Competing against Montana to begin 2023 has been beneficial for the Powell High School wrestling team, which wrapped up its competition up north this past weekend at the Jug Beck Rocky Mountain Classic in Missoula.

Coming up against 32 other teams from Montana, Idaho, Wyoming and Washington, the Panthers finished 14th with 90 points earned over the two day competition.

“We wrestled well,” coach Nick Fulton said. “We were in the top 10 all day Friday and most of the day Saturday.”

Leading the way for Powell was Gabriel Whiting (22-8), who won three matches and advanced to the semifinals at 103 pounds before losing to Makael Aguayo (21-2) of Billings West.

Whiting then lost the consolation semifinal before rebounding with an 8-2 victory in the fifth place match.

Jimmy Dees (20-7) also produced a strong weekend for the Panthers at 182 pounds, winning two matches and advancing to the quarterfinals before losing a 6-0 decision to Kale VanCampen (4-1) from Havre, Montana.

“Jimmy had a good weekend,” Fulton said. “He performed well. Had a really gutty performance in the consolation round. He had to come back and win, he cleared bottom, got an escape and got a takedown to secure the win. That’s really good moving forward knowing he can win those tight matches.”

Dees rebounded and won two consecutive matches before falling in the consolation semifinal.

He rebounded in the fifth place match, earning a pin in under a minute over Brandon Role (20-7) to take home a second top five finish for the Panthers.

Stetson Davis (24-4) made his way to the semifinals at 205 pounds, before losing a 9-0 major decision to Brendan Lockart (5-0).

Davis competed in the semifinals on Saturday despite suffering an injury in the quarterfinals on Friday, but medically forfeited the consolation semifinal and fifth place match.

“He tried to see how it would hold up in the semifinals, it wasn’t smart for us to wrestle him back through,” Fulton said.

Doug Bettger (14-6) also earned a place for the Panthers at 285 pounds, advancing to the quarterfinals before losing to Talon Marsh (25-1) but battled to the seventh place match and earned an overtime victory to earn the placement.

Weston Thomas (13-10) was   the Panthers final placer, also advancing to the quarterfinals before losing to Mason Gutenberger (20-2).

“He had a really tough match in the blood round,” Fulton said, referring to the last round before the top eight. “He was down 3-1 late, his opponent was stalling. He cleared bottom, got a stall call and then with 14 seconds left got a good shot and came back to win 4-3.”

He battled back to the seventh place match before falling to a pin in the second round to Kade Wallace (17-10).

Other athletes for the Panthers included Vinny Timmons (7-4) who went 2-2 at 132 pounds; Lannon Brazelton (3-2) who finished 2-2 at 170 pounds; Jack Van Norman (2-2) went 2-2 at 152 pounds; Drew Valdez (1-2) finished 1-2 at 145 pounds; Tyler Wenzel (0-2) went 0-2 at 113 pounds and Wyatt Heffington (0-2) finished 0-2 at 138 pounds.

“That’s the epitome of why we go up there,” Fulton said. “These kids have tough matches where they have to come back against good kids, it gives a world of confidence for these kids going forward.”

WYOMING COMPETITION

Powell returns to Wyoming, and primarily 3A competition this weekend heading south to kick off with a dual Thursday night against Worland at 6 p.m.

“It’s a big dual for us on Thursday night,” Fulton said. “It’s always a hostile environment for us and they wrestle well at home. I glanced at it on paper and it’s a pretty evenly matched dual.”

A quick turnaround after the dual on Thursday night will have the Panthers heading to Lander on Friday and Saturday, with Powell getting a good gauge of where the team stands as most 3A competition is expected to be at the tournament.