. Jared Dickson, CMR, 9-3; 160-Walker Ferda, Great Falls, dec. Garrett Moritz, Conrad, 4-2; 170-Chris Nile, Forsyth, dec. Luke Entzel, Missoula Big Sky, 4-3; 182-Randy Keesler, Great Falls, M-Dec Alan Schmitz, Helena Capital, 11-3; 195-Keavon Buckley, Bozeman, M-Dec Jake French, Choteau, 14-5; 220-Tyler Adams, Havre, pinned Seth Adams, Harlem, 4:08; 285-Bryce Wigert, Anaconda, Def Tucker Yates, Colstrip High School

3rd-4th Place

98-Devin Altenburg, CMR, dec. Nick Kunz, Helena Capital, 7-3; 106-Kohltin Starkel, Dillon, dec. Maestro Martinez, Wolf Point, 4-1; 113-Caleb James, Bozeman, dec. Demo Koures, Missoula Big Sky, 10-7; 120-Grayson Brenna, Havre, dec. Tate Neideregger, Chinook, 5-2; 126-Shay Snider, Harlem, pinned Colt McDaniel, Forsyth, 1:40; 132-Matt Weber, Forsyth, dec. Seth James, Bozeman, 3-0; 138-Austin Shupe, Great Falls, M-Dec Jesse Johnson, Cascade, 11-2; 145-Levi Renz, Butte, dec. Gage Bentley, Great Falls, 11-7; 152-Kessler Leonard, Great Falls, dec. Trey Stone, Choteau, 9-4; 160-Robert Jennings, Cut Bank, dec. Keevan Pickle, Belgrade, 5-4; 170-Steeler French, Choteau, dec. Cody Henderson, Great Falls, 3-2; 182-Ethan Blythe, Fergus, M-Dec Layne Durfee, Choteau, 9-0; 195-Jace Billy, Havre, dec. Lee Cannon, Butte, 3-1; 220-Eric Weaver, Great Falls, dec. Hunter Hart, Bozeman, 8-5; 285-Travis Adams, Havre, dec. Donovan Hucke, Dillon, 5-2

5th-6th Place

98-Justin Gibson, Glacier, dec. Chase DeBoo, Choteau, 7-3; 106-Keaton Anderson, Cut Bank, dec. Tyler Vetter, Butte, 10-7; 113-Clayton Currier, Colstrip, pinned Chance Snellman, Dillon, 1:18; 120-Clayton Carter, Laurel, pinned Caleb Shigley, Great Falls, J.V., 1:42; 126-Dylan Stewart, Havre, dec. Lane Torgerson, Colstrip, 6-3; 132-Teague Jones, Harlem, pinned Seth Currier, Colstrip, :48; 138-Logan McGreevey, Missoula Big Sky, dec. Zach Hart, Butte Central, 3-1; 145-Isiah Yates, CMR, dec. Brenden Johnson, Harlem, 8-4; 152-Kade Branson, Missoula Big Sky, dec. Ben Manion, Bozeman, 5-0; 160-Anthony Wright, Flathead, dec. Andrew Fabian, Bozeman, 2-1; 170-Tanner Stupack, Glacier, dec. Jake Williams, Havre, 7-5; 182-Hunter Mycke, Conrad, M-Dec Raven Cunningham, Belgrade, 12-1; 195-Payton Sexe, CMR, dec. Conner Gordon, Missoula Big Sky, 7-2; 220-Dillon Koffman, Helena Capital, pinned Zach Bauer, Missoula Hellgate, 2:29; 285-Axel Bladholm, Flathead, pinned Colter Miller, Missoula Big Sky, 3:48

