Kicking off the season on the road the Powell Panther girls’ wrestling team made the short trip to Cody to take part in a tournament on Friday and Saturday where they placed fifth and had two finalists.

Starting out Friday the Panthers were in pool play as Caydee Eden finished 3-1 at 100 pounds; Joriana Hine finished 3-1 at 110 pounds; Allison LeBlanc finished 3-0 at 110 pounds; Eleasah Horsley finished 2-1 at 115 pounds; River James went 1-2 at 115 pounds; Nalani Jordan went 3-1 at 140 pounds and Ellidi Joy went 1-2 at 170 pounds.

Following the pool play matches on Friday the Panthers were placed into brackets on Saturday, with two Panthers advancing to their respective championship bouts the first weekend of the year.

The first Panther finalist was LeBlanc, who made it to the final through a tough bracket but came up short in the final against Montana competition to finish the day 3-1.

“Allison had a tough bracket and she wrestled well this weekend. She got to see some tough Montana competition and faced a Lockwood wrestler in the finals,” coach David Holland said. “She battled through that match. Her opponent was tough on top but that was a good experience for her. I know that fired her up and that she is excited to get back to the practice room to work on the things that we need to improve on.”

The second finalist for the Panthers was Horsley, who nearly overcame a large deficit to get the victory but came up just short to finish the day 3-1.

“She went out there this weekend and was tough as nails,” Holland said. “She faced a tough opponent from Shoshoni and came back from a 13-2 deficit. She had her opponent on her back, but due to an injury timeout, her opponent got the save. She lost the decision, but also is very motivated to get back in the practice room.”

Powell had two more placers on Saturday in Cody, as Eden went 4-1 and placed third, alongside Jordan who went 3-1 and placed third in her bracket.

“Caydee wrestled very well this weekend, having nine total matches in two days and going 7-2 overall,” Holland said. “Nalani also wrestled well and lost a semifinals match that she had control of. She was upset after her loss, but I told her that sometimes it is good to get caught in those bad situations early in the season so that it doesn’t happen later on in the year, especially in bigger tournaments.”

The other three Panthers were unable to place in their matches, but Hine went 3-2, James went 1-2 and Joy went 0-2 in their respective brackets.

Overall as a team the Panthers finished fifth out of 18 teams with 74.5 points despite only having seven competitors, with Holland believing the Panthers will be scrappy regardless throughout the season.

“I feel like our team set the tone this season by coming out ready to go to battle,” Holland said. “We are scrappy and tough and we want people to know that even though we do not have a full team, when you face Powell you are going to have a tough match on your hands … I am very proud of the effort that the girls put in this weekend.”

Heading back on the road one more time before the winter break the Panthers will head over the mountains to Sheridan, taking part in the Sheridan Duals on Saturday.

“We are excited to face tough competition, as we will face some of the toughest schools in the state, including a girls’ team from Pennsylvania,” Holland said. “This will be a great experience for our ladies before we get into Christmas break.”