Panthers third in Missoula, Karst wins another title

Expectations heading into the Jug Beck Rocky Mountain Classic weren’t low, but they were practical.

The Powell High School wrestling team sought to test its meddle Friday and Saturday against some of the best competition in the western United States, and use the results as a guideline for improvement heading into the final half of the regular season.

Missoula delivered the challenges, as expected, and also a third-place finish, which wasn’t.

“To be honest, I really didn’t think we’d ever bring a trophy home from there,” PHS head coach Nate Urbach said.

The Panthers finished eighth in both 2014 and 2015, before placing third in the their third-ever visit to the 32-team invite.

Powell placed seven wrestlers in the top eight of their respective weight classes, and Powell tallied 161 team points, just four behind second-place Missoula Sentinel. Havre High School won for the second straight year with 193 points.

Chance Karst won Powell’s first ever individual title in Missoula, Montana, at 138 pounds. Zach Easum was the runner-up at 205, while Nic Urbach and Reese Karst finished third at 152 and 126 pounds, respectively. Tucker Darrah (160), Teagan Cordes (170) and Ty Dearcorn (182) all took fifth.

Coach Urbach said the previous week’s action at the Tom LeProwse in Bozeman, Montana, helped prepare the Panthers, both technically and mentally, for what awaited them in Missoula.

“It definitely helps to go to a Bozeman tournament. It’s just good competition, kids will naturally rise to it,” Nate Urbach said. “Coaches get a good opportunity to fix mistakes and kids get an opportunity to realize that they’re better.”

Chance Karst again swept through the competition, though his title didn’t come as easy as it did in Bozeman last week. The senior was the top seed entering the tournament, but was pushed as he kept his undefeated season alive.

Karst won the title bout with a 4-0 decision and needed a 10-5 decision to reach the semifinals. He won the first, second and semifinal rounds by pin.

Urbach said Karst, who was the runner-up at 132 points in 2015, has made a name for himself in the relatively small world of prep wrestling.

“He’s placed previously at the last two, so they knew who he was, definitely,” Urbach said.

Easum didn’t miss a beat as he returned to action after sitting out last week’s invite in Bozeman. The junior caught an elbow to his mouth during a practice leading up to Powell’s dual with Lander on Jan. 7. Coach Urbach said it moved Easum’s teeth back, preventing him from biting down, and from wrestling at Bozeman.

“I’m pretty confident he would have done well in Bozeman as well,” Urbach said. “He did a good job in the offseason lifting, and he’s gotten remarkably stronger and better.”

Easum won with four straight pins before losing an 8-0 decision to top-seeded Dylan Beeler of Clarkston, Washington, who is a two-time champion in Missoula.

Nic Urbach improved upon his fifth-place outing in Bozeman with a third-place finish in a crowded field of 152-pound wrestlers.

“(152) was loaded. There’s some national-level kids there,” Nate Urbach said. “To get third there was a good accomplishment, definitely.”

Nic Urbach won third place with a 9-6 decision against Noah Manibusan of Helena High School. Manibusan defeated  the PHS senior with a 8-6 decision in the consolation semifinals in Bozeman.

After losing in the 152-pound semis, Nic Urbach earned a pin in the consolation semis before taking down Manibusan.

“He really had a gutty performance coming back from a semifinal loss,” Nate Urbach said.

Reese Karst wasn’t seeded in the top eight, but the freshman continued to surprise even after an early defeat.

Reese Karst won six straight consolation bouts following a second-rout exit from the championship bracket.

“The Reese Karst that stepped out in the first round is not the same kid that wrestled for third and fourth,” Nate Urbach said. “You just watched him get better every round.”

Reese finished 7-1 with four pins, including in the third-place match.

Darrah’s performance at 160 pounds was a welcome sight after a disappointing tournament in Bozeman.

“He didn’t wrestle really well at Bozeman, certainly not to his potential,” Nate Urbach said.

Darrah turned it around with a strong start and reached the semifinals with a pin, 12-6 decision and 14-4 major decision, before being edged by Tommy McMillen, of Great Falls High School, by one point.

“He lost 7-6 to the eventual champ, and by far gave him the toughest match in the semifinals,” Nate Urbach said. “Vast improvement from the weekend before.”

Darrah won the fifth-place bout with a 9-2 decision and finished 4-2 at the tourney.

Cordes may have shown the greatest improvement in Missoula. The senior went 6-2 and took fifth place in one of the most competitive tournaments in the region.

“I was shocked, and I think he was shocked,” Nate Urbach said. “To get fifth at our toughest tournament was big. I talked to him and said, ‘You need to reevaluate your goals.’”

Coach Urbach said he’s seen Cordes make tremendous strides in just a few weeks’ time.

“The Teagan Cordes of the Rocky Mountain classic is heads and tails above the Teagan Cordes from the Powell Invite,” the coach said. “It’s great to see him finding his niche and figuring out what he can do.”

Dearcorn took perhaps the most difficult route to win fifth place at 182 pounds.

The junior was ousted from the championship bracket in the first round by top-seeded and eventual champion Jase Stokes of Havre, Montana. Dearcorn then won four straight matches — all by pin — before falling in the consolation semifinals. Dearcorn finished 5-2, and all of his wins came by way of fall, including in the fifth-place bout against No. 6 seed Hunter Sisemore of Clarkston.

Lacking against Laurel

The Panthers followed the weekend’s stellar outing with a lackluster performance in a home dual against Laurel, Montana, on Tuesday evening.

Powell won the dual 42-39 after falling behind 27-6, with the Panthers’ only points coming off a forfeit.

The first three Laurel wins came by way of fall, which frustrated Nate Urbach.

“I was really surprised at how we got pinned so many times,” he said. “That’s really, to be honest, not really acceptable.

“I don’t mind losing, I don’t deal with kids not lasting. They just need to make it a full, hard match.”

The heart of Powell’s lineup made a furious comeback with four consecutive pins from Chance Karst, Nic Urbach, Darrah and Cordes.

Dearcorn followed with a 15-0 technical fall victory.

Coach Urbach warned of the dangers of not getting a full team effort. The Panthers can’t rely on their stud senior class to bail them out against Wyoming’s top teams, or in the postseason tournaments.

“The middle of our lineup is going to be strong for us,” Nate Urbach said. “What the kids have to understand is, for us to compete for a title, they (all) have to be a part of that. They can’t watch. This performance, they watched us win.

“Star Valley is too good of a team for that to occur.”

Powell will see Star Valley, the top-ranked team in Class 3A, at the Lander Invite on Friday and Saturday.

But coach Urbach is confident the team won’t run into any effort-related issues this weekend.

“We’ll fix it. I’d rather have it here than at regionals or at state,” the coach said. “I can fix it here. In fact, I’m going to fix it in 10 minutes.”

The Panthers practiced following Tuesday night’s dual.