PHS derails Locomotives

Posted 12/18/08

Urbach also praised the entire team for its intensity against the Locomotives in Tuesday's dual meet, which came on the heels of the Panthers' road trip to South Dakota for the Rapid City Invitational. That two-day tournament concluded early …

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PHS derails Locomotives

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{gallery}12_18_08/trevordonarski{/gallery}Powell High School's Trevor Donarski (left) battles Locomotive 152-pound entry Easton Padden Tuesday night. Donarski won the bout 16-1. Tribune photo by David DickeyPanthers win 11 of 14 matches Wrestling in their first dual meet at home this season, top-ranked Powell High School overpowered Laurel (Mont.) 60-15 Tuesday night. Particularly satisfying, according to PHS head coach Nate Urbach, was the Panthers' performances in the upper weight classes. “Our big guys did a really nice job,” Urbach said shortly after the conclusion of Tuesday's competition. “For us to challenge for the state title this season, our bigger guys need to step it up, and they did that tonight. That was huge for us, and it was nice to see that.”

Urbach also praised the entire team for its intensity against the Locomotives in Tuesday's dual meet, which came on the heels of the Panthers' road trip to South Dakota for the Rapid City Invitational. That two-day tournament concluded early Saturday afternoon, but due to poor travel conditions, the team did not get back to Powell until Sunday.

“That was a long week,” Urbach said. “I was worried about fatigue being a factor tonight because of that, but the guys looked good.”

Tuesday's wrestling began with the bout for the 112-pound entries, and PHS senior Ren Utter registered a pin against junior Shelby Kramer at the 2:36 mark.

PHS freshman Olie Olson, who began the season in style Dec. 5-6 with a first-place finish at the Powell Roundtable Invitational, kept the momentum rolling in the Panthers' favor in the 119-pound weight class. Olson built a 6-0 lead after two periods against Ryan Salacinski and went on to win the bout by a 12-2 score for a major decision.

In the bout at 125, ninth-grader Zach Thiel registered a pin at the 3:55 mark against Austin Cannon to put the Panthers ahead 16-0.

PHS suffered its first setback of the night in the 130-pound weight class when Laurel's Tommy Cooper posted a 10-4 decision over sophomore Colt Nix.

The Locomotives also encountered success at 135 when Dylan Kramer pinned PHS freshman Randy Andrews with 22 seconds left in the second period.

Senior Corey Eden, however, put the Panthers back on track during the matchup at 140. Eden faced junior Cole Perrigo and quickly staked a 4-1 advantage by the end of the first period. He led by two points after two periods and finished with a 6-2 decision to his credit.

As expected, the Panthers were solid in the bouts at 145, 152 and 160. At 145, junior and two-time state champion Auston Carter recorded a win by fall against Ryan Gosselin. Carter established an 11-3 lead during the first period and was comfortably ahead during the second period when he pinned the Laurel freshman. His effort put PHS ahead 25-9.

Panther senior and 152-pounder Trevor Donarski then powered his way to a 10-1, first-period lead against Easton Padden. Donarski put the finishing touches on the bout against the Laurel senior during the second period and won by a 16-1 margin for a technical fall.

At the 3:27 mark in the 160-pound bout, PHS senior Cody Kalberer pinned his opponent, Jeff Marstaeller. In that matchup, Kalberer carried a commanding 9-3 lead into the final period.

Following Kalberer's victory, the Panthers led 36-9 and registered four more victories by pins. PHS junior Monte Nickles sparked the already charged-up Panthers by pinning Laurel's Seth Marshall just 50 seconds into the bout at 171.

Panther senior Tyler Showalter brought the majority of the Panther faithful to their feet shortly after Nickles' impressive victory by pinning Seth Marshall just 25 seconds into the bout at 189.

C.J. Simon, wrestling at 215 for PHS, kept the series of Panther pins intact during his matchup against Roy Voss. Simon, a senior, battled to an 8-8 tie with Voss after two periods before ending the hard-fought bout with a pin at the 4:11 mark.

In the 275-pound weight class, PHS sophomore Trevor Griffeth recorded the fastest victory of the night when he pinned junior Joel Torres in a mere 18 seconds.

That bout was followed by the matchup at 103, where PHS's Bodie Friday lost when he was pinned at the 50-second mark by Kolter Kukes.

The dual meet ended with an exhibition match between PHS's Cole Kary and Laurel's Tim Kuehn. Kary won the bout by a pin with 12 seconds left in the second period.

• Up next: The Panthers will be on the road again later this week for the Worland Dual Tournament. That event will begin Friday with a 1 p.m. start. Saturday's action is slated to begin at 8 a.m.

“There will be quite a few good teams there,” Urbach said. “It will definitely be another good test for our guys.”

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