HOMETOWN TOUGH: Ponies place six at season-opening Havre Invite

It is not easy to knock around the Havre High Wrestling team at its own meet but, once again, a strong effort from the Great Falls Bison is just what the Bison needed to take home the team title at the Havre High Gymnasium.

While the Blue Ponies came up shorter than they hoped in fifth place with 103 points Saturday, Havre was short some wrestlers from the normal lineup but, to top off the day, the Ponies did crown a champion and place a total of six.

"I think it gave us a good starting point," said second year HHS head coach Beau LaSalle. "We got a lot of work to do and a lot of places to improve. But, yeah, it's a good starting point for the first tournament of the year."

Junior Mick Chagnon knows what it is like to do well at the Havre Invite, considering he was crowned the champion in the combined 103/113 bracket, beating Great Falls High's Austin Phattavong in a 5-2 decision. It was a slight sense of familiarity for Chagnon, who won first place at the Havre Invite last season in the 103 bracket and the year before in the season opener. Chagnon was glad to be able to compete again at home and take the crown once more.

"The main motivation for me is not wanting to lose in front of the home crowd," said Chagnon. "I want to put on a show for the home crowd and I'm always determined. That's how I do so well in this tournament."

Other wrestlers placed well in the invite, as well. Sophomore Riley Pleninger pinned Malta's Cameron Mikesell to claim third place in the 120-pound bracket, senior Cameron Pleninger took third at 126 by pinning Caleb Simpson of Cut Bank, and sophomore Kendall Pleninger placed fourth at 138. In fact, all three Pleninger's won their first round matchups, too.

Freshman Kale VanCampen placed fourth at 145, while sophomore Randy Tommerup finished fourth, as well, at 152. It was a good day for Havre, but there is still a lot of improvement that will develop as the season goes on.

But LaSalle has some points that stood out to him at the Havre Invite.

"I think our young kids competed hard," said LaSalle. "We gave up a few matches that I think we probably shouldn't have, but overall, I think they competed hard and gave a good effort all weekend."

It may have been the Havre Invitational, but other local teams put up some good results, too. The Chinook High Sugarbeeters had Garrett Pruttis place second at 152 and the team put up 41 points. The Chester-Joplin-Inverness High Hawks racked up 20 points and had heavyweight wrestler Reubin Swenson place second.

The Blue Ponies will be back into the fray this week when Havre heads to Butte for the Butte Central Mixer Thursday and then the Mining City Duals Friday and Saturday.

Havre Invitational

Team scores: Great Falls High 242, Great Falls CMR 154.5, Lewistown 121.5, Cut Bank 116, Havre 103, Malta 64, Chinook 41, Chester-Joplin-Inverness 20, Butte Central 0.

Order of finish

103/113: Mick Chagnon, Havre; Austin Phattavong, GF; Paul Bartlett, CMR; Logan Younkin, CMR

120: Colton Martello, CMR; Dre Coles, GF; Riley Pleninger, Havre; Cameron Mikesell, Malta

126: Easton Shupe, GF; Wyatt Mager, Lewistown; Cameron Pleninger, Havre; Caleb Simpson, Cut Bank

132: Cooper Birdwell, Lewistown; Mason Huber, GF; Keaton Jarrett, CMR; Shane Barcus, Cut Bank

138: Marc Ramirez, GF; Calvin Carroll, CMR; Matthew Larson, Cut Bank; Kendall Pleninger, Havre

145: Cache Hilliard, GF; Quinton Spring, CMR; Colten Barsness, Cut Bank; Kale VanCampen, Havre

152: Donovan Mahoney, GF; Garrett Pruttis, Chinook; Aj Lafurge, CMR; Randy Tommerup, Havre

160: Duane Otto II, Lewistown, Austin Vanek, Cut Bank; Callen Mears, Malta; Brendan Lockart, GF

170: Tyson Krahe, GF; Keaton Potter, Lewistown; Colt French, Malta; Jacob Reeves, CMR

182: Liam Swanson. GF; Rielly Wiegand, Chinook; Nick Bodge, CMR; Giovanni Gibson, Cut Bank

205: Elijah Davis, GF; Dre Oshio, Malta; Bryce Hall, CMR

HWT: Ethan DeRoche, GF; Reubin Swenson, C-J-I; Dylan Morris, Lewistown; Wesley Omsberg, Cut Bank

Individual Havre High Results

103/113 – Mick Chagnon – Champion

Round 2 – won dec. Paul Bartlett, CMR, 6-3; Finals – won dec. Austin Phattavong, GF, 5-2.

120 – Hunter Velk

Round 1 – pinned by Cameron Mikesell, Malta; Cons. Round 2 – lost dec. Ethan Jarret, CMR, 4-1

120 - Riley Pleninger – 3rd Place

Round 2 – pinned Ethan Jarret, CMR, 0:48; Round 3 – pinned by Dre Coles, GF, 0:49; Cons. Round 4 – won dec. Kierrin Rooney, Cut Bank, 3-2; 3rd place – pinned Cameron Mikesell, Malta, 0:28.

126 – Cameron Pleninger – 3rd Place

Round 2 – pinned Zach Ewalt, CMR, 1:28; Round 3 – pinned by Wyatt Mager, Lewistown, 1:18; Cons. Round 4 – won dec. Wyatt Berkram, Cut Bank, 6-3; 3rd place – pinned Caleb Simpson, Cut Bank, 3:10

138 – Kendall Pleninger – 4th Place

Round 1 – pinned Colton Picco, Lewistown; Round 2 – pinned by Calvin Carroll, CMR, 2:49; Cons. Semifinal – pinned Mariah Wahl, Cut Bank; 4th place – pinned by Matthew Larson, Cut Bank, 1:40.

145 – Kale VanCampen – 4th place

Round 1 – pinned Brock Barcus, Cut Bank; Round 2 – pinned by Quinton Spring, CMR, 1:42; Cons. Semifinal – pinned Shane Soul, Malta; 4th place – lost dec. Colton Barsness, Cut Bank, 2-1.

152 – Connor Harris

Round 2 – won maj. dec. Ashton Grover, Lewistown, 19-2; Semifinal – injury forfeit, Garret Pruttis; Cons. Semifinal – injury forfeit Aj Lafurge

152 – Randy Tommerup – 4th place

Round 1 – pinned by Aj Lafurge, CMR; Cons. Round 2 – pinned Noah Marcotte, CMR; Cons. Round 3 – pinned Ashton Grover, Lewistown, 3:24; Cons. Semifinal – won Andrew Anderson; 4th place – lost. maj. dec. Aj Lafurge, CMR, 18-1.

160 – Wyatt Hansen

Round 2 – pinned by Austin Vanek, Cut Bank; Cons. Round 2 – pinned Spencer Gibbs, Malta; Cons. Round 3 – pinned by Brendan Lockart, GF, 0:45.

HWT – Cole Adams

Round 1 – pinned Daven Hickman, CMR; Round 2 – pinned by Ethan DeRoche, GF; Cons. Round 3 – pinned by Jeremy Gallagher, Cut Bank.