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BILLINGS - The Havre High wrestling team came into the 2019 All-Class state wrestling tournament hoping to push Sidney for the Class A state championship.

However, in the team competition at least, things didn't go quite as Havre hoped. For two days inside the Rimrock Auto Arena at the Metra in Billings, Sidney dominated and set a new Class A record with 310.5 points to win a second consecutive state championship. While the Blue Ponies had to settle for second in the team race with 170 points, it was still a historic weekend for Havre as senior Martin Wilkie capped his stellar career by winning a fourth state championship, becoming just the third Pony wrestler to do so joining Parker Filius and Jase Stokes.

"It's hard to say how I feel right now," Wilkie said after winning the 145-pound final. "I still have a lot of adrenaline from the match but once I get away from it, I think it's going to feel great."

On his way to becoming just one of 35 individuals to win four state titles, Wilkie led the Ponies with a total of 30 points thanks to four pins, the last of which came over Zander Burnison of Sidney in just 38 seconds on finals night.

Wilkie was as dominant as any wrestler in Billings over the course of the two-day tournament that features all four classifications, but sophomore Mick Chagnon wasn't far behind.

After reaching the podium last season, Chagnon finished off a impressive campaign with a masterful showing in Billings. From his first match Friday to the 103-pound championship Saturday night, he was in complete control, notching two pins and winning a 5-1 decision over Landen Stewart of Frenchtown to reach finals night. Then, on one of the biggest stages in Montana high school sports, he steam rolled Noah Huffaker of Dillon, winning by tech fall 18-1.

"Mick had a great tournament," HHS head coach Beau LaSalle said. "This was the best tournament that I think I have seen him have just from being mentally focused and ready to go. He had a great tournament and he never took a step back in all four of his matches all the way through the finals."

Wilkie and Chagnon capped the tournament with state titles for the Ponies but they were joined by three other Havre wrestlers in the finals as Cameron Pleninger, Lane Paulson and Austin Ratliff also advanced to finals night but finished second. Pleninger lost to Jake Bibler of Frenchtown, who is now a three-time state champion, while Paulson dropped a 4-1 decision to Christian Dean of Sidney. Ratliff, who hadn't reached the podium before this season also lost a hard-fought, 4-1 decision to Shane Gibson of Livingston.

"I really wanted to get on the podium," Ratliff said. "The (finals) didn't go how I wanted but I have come a long way. I have to give it up to him, (Gibson) he is a great wrestler.

"All season Austin has really performed," LaSalle said. "He has never placed here before and that was the goal was just to place but when we looked at his weight and we said 'we can get to the finals' and he bought into that. He bought into all the conditioning, and for him it was the mental part that matured and broke through this season."

Both Pleninger and Paulson finished runner-up for the second time in their careers. Paulson will move on to wrestle for Montana State University-Northern next season, while Pleninger will try to win that elusive state title next February.

"Cameron had a really good year," LaSalle said. "He is now a two-time finalist and that's not easy to do. Now, we just want to get to the top of the podium."

Paulson fell just short of placing as a freshman, but finished his career as a three-time placer and a member of two state championship teams, as well as runner-up finishes by the Ponies the past two seasons.

"Lane has been a big part of our program these past few years," LaSalle said. "I am excited to continue to watch him grow at the next level."

In addition to five finalists, Havre had three others reach the podium led by Connor Harris, who finished third at state for the third consecutive season. Harris was part of a loaded bracket at 152 pounds and in the semifinals, he ran up against former state finalist Bridger Wenzel and despite having a 2-1 advantage, Wenzel scored a key takedown and narrowly defeated Harris 3-2. Despite suffering a heartbreaking loss in the semifinals for the second straight year, Harris finished off the tournament and his season as best he could, getting third with wins over Jacob Morgan of Billings Central (13-2) and then winning a 1-0 decision over Jace Winter of Sidney in the consolation finals to get third.

"Taking that loss in the semifinals was tough," Harris said. "But I wanted to come back and try to score points and help the team and it was the next best thing. But I am ready to come back and I want to get to the finals next year."

"Connor had a good tournament," LaSalle said. "And losing just one match at state three years in a row, that's not easy to do. That's still a great accomplishment."

The other Ponies who reached the podium were freshmen Riley Pleninger (103 pounds) and Orion Thivierge (145) who both advanced to the semis before getting fourth and sixth, respectively. Pleninger got a pin Friday and won a decision over Nathan Sproul of Whitefish to advance to the 103 semifinals, yet, Pleninger wasn't able to reach an all-Havre final with Chagnon when he was beaten in the semis by Huffaker.

"It was a good experience," Riley Pleninger said. "It didn't quite live up to all that it is built up to be. It was fun, though."

