Clear, 40° F
Powell High School wrestling coach Nate Urbach is heading into the season with loads of experienced wrestlers and plenty of feisty youth. Urbach and assistant coaches Juston Carter and Nick Fulton …
This item is available in full to subscribers.
The Powell Tribune has expanded its online content. To continue reading, you will need to either log in to your subscriber account, or purchase a subscription.
If you are a current print subscriber, you can set up a free web account by clicking here.
If you already have a web account, but need to reset it, you can do so by clicking here.
If you would like to purchase a subscription click here.
Please log in to continue |
|
Powell High School wrestling coach Nate Urbach is heading into the season with loads of experienced wrestlers and plenty of feisty youth. Urbach and assistant coaches Juston Carter and Nick Fulton are going to have their hands full.
“It’s a big team for me. It’s the biggest team I’ve had — maybe ever,” Urbach said.
The Panthers are coming off a third-place finish at the Class 3A State Wrestling Championships in Casper last February. Thirty-three participants lined up in the campus wrestling room on Thursday to get instruction heading into their first tournament: a home invitational this coming Friday and Saturday.
The following day was certification, a process where the wrestlers are checked for body fat (to make sure they’re healthy) and to officially weigh in. Only then would Urbach know where he could place wrestlers in the lineup. He’s hoping to start the season off running with seven experienced seniors on the team — five of whom have previously medaled at the state tournament.
Returning seniors are: Michael Maddox (fifth place last year), Trevor Feller (fourth), Evan Habeck, Colt Nicholson (sixth a year ago), Corey Linebaugh (fourth), Colby Bennett and Bo Dearcorn (second). Two more underclassmen have medaled as well: juniors Emma Karhu and Seth Horton.
“I knew coming into the season I’d have good leadership,” Urbach said. “But we have a couple holes we’ve got to figure out where to put guys.”
He has one huge hole to fill: Senior and two-time defending 152-pound state champ Brody Karhu has decided to pass on his chance to be a three-time champ to compete in indoor track. Urbach hoped Karhu would wrestle at 160 this year.
With a slew of underclassmen eager to compete, Urbach hopes to improve on last year’s record, which included a second-place finish at the 3A West Regional. After two weeks of practice Urbach was encouraged heading into the season.
“We have a good outlook,” he said. “We have some really tough kids.”
The coach also expects there to be some surprises with such a deep team. The entire team practices well, including those new to the team, he said.
“You can do a lot with a good work ethic. Kids that work hard will improve quickly,” said Urbach, who’s in his 16th year as the Panthers’ head coach.
The Powell Invitational begins at 1 p.m. Friday and 9 a.m. Saturday in the PHS gymnasium.