Championship Semifinals

98-Sawyer Degen, Belgrade p. Justin Gibson, Glacier, 5:50; Bjorn Schroeder, Bozeman M-Dec Nick Kunz, Helena Capital, 10-0; 106-Jon Conklin, Missoula Big Sky p. Kohltin Starkel, Dillon, 5:45; Keegan Kennelly, Havre dec. Maestro Martinez, Wolf Point, 3-2; 113-Tyler Meyer, Great Falls dec. Clayton Currier, Colstrip, 6-5; Seth Schroeck, Helena Capital p. Caleb James, Bozeman, 3:53; 120-Jarren Komac, Great Falls p. Clayton Carter, Laurel, 4:47; Gage Currier, Colstrip dec. Grayson Brenna, Havre, 2-0; 126-Tommy McMillen, Great Falls M-Dec Colt McDaniel, Forsyth, 12-2; Landon Bailey, Helena dec. Shay Snider, Harlem, 2-0; 132-Thomas Gruber, Havre p. Seth Currier, Colstrip, 5:08; Jarrett Degen, Belgrade dec. Teague Jones, Harlem, 3-1; 138-Parker Filius, Havre dec. Austin Shupe, Great Falls, 7-3; JJ Werdal, Choteau dec. Jesse Johnson, Cascade, 7-6; 145-Luke Weber, Forsyth p. Gage Bentley, Great Falls, 5:04; Bryan Armstrong, Anaconda dec. Levi Renz, Butte, 1-0; 152-Brandon Weber, Forsyth dec. Kessler Leonard, Great Falls, 8-2; Jared Dickson, CMR p. Trey Stone, Choteau, 5:22; 160-Garrett Moritz, Conrad dec. Keevan Pickle, Belgrade, 4-3; Walker Ferda, Great Falls M-Dec Robert Jennings, Cut Bank, 12-3; 170-Chris Nile, Forsyth dec. Tanner Stupack, Glacier, 12-8; Luke Entzel, Missoula Big Sky M-Dec Steeler French, Choteau, 11-0; 182-Randy Keesler, Great Falls dec. Ethan Blythe, Fergus, 4-3; Alan Schmitz, Helena Capital dec. Raven Cunningham, Belgrade, 7-4; 195-Keavon Buckley, Bozeman dec. Lee Cannon, Butte, 9-2; Jake French, Choteau dec. Jace Billy, Havre, 10-8 OT; 220-Tyler Adams, Havre dec. Eric Weaver, Great Falls, 8-0; Seth Adams, Harlem dec. Dillon Koffman, Helena Capital, 6-5; 285-Tucker Yates, Colstrip p. Travis Adams, Havre, 2:50; Bryce Wigert, Anaconda p. Donovan Hucke, Dillon, 4:59.