Thivierge won his opening match by tech fall and then pinned Trey Thompson, the Western A divisional champion with a pin at the 5:47 mark to put him into the semifinals. However, he fell short of an all-Havre final, too, as he would have faced Wilkie with a win. Then, he a lost a tough match in overtime and dropped a 2-0 decision in his last match to wind up sixth.

"It was a great weekend for some of our younger kids," LaSalle said. "I think we got some good experience at the state tournament and I know the guys that fell short, when I talked to them, they were excited to get back to work."

With the way Sidney dominated and with a big chunk of the Eagles roster returning for next season, if the Ponies want to get back on the top of the podium as a team, LaSalle said some hard work will be required.

"We have to get back to work," LaSalle said. "We have to get back in the weight room, put more time in on that mat and just get back to work. That's all we can do."

Class A

Team scores: Sidney 310.5, Havre 170, Polson 128.5, Frenchtown 126, Columbia Falls 99, Miles City 93.5, Laurel 82.5, Belgrade 82, Lewistown, 73.5, Corvallis 71, Browning 65, Dillon 63.5, Hamilton 60.5, Libby-Troy 58, Glendive 49, Hardin 48, Whitefish 47, Ronan 39, Livingston 35, Billings Central 24, Stevensville 14

Individual results

103

First place: Mick Chagnon, Havre, tech fall Noah Huffaker, Dillon-Twin Bridges-Sheridan, TF, 3:24 (18-1); Third place: Landen Stewart, Frenchtown, dec. Riley Pleninger, Havre, 4-0; Fifth place: Nathan Sproul, Whitefish, dec. Trevor Bartel, Ronan, 6-2.

113

First place: Walker Dyer, Frenchtown, major dec. Kaiden Cline, Sidney-Fairview, 11-0; Third place: Rene Pierre, Polson, p. Eli Warner, Frenchtown, 1:56; Fifth place: Braxton Scheeler, Miles City, tech fall. Ivan Lee, Laurel, TF, 4:50 (19-3)

120

First place: Jake Bibler, Frenchtown, p. Cameron Pleninger, Havre, 0:51; Third place: Buddy Doolin, Libby, dec. Jordan Darby, Sidney-Fairview, 9-2; Fifth place: Kedrick Baker, Polson, dec. Jimmy Schmitt, Corvallis, 8-2.

126

First place: Cooper Birdwell, Lewistown, p. Oden Currier, Belgrade, 0:16; Third place: Everett Jensen, Sidney-Fairview, dec. Dante Venema, Corvallis, 7-5. (OT); Fifth place: Luke Huffaker, Dillon-Twin Bridges-Sheridan, p. Trapper McAllister, Ronan, 3:49.

132

First place: Aden Graves, Sidney/Fairview, dec. Damian Leiholt, Miles City, 2-0. (OT); Third place: Michael Golden, Hamilton-Darby, dec. Kolton Reid, Sidney-Fairview, 3-1; Fifth place: Carter Brown, Corvallis, p. Thomas Peters, Columbia Falls, 1:59.

138

First place: Christian Dean, Sidney-Fairview, dec. Lane Paulson, Havre, 4-1; Third place: Keagan Campbell, Laurel, dec. Kade Graves, Sidney-Fairview, 5-3; Fifth place: Dakota Flannery, Whitefish, dec. Triston Davis, Corvallis, 8-5.

145

First place: Martin Wilkie, Havre, p. Zander Burnison, Sidney-Fairview, 0:38; Third place: Bridger Williams, Hamilton-Darby, dec. Dylan Lutz, Sidney-Fairview, 3-0; Fifth place: Trey Thompson, Libby-Troy, dec. Orion Thivierge, Havre, 2-0.

152

First place: John Mears, Belgrade, dec. Bridger Wenzel, Polson, 5-0; Third place: Connor Harris, Havre, dec. Jace Winter, Sidney-Fairview, 1-0; Fifth place: Jacob Morgan, Billings Central, dec. Hunter Hoover, Libby-Troy, 5-4.

160

First place: Riley Waters, Sidney-Fairview, dec. Cooper Hoffman, Dillon-Twin Bridges-Sheridan, 12-6; Third place: Duane Otto II, Lewistown, major dec. Noah Hurst, Hamilton-Darby, 18-7; Fifth place: Conner Schwend, Hardin, won by forfeit, Kyler Pancake, Stevensville-Victor

170

First place: Hunter Fritsch, Polson, dec. Nelson Crisafulli, Glendive, 3-0; Third place: Trevor Dean, Sidney-Fairview, major dec. Kevin Aiken, 12-1; Fifth place: Ryan Running Crane, Browning, p. Allec Knapton, Columbia Falls, 2:27.

