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Hi-Line Athlete Profile: Riley Pleninger, Havre High wrestling

Twin Riley Pleninger looking to leave his own mark on Havre High wrestling in his final season

As winter arrives in Havre, so, too, does the new season for the Havre High wrestling team. Many seniors will hit the mats for the last time this winter, including Riley Pleninger. As he heads into his final season with the Blue Ponies, he is just happy to get to compete one last time.

"(I look forward to) that final push towards divisionals and state," Pleninger said. "Just one last time to hang out with all my friends and put in all the work."

Pleninger has had a strong career for the Ponies. In the 2020 state championship, he placed third as he wrestled in the 120-pound weight class. In 2021, he placed fourth in the 138-pound weight class at the Eastern A Divisionals.

Pleninger credits growing up in a wrestling family for helping him become the wrestler he is today. His older brothers Logan and Cameron started wrestling so he and his twin brother, Kendall, knew he had to be at the top of his game to compete in the family.

"It taught us to get tough quickly because we all get bullied by our older brother," Pleninger said.

Pleninger and his brother have made sure to maximize their final year at Havre High as they played football for the first time this past fall. In his lone year playing football, Pleninger felt like wrestling had already prepared him how to tackle.

Pleninger will begin his final wrestling season this Friday when the Ponies host the Havre Invite where they will compete against other schools such as Lewistown, Cut Bank, Big Sandy, Chinook, Malta and CJI. After a season where the Ponies had to wrestle in duals without full attendance, Pleninger is looking forward to a more normal season starting this weekend.

"Having a full gym is going to be nice," Pleninger said, "having an actual tournament, because last year was just a dual season so it should be pretty fun."

While he does not know where yet, Pleninger plans on going to college to get an engineering degree. Before then, he will make the most of his last time on the mats for the Ponies. Before he gets his final year started this weekend with the Havre Invite, the Havre Daily News got the chance to ask him five questions.

HDN: What's it like competing on the same wrestling and football teams as your twin brother?

Pleninger: "It's always cool when you have your twin brother to play with because you always get to compete with him. I always want to do better and so it's always a competition between us two."

HDN: What's it like growing up as a twin?

Pleninger: "It's always fun having someone to pick on and someone to pick on you. You always have a friend pretty much."

HDN: What do you love the most about wrestling?

Pleninger: "The competitiveness of the sport. You always get a workout with all your buddies, and it's just fun wrestling."

HDN: What have you learned from wrestling?

Pleninger: "You just learn a lot of stuff about your own character, all about your teammates and your friends. You really learn a lot about yourself and how much you can endure and stuff like that. Just a lot of personal stuff."

HDN: You were named honorable mention all-conference for your season at cornerback this past fall. What does it mean to earn that honor in your first and only season of football?

Pleninger: "I feel really blessed that they thought of me for that position, especially for my first year, so I was very happy."

 

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