Continuing to wrestle through the summer, the Powell High School wrestling team made its way down to Gunnison, Colorado, on June 15-18 to take part in a dual camp at Western Colorado University — returning home with a 12-2 record.

“We wrestled really well,” coach Nick Fulton said. “We got to see some teams that we’ve never seen before.”

A majority of the schools in attendance were from Colorado, but the camp also featured teams from Texas, New Mexico and Arizona while the Panthers were the sole Wyoming school in attendance.

The camp was set up in a dual setting, allowing teams to run full lineups and compete over the four day camp.

“It wasn’t a typical summer camp,” Fulton said. “They had weigh-ins and kept track of team scores … it was basically a dual tournament.”

The Panthers rolled through the competition early, winning their first 12 matches while having four weights open.

The first loss for Powell came in a close battle with Broomfield High School, a Class 4A school in Colorado, along with Cedaredge High School, one of the top 2A programs in Colorado this past season.

“They were both pretty tough Colorado schools,” Fulton said. 

The athletes in attendance included incoming freshmen Braxton Batt at 113 pounds and Jonathan Hine at 120 pounds.

Returning sophomore Gabe Whiting was bumped up to 126 while the Panthers were open at 132 and 138 pounds.

Incoming juniors Drake Heintz, Kash Brazelton, Chase Visocky and Mitchel Wainscott competed at 144, 150, 157 and 165 pounds respectively.

“He [Wainscott] had a great camp and went 11-3,” Fulton said. “He’s been working out all summer and is better than he was all season.”

McKale Foley was back on the mat at 175 pounds after missing the 2022-23 season for the Panthers.

“He was injured all year, got better every match and had a good camp,” Fulton said.

The lone senior was Merced Jordan-Silva at 190 pounds.

At the upper weights, Powell had a duo of juniors with Dusty Carter and Denton Wainscott competing at 215 pounds and juniors Jacob Eaton and Doug Bettger competing at 285 pounds.

“They didn’t know who they were wrestling next, and went out and competed well,” Fulton said.

He was pleased with the kids he was able to get out to the mat for the camp, continuing to preach the importance of summer training.

“I always preach to the kids that a workout or match in the summer is worth two in the winter,” Fulton said.

He also said that being able to take young athletes, including incoming freshmen, is a testament to the program that the Panthers are building from the ground up, with strong coaching at the Powell Middle School and USA Youth Wrestling programs helping produce wrestlers always ready to compete.

The high school wrestling team will continue to hold open mats throughout the summer, while Fulton encourages his athletes to go out and participate in multiple sports throughout the year.

“I always encourage them to play football. Coach [Chase] Kistler does a great job with them,” Fulton said. “I’m always a fan of multisport athletes.”

Fulton said the team was able to go with the help of the PHS parent wrestling group that paid for gas to go down for the camp. Club Dauntless also provided a free van for use.