Returning home for a rivalry dual the Powell Panther wrestling team came up short against the Cody Broncs, wrapping up the regular season with a 49-24 loss on Thursday.

CODY 49, POWELL 24

Starting at the heaviest weight, the Panthers fell behind early when Jonathan Harms was pinned at the 2:45 mark to give the visitors a 6-0 lead.

Powell captured the lead after Talon Nuss got a forfeit at 106 pounds and Chevy Hill earned an 11-4 win at 113 pounds to give Powell a 9-6 advantage.

“Chevy wrestled really well, really gutty performance,” coach Nick Fulton said. “He was in some difficult positions during that match and came out on top of those.”

Then the visitors got rolling.

Braxton Batt was pinned at the 3:55 mark at 120 pounds, Tyler Wenzel was pinned in 2:48 at 126 pounds, Broc Frank was pinned in 58 seconds at 132 pounds and Wyatt Heffington was pinned in 2:58 at 138 pounds to make it 30-9 in favor of the Broncs.

“At those weights they are the best in the state. I knew those would be uphill battles for us but we competed well in those. We just didn’t come out on the winning end,” Fulton said.

Powell got back on track at 144 pounds when Patrick Haney used consistent scoring to earn a 6-2 win and make it 30-12.

“They had bumped up their traditional 138-pounder,” Fulton said. “Patrick stayed really smart … Wrestled a really smart match and that was a really good win. The state hasn’t seen the best Patrick Haney yet.”

Cody earned more victories when Jeremy Harms was pinned in 2:54 at 150 pounds, Mitchel Wainscott lost a difficult 7-2 decision at 157 pounds and McKale Foley lost a 13-3 major decision at 165 pounds to extend the lead to 43-12.

One of the matches of the night came at 175 pounds, with Dusty Carter holding a 3-2 scoreline after the first two periods.

Carter was nearly pinned, but reversed his opponent and earned a pin at the 4:50 mark to make it 43-18.

“Kid tossed Dusty to his back but give credit to Dusty, he’s got the heart of a lion,” Fulton said.

Powell was open at 190 pounds before Jimmy Dees earned a quick 27 second victory at 215 pounds to end the night and make the final score 49-24.

“There were 50/50 matches we didn’t come out winning and it was a lot of 50/50 positions it didn’t feel like we were winning. You can’t have that when you’re wrestling a talented opponent,” Fulton said.

REGIONAL TOURNAMENT

Starting postseason action the Panthers will head on the road to Riverton for the 3A West Regional on Friday and Saturday.

That tournament will feature some of the top talent in the state for the boys and girls, with the latter competing in their first state qualifiers after a regional tournament did not exist last year in the first year of girls’ wrestling.

The West will feature four of the top five finishing teams from last year’s state tournament for both the boys and girls, as the Panthers expect to be in the mix.

“From our perspective that’s a good thing,” Fulton said. “That means we can’t have a down week, we have to stay sharp mentally and keep our focus throughout this week and get ready for a tough tournament.”

On the boys’ side there will be nine in attendance and there will be 26 teams on the girls side as all classes are combined in the second year of wrestling in the state.

First round matchups for the regional tournament were not released as of press time.