Road to Billings: Ponies dominant in Malta

The Havre High wrestling team has been dominant once again this season, winning almost every meet it has competed in. And Saturday the Blue Ponies continued that streak of success by walking away with the team title at the Malta Invitational.

Possessing much more depth than any other team competing in the tournament, Havre easily ran away with the first-place prize in its final tune up for the Central A divisional meet next weekend, after racking up a total of 291.5 points compared to just 175 for second-place Choteau.

“I think we wrestled really well in some places and in other places we got our eyes opened up,” HHS head coach Scott Filius said. “It did just what we needed it to. We went down there and we have been kind of full of ourselves the past couple of weeks, so it was nice to get up there and see some of those kids from along the Hi-Line just scrap. It was good.”

The Ponies finished the meet with a total of six champions. Yet, no individual title was more hard-earned than Grayson Brenna’s. Brenna, who wrestles at 132 pounds for HHS, went head-to-head with Tate Niederegger of Chinook and despite a valiant effort from the top-ranked wrestler in the weight class in the B-C ranks, Brenna came out on top.

“I thought the best matchup of the weekend came at 132,” Filius said. “You had two very high-level kids that mixed it up and it was nice to come out on the winning side.”

In addition to Brenna taking first in his weight class, the other first-place finishers for Havre included Keegan Kennelly at 120 pounds, Logan Pleninger at 126 pounds, Jase Stokes at 160 pounds, freshman Tyler Schaub at 170 pounds and Jace Billy at 205 pounds.

Yet, the Ponies also had a number of other wrestlers that placed highly at the meet such as Ryan Stewart, who finished second at 103 pounds and Kody Pribyl, who was also second at 152 pounds. At 138 pounds Dane Flammond finished third as did Parker Filius at 145 pounds.

At 170 pounds. Havre placed two of the top three finishers as John Chinadle backed up Schuab’s first-place finish with a third-place showing of his own. The other Havre wrestlers that finished in the top four of their respective weight classes were Jordan Schroeder, who was third at 182 pounds and Travis Adams, who finished third in the heavyweight division. Jazz Schroeder also got fourth ay 132.

“I was kind of surprised by those three (Ryan Stewart, Travis Adams and Parker Filius) getting beat,” Filius said. “But then, at the same time, we had some other kids that went out there and wrestled lights out.”

In all, Havre placed a total of 13 wrestlers in the top four on its way to the team title. The only weight class where the Ponies did not place a wrestler was at 113, where they have been vacant all season long.

The Sugarbeeters also placed four wrestlers on their way to a third-place finish.

Now the Ponies will set their sights on defending their Central A divisional championship. The Central A divisional, which will be the last as Havre moves to the combined Eastern Division next season, will take place Saturday in Livingston.

Malta Invitational

Individual Order of Finish

103: 1, Matt Reyling, Glasgow; 2, Ryan Stewart, Havre; 3, Chase DeBoo, Choteau; 4, Slade Martinez, Wolf Point.

113: 1, Trevor Moore, Choteau; 2, Trey Simanton, Malta; 3, Quinn Whitmus, Wolf Point; 4, Gabe Hallock, Glasgow.

120: 1, Keegan Kennelly, Havre; 2, Keaton Anderson, Cut Bank; 3, Angel Boyd, Poplar; 4, Kaden Moore, Malta.

126: 1, Logan Pleninger, Havre; 2, Dylan Stewart, Havre; 3, Michael Wark, Shepherd; 4, Jeremiah Paine, Wolf Point.

132: 1, Grayson Brenna, Havre; 2, Tate Niederegger, Chinook; 3, James Spence, Shepherd; 4, Jazz Schroeder, Havre.

138: 1, JJ Werdal, Choteau; 2, Cody King, Glasgow; 3, Dane Flammond, Havre; 4, Randon Anderson, Cut Bank.

145: 1, Taner Stone, Choteau; 2, Jake Norby, Chinook; 3, Parker Filius, Havre; 4, Jace Berkram, Cut Bank.

152: 1, Reid VandenBos, Cut Bank; 2, Kody Pribyl, Havre; 3, Kevin Schindler, Glasgow; 4, Travis Tatkenhorst, Shepherd.

160: 1, Jase Stokes, Havre; 2, Trey Stone, Choteau; 3, Brenden Johnson, Harlem; 4, James Herring, Shepherd.

170: 1, Tyler Schaub, Havre; 2, Joey Clark, Choteau; 3, John Chinadle, Havre; 4, Jacob Schuster, Big Sandy.

182: 1, Steeler French, Choteau; 2, Jesse Dannels, Chinook; 3, Jordan Schroeder, Havre; 4, Tanner Roness, Glasgow.

205: 1, Jace Billy, Havre; 2, Kevin Young, Chinook; 3, Travis Field, Choteau; 4, Jaiden Little Dog, Cut Bank.

285: 1, Justin Pfeifer, Cut Bank; 2, Denver Krone, Choteau; 3, Travis Adams, Havre; 4, Joe Doney, Glasgow.