Ponies simply own the Cut Bank Invite

For the Havre High wrestling team, winning the Cut Bank Invitational has become a bit of a New Year’s tradition. And this past weekend, thanks to another dominant performance, the Blue Ponies won the tournament for a 15th consecutive time.

With teams from across the Hi-Line and the state in attendance, Havre dominated the competition, placing 11 wrestlers and having six advance to the finals, with four champions being crowned. HHS finished with 239 points, 18 more than second-place Eureka, which finished with 221. Lewistown came in third with 166.

“It was good,” HHS head coach Scott Filius said. “We got some really good experiences for our younger kids. We were pleased with the ones that placed and even the ones that didn’t place wrestled well. We are still struggling to get a consistent performance from top to bottom, but that’s not untypical at all. You always want the perfect performance, but yeah, it was a good weekend for the kids. Our young kids have big expectations for themselves and they want to meet that, and that’s part of the learning curve.”

Of course, the Ponies got outstanding performances from all their mainstays, led by 145-pounder Parker Filius, who won his fourth individual title at the meet thanks to a pin in 2:55 over Lewistown’s Chase Farrar.

Havre’s other individual champions were Martin Wilkie, who won the 126-pound weight class with a pin of Callan Mears of Malta in 37 seconds, while Jase Stokes won at 205 pounds and Lane Paulson won at 120 pounds. Stokes earned his title via an 8-3 win by decision over Hunter Mycke of Conrad. Paulson took home first following a hard-fought, 2-1 victory over Peter Henderson of Choteau.

Both Ryan Stewart (113) and Dane Flammond (160) finished second for the Ponies after losing in the finals. Quinn Reno was among the other five Havre wrestlers that placed in the meet. He defeated teammate Cameron Pleninger for third place at 103 pounds. The Ponies also had three sixth-place finishers as Mason Dionne was sixth at 152 pounds. Austin Ratliff and Jared Sienkowski also finished the same at 205 pounds and in the heavyweight class, respectively.

“One of the guys that I was really impressed with was Mason Dionne,” Filius said. “He had a weekend where he finally put it together and he beat a kid that beat him earlier in the year, and Lane Paulson wrestled a good kid in the semis and competed really well. Quinn (Reno) and Cameron (Pleninger), they have been doing well all year and had another good tournament. That’s kind of the younger end of the guys and of course, Wilkie, Parker and Stokes, they are pretty standard. Dane Flammond and Ryan Stewart, they are solid, so we are getting consistent effort more or less.”

This week, the Ponies will face one of their bigger challenges leading up to the All-Class state wrestling tournament in Billings. First, Havre will dual Great Falls High on the road Thursday, before taking part in the prestigious Jug Beck Rocky Mountain Classic Friday and Saturday in Missoula. Havre will enter at the two-time defending champs.

“It’s a good one,” Filius said. “We are really looking forward to going there and competing.”

Cut Bank Invitational

Team scores -- 1, Havre 239; 2, Eureka 221; 3, Lewistown 166; 4, Great Falls CMR 148; 5, Libby 116.5; 6, Fairfield 111.5; 7, Choteau 105; 8, Malta 104.5; 9, Conrad 102; 10, Circle 76; 11, Cut Bank 72; 12, Whitefish 68.5; 13, Shelby 62.5; 14, Boulder 56; 15, Shepherd 53; 16, Wolf Point 51.5; 17, Valier 50; 18, Browning 43.5; t-19, Great Falls JV 39; t-19, Cascade 39; 21, Harlem 37; t-22, Poplar 35; t-22, Fort Benton 35; 24, Chinook 27; 25, Belt 20; 26, Chester-Joplin-Inverness 8; 17, Highwood 4; t-28, Frazer 0; 28, Hays-Lodgepole 0.

103 pound

Championship -- Buddy Doolin, Lib, dec. Tanner Cook, Shep, 3-1.

