It’s crunch time for the Powell Panther wrestlers.

Friday they take the first big step in their quest to regain the state championship they lost by a whisker last year when they take on the whole West Region at the Powell High School gym. At stake will be favorable seedings at the state meet next week.

For six seniors on the team, the tournament will also be their last chance to wrestle in their home gym, and they want it to be a success, not only individually but as a team.

“I just want to finish it out the right way,” said Jim Seckman, “by winning it myself and the team winning it.”

Seckman’s sentiment was shared by his teammates. While they didn’t say so directly, last week’s disappointing dual meet loss to Worland was providing motivation to wrestle harder this weekend.

“We’re looking forward to it,” said Jessee Craig. “Everybody’s ready to go.”

“My definite goal is to win,” defending state champion Colt Nix said. “I just want the team to be ready.”

Nix said he knows he faces a big challenge in his final matches if he wants to repeat as a champion.

“Going back to back will be tough because you have a target on your back, ” Nix said. “But I’m ready.”

Trevor Griffeth said the team is ready to go, but he and his teammates have to focus on wrestling well.

“We’ve got to do what we know,” Griffeth said, but he added, “We can’t let (the pressure) get to our heads.”

Danny Harris has competed in the regionals before, but this year it’s a little different for him. In past years, he has gone into the tournament as a non-scoring wrestler. This year, he’s the varsity entry, and will be counted on to score team points in the competition, a situation he is happy about.

“It feels pretty good (to be the varsity wrestler). It’s better than going in as the second string,” Harris said.

All six say they are happy they joined the wrestling program and say the experience was good for them.

Harris called his wrestling career a good experience and said, “I learned a lot about myself” during four years on the team.

Wrestling has helped him develop his work ethic, Wozney said, and that has benefitted him outside of the sport.

Both Seckman and Craig are entering this week’s competition determined to reach the top at state after finishing second last year, and both said wrestling has been a positive experience for them.

Like Seckman, Nix said wrestling was a love-hate relationship, but a good learning experience.

“It’s up and down,” Nix said. “But I learned stuff in wrestling that you can’t learn anywhere else. Overall, it’s been good.”

The six seniors will lead their team onto the mat at noon Friday (tomorrow) to begin the Panthers journey to another championship.