Thumbs up and congratulations to the “Big 3” Panther wrestlers on their amazing records at Powell High School.

Seniors Kye Catlin, Chance Karst and Nic Urbach wrapped up their high school wrestling careers after winning individual 3-A state wrestling championships in their weight classes again this year. Karst and Urbach additionally put their names into the PHS record books by recording 174 career wins.  

The trio led the PHS wrestling team to state championships in 2013, 2014 and 2015, and second place this year.

They each went to finals and to all-state honors during all four years of their high school wrestling careers.

Catlin won his fourth state championship on Feb. 27, only the 19th Wyoming high school wrestler to win a title in each of his four seasons.

Those accomplishments happened because of the wrestlers’ work ethics and supreme efforts, and their determination to overcome injuries and other challenges along the way.

We’re pleased that we may get to watch Catlin and Urbach begin their college wrestling careers, as they are considering wrestling for Northwest College. Karst is committed to Chadron State in Nebraska.

We congratulate all three on their accomplishments and wish them continued success at the college level.

Thumbs up to the first-ever Jackalope Jump in Powell, a fundraiser for Wyoming Special Olympics. Saturday’s event was well organized and well attended, and it raised nearly $7,500 — almost four times the $2,000 goal for the event. That’s an excellent local start for a great program.

We’re pleased that Powell will send an adult team to Special Olympics after going decades without one. This is a good way to develop and encourage athleticism and self confidence among people with developmental disabilities — thereby allowing them and their families to celebrate what they can accomplish.

Thumbs up to pleasant weather for the past several weeks, which has allowed local farmers to get a head start on spring planting. However, we give a simultaneous thumbs down to this winter’s decline in precipitation. While we’re happy to have the warm weather, we also need moisture from winter and spring storms to provide irrigation water and keep our forests and wildlife populations healthy.

We’ve been pleased to have fewer wildfires in the area during the last several summers, but we worry that insufficient snowfall in the mountains will result in an uptick of fire activity this summer. We hope to see some significant moisture during March, April and May, which typically are some of our wetter months.

Thumbs up to the recently completed PHSS Panther, a 30-foot scale model of a submarine created by art, CAD, woodworking, robotics and welding students at Powell High School, with help from PHS art teacher Jim Gilman and head custodian Mike Brooks. We congratulate the students and Gilman for the quality and design for the submarine, and for their commitment to complete the months-long project.

This is the most recent large-scale project completed by PHS students, and an impressive example of the ingenuity, craftsmanship and engineering skills that are encouraged by the strong PHS arts program and the unusual opportunities it provides.

Students in the program are fortunate to be able to participate in such quality, large-scale projects that add interest to the school environment and serve as inspiration for future students and projects.

Well done!