Third place -- Quinn Reno, Hav, maj. dec. Cameron Pleninger, Hav, 12-1.

Fifth place -- Anwar Mirza, Whi, maj. dec. Mason Henry, Shep, 22-9.

113 pound

Championship -- Lincoln Stormer, Cir, pin Ryan Stewart, Hav, 3:55.

Third place -- Nathan Schmidt, Eur, pin Dylan Riphenburg, Fair, 1:36.

Fifth place -- Dylan Yeadon, Lib, pin Trisetan Kemp, WP, 2:09.

120 pound

Championship -- Lane Paulson, Hav, dec. Peter Henderson, Cho, 2-1.

Third place -- Kadhen Bakkila, Eur, dec. Kolter Schipman, Mal, 10-9.

Fifth place -- Josh Peops, Cas, dec. Connor Schnabel, FB, 2-0.

126 pound

Championship -- Martin Wilkie, Hav, pin Callan Mears, Mal, :37.

Third place -- Carter Carroll, CMR, tech fall Trey Thompson, Lib, 15-0 (4:29).

Fifth place -- Tommy Campbell, Bro, maj. dec. Ken Todd, FB, 13-5.

132 pound

Championship -- Caleb Birdwell, Lew, dec. Quinn Whitmus, WP, 11-5.

Third place -- Wyatt Brusven, She, dec. Dakota Flannery, WF, 6-1.

Fifth place -- Brider Grover, Lew, dec. Kaden Moore, Mal, 11-5.

138 pound

Championship -- Kai Stewart, CMR, maj. dec. Trey Simanton, Mal, 14-3.

Third place -- Jonathan Schmidt, Eur, dec. Cole Giles, Fair, 7-4.

Fifth place -- Laine Young, Lib, tech fall Jacob Travis, Boul, 19-3 (5:00).

145 pound

Championship -- Parker Filius, Hav, pin Chase Farrar, Lew, 2:55.

Third place -- Trey Taylor, Cir, pin Barrett Hansen, She, 1:56.

Fifth place -- Ceaton Mears, Mal, pin Nolan Myrstol, Belt, 2:41.

152 pound

Championship -- Dawson Peterman, Fair, dec. Cannan Smith, Eur, 7-4.

Third place -- David Finley, Cho, pin Trevor Vandenbos, Val, 2:30.

Fifth place -- Keaton Anderson, CB, dec. Mason Dionne, Hav, 12-10.

160 pound

Championship -- Taner Stone, Cho, pin Dane Flammond, Hav, 2:56.

Third place -- Alex Wickens, Lew, pin Levi Garcia, Eur, 1:48.

Fifth place -- Nate Brunett, Boul, pin Graydon Irish, CMR, 2:33.

170 pound

Championship -- Ben Rauscher, Con, pin Colby Hammack, Eur, 2:34.

Third place -- Wyatt Blythe, Lew, dec. Max Sechena, CMR, 7-1.

Fifth place -- Jeffrey Berger, Pop, pin Sonny Cochran, Shep, :48.

182 pound

Championship -- Garrett Graves, Eur, pin Austyn Sherwood, Eur, 2:21.

Third place -- Bradley Denton, Lew, pin Colton Like, Fair, 1:13.

Fifth place -- Brett Monroe, Val, pin Eryck Otto, CMR, 2:09.

205 pound

Championship -- Jase Stokes, Hav, dec. Hunter Mycke, Con, 8-3.

Third place -- Joe Fehr, Eur, pin Travis Catina, WF, 1:32.

Fifth place -- Brady Boyce, Lew, pin Austin Ratliff, Hav, 1:59.

285 pound

Championship -- Justin Pfeifer, CB, pin Kaelan Yanak, Eur, 5:55.

Third place -- Bradley Vanderbush, Con, pin Reece Hutton, Har, 3:56.

Fifth place -- KC Buday, CMR, dec. Jared Sienkowski, Hav, 5-3.