182

First place: Jett Jones, Sidney-Fairview, p. Colten McPhee, Columbia Falls, 5:59; Third place: Cameron Younger, Laurel, p. Landon Farrar, Lewistown, 1:2&; Fifth place: Tate Jones, Frenchtown, p. Logan Adler, Polson, 2:31

205

First place: Shane Gibson, Livingston, dec. Austin Ratliff, Havre, 4-1; Third place: Jakob Freeman, Columbia Falls, dec. Justin Mays, Ronan, 8-3; Fifth place: Jesse Murdock, Hardin, p. Tyler Harms, Miles City, 2:12.

285

First place: Taylor Gladeau, Columbia Falls p. Wacey Zuback, Browning, 5:36; Third place: Keegan Mires, Glendive, p. Brodey Skogen, Sidney-Fairview, 0:19; Fifth place: Archie Swift, Miles City, p. Gabe Hernandez, Laurel, 1:30.

Havre Individual Results

103 - Mick Chagnon (State Champion)

1st rd - pinned Logan Bratch, HAM, :13; Quarterfinals - pinned Trevor Bartel, RON, :12; Semifinals - dec. Landon Stewart, FTN, 4-0; Championship - tech. fall Noah Huffaker, DIL, 18-1.

103 - Riley Pleninger (4th Place)

1st rd - pinned Andrew Carmody, HAM, 3:07; Quarterfinals - dec. Nathan Sproul, WF, 11-9; Semifinals - Semifinals - pinned by Noah Huffaker, DIL, 1:09; Consolation Semi - pinned Trevor Bartel, RON, :49; Consolation Final - lost dec. Landon Stewart, FTN, 4-0.

120 - Cameron Pleninger (2nd Place)

1st rd - pinned Kellen Norman, POL, :51; Quarterfinals - pinned Orin Muri, MC, :59; Semifinal - dec. Buddy Doolin, LIB, 16-6; Championship - pinned by Jake Bibler, FTN, :51.

126 - Kendall Pleninger

1st rd - pinned by Luke Huffaker, DIL, 1:29; 1st rd Consolation - pinned by Jake Murnion, MC, 4:56.

126 - Dominic Perkins

1st rd - pinned Kellen Robbins, STV, 1:11; Quarterfinals - pinned by Dante Venema, COR, 2:43; 2nd rd Consolation - lost dec. Maysn Cowell, POL, 9-3.

132 - Randy Tommerup

1st rd - pinned by Zach Morrison, LIB, 1:09; 1st rd consolation - pinned by Benji Opat, COR, 4:30.

138 - Lane Paulson (2nd Place)

1st rd - pinned Aaron Springer, STV, 1:07; Quarterfinals - maj. dec. Keagan Campbell, LAU, 10-2; Semifinals - dec. Dakota Flannery, WF, 7-1; Championship - lost dec. Christian Dean, SID, 4-1.

138 - Wyatt Hansen

1st rd - pinned by Jeff Offenbacher, LIB, 2:48; 1st rd Consolation - pinned by Danny Anderson, MC, 2:15.

145 - Martin Wilkie (State Champion)

1st rd - pinned Carlitos Bertelsen, WF, :23; Quarterfinals - pinned Chance Kittson, BRO, :46; Semifinals - pinned Bridger Williams, HAM, 3:35; Championship - pinned Zander Burnison, SID, :38.

145 - Orion Thivierge (6th Place)

1st rd - tech fall Caleb Pierre, POL, 18-2; Quarterfinals - pinned Trey Thompson, LIB, 5:47; Semifinals - pinned by Zander Burnison, SID, 2:40; Consolation Semi - lost dec. Dylan Lutz, SID, 6-4 in SVO; Fifth-Sixth - lost dec. Trey Thompson, LIB, 2-0.

152 - Connor Harris (3rd Place)

1st rd - pinned Zane Nordwick, LIB, 1:15; Quarterfinals - inj. def. Jace Winter, SID; Semifinals - lost dec. Bridger Wenzel, POL, 3-2; Consolation Semi - maj. dec. Jacob Morgan, BC, 13-2; Consolation Final - dec. Jace Winter, SID, 1-0.

170 - Taylor Gopher

1st rd - pinned by Allec Knapton, CF, 3:49; 1st rd Consolation - pinned by Ty Greenfield, HAR, 4:14.

182 - Brayden Stadell

1st rd - pinned by Logan Adler, POL, 1:10; 1st rd Consolation - dec. Daniel Rigney, LIB, 9-2; Consolation 2nd rd - pinned by Tate Jones, FTN, 2:45.

205 - Austin Ratliff (2nd Place)

1st rd - pinned Ashton Akey, WF, :30; Quarterfinals -dec. Ryan Wyman, SID, 6-0; Semifinals - dec. Justin Mays, RON, 4-2; Championship - lost dec. Shane Gibson, LIV, 4-1.