Championship Quarterfinals

98-Justin Gibson, Glacier, p. Nate Sargent, Helena, :49; Sawyer Degen, Belgrade, p. Chase DeBoo, Choteau, 3:41; Nick Kunz, Helena Capital, p. Tate Munyon, Havre, 2:19; Bjorn Schroeder, Bozeman, p. Tony Roso, Cascade, 3:08; 106-Jon Conklin, Missoula Big Sky, p. Adam Oja, Bozeman, 3:30; Kohltin Starkel, Dillon, p. Trevor Moore, Choteau, 1:29; Maestro Martinez, Wolf Point, p. Shawn O'Brien, Townsend, 1:19; Keegan Kennelly, Havre, p. Keaton Anderson, Cut Bank, 3:59; 113-Clayton Currier, Colstrip, p. Bryson Henningsen, Butte, :32; Tyler Meyer, Great Falls, p. Chance Snellman, Dillon, 3:22; Caleb James, Bozeman, p. Demo Koures, Missoula Big Sky, 1:24; Seth Schroeck, Helena Capital, dec. Logan Pleninger, Havre, 4-0; 120-Jarren Komac, Great Falls, p. Kwin Stoddard, Dillon, :34; Clayton Carter, Laurel, p. Connor DeBruycker, Fort Benton, 1:17; Gage Currier, Colstrip, p. Jake OMalley, Helena, :56; Grayson Brenna, Havre, p. Cole Snyder, Ronan, 3:46; 126-Tommy McMillen, Great Falls, p. Jake Norby, Chinook, 1:17; Colt McDaniel, Forsyth, p. Dylan Stewart, Havre, 3:31; Landon Bailey, Helena, p. Jake Shawver, Glasgow, 3:29; Shay Snider, Harlem, dec. Ryder Day, Glacier, 5-3; 132-Thomas Gruber, Havre, dec. Matt Weber, Forsyth, 5-3; Seth Currier, Colstrip, p. Kenton Evans, Great Falls, 3:37; Teague Jones, Harlem, dec. Travis Vermulm, Cut Bank, 7-3; Jarrett Degen, Belgrade T-Fall Seth James, Bozeman, 20-5; 138-Austin Shupe, Great Falls, p. John Bell, Harlem, :45; Parker Filius, Havre, dec. Jace Berkram, Cut Bank, 7-4; Jesse Johnson, Cascade, p. Lyle Degen, Belgrade, :58; JJ Werdal, Choteau, p. Blaine Berg, Conrad, 4:59; 145-Luke Weber, Forsyth, p. CJ Snyder, Helena Capital, 3:35; Gage Bentley, Great Falls T-Fall Kody Pribyl, Havre, 20-5; Levi Renz, Butte, dec. Isiah Yates, CMR, 11-6; Bryan Armstrong, Anaconda, p. PJ Ayers, Fort Benton, 3:20; 152-Brandon Weber, Forsyth, p. Arik Lybeck, Glacier, :15; Kessler Leonard, Great Falls M-Dec Austin Blaede, Colstrip, 15-5; Trey Stone, Choteau, p. John Pepos, Cascade, 1:42; Jared Dickson, CMR, p. Colton McElhinney, Great Falls JV, 2:55; 160-Garrett Moritz, Conrad, dec. Andrew Fabian, Bozeman, 8-3; Keevan Pickle, Belgrade M-Dec Jacob Ferkin, Glacier, 10-0; Robert Jennings, Cut Bank, p. Anthony Wright, Flathead, 3:57; Walker Ferda, Great Falls T-Fall Ronny Cullis, Ronan, 17-2; 170-Chris Nile, Forsyth, p. Lance Massey, Great Falls JV, 1:22; Tanner Stupack, Glacier, p. Grady Blewett, Belgrade, 1:12; Steeler French, Choteau, p. Ethan Reich, Anaconda, 4:54; Luke Entzel, Missoula Big Sky, dec. Cody Henderson, Great Falls, 2-0; 182-Randy Keesler, Great Falls, p. Jacob Bell, Missoula Big Sky, :22; Ethan Blythe, Fergus M-Dec Layne Durfee, Choteau, 11-3; Alan Schmitz, Helena Capital, p. Mitchell Stivers, Flathead, 4:21; Raven Cunningham, Belgrade, p. Hunter Mycke, Conrad, 3:02; 195-Keavon Buckley, Bozeman, p. Michael Ollinger, Browning, 1:56; Lee Cannon, Butte, dec. Payton Sexe, CMR, 4-3; Jace Billy, Havre, dec. Conner Gordon, Missoula Big Sky, 10-6; Jake French, Choteau, dec. Parker Tezak, Dillon, 11-4; 220-Tyler Adams, Havre, p. Tyler Brewer, Missoula Big Sky, 2:38; Eric Weaver, Great Falls, p. Justin Pfiefer, Cut Bank, :53; Dillon Koffman, Helena Capital, p. Travis Field, Choteau, 2:58; Seth Adams, Harlem, p. Jake Sessions (soph), Colstrip, 5:55; 285-Tucker Yates, Colstrip, p. Colten Rue-Zindell, Great Falls JV, 1:07; Travis Adams, Havre, p. Che Littledog, Cut Bank, 1:00; Bryce Wigert, Anaconda, dec. Zach Dennehy, Glacier, 7-4; Donovan Hucke, Dillon, p. Roberto Smith, Great Falls, 3:25.