A true team effort led the Powell Panther boys’ wrestling team back to the top of the 3A world for the first time in a decade, as the Panthers placed 11 wrestlers, including one champion, scored 227 points and brought home their first wrestling title since 2015.

“I’m just really happy for these kids, they’ve worked really hard,” coach Nick Fulton said. “First and foremost I’m just glad they got one … Powell wrestling is something special and we’re just lucky to be part of it.”

CHAMPIONSHIP WIN

The lone winner for the Panthers was Doug Bettger, who rolled through the competition at 285 pounds to claim the title.

He capped off a dominant 42-4 season with four straight pins, as no match went longer than two periods, including a pin in just 1 minute, 10 seconds, in the final over Douglas’ Devlyn Cowan.

“My mentality was always going out for the pin,” Bettger said. “I knew what I was capable of and what I had to do to achieve it.”

RUNNERS UP

The Panthers boasted a number of second place finishes at the state tournament, with four other finalists battling for a title on Saturday.

Powell earned some big victories in its eight semifinal matches on Friday, coupled with a ton of consolation bracket wins as the Panthers grew their lead heading into Saturday.

Wyatt Nicholson was the first Panther to wrestle in a final Saturday at 113 pounds after winning his quarterfinal match in 21 seconds and earning a 13-10 decision in the semifinal to reach the championship bout.

A close match in the final against Wheatland’s Grady Bohlander resulted in a 4-3 loss, but capped off a strong finish to the season for Nicholson that included a regional title.

The next finalist for Powell was McKale Foley, who had a dominant weekend at 165 pounds, winning his first two matches with first period pins before a third period pin over Torrington’s Kaden Romig advanced to the final.

By the time Foley had stepped on the mat the Panthers had locked up the team title. They built a significant lead over Cody, which was second at the time, and when the Broncs lost their first championship bout at 126 pounds, Powell’s title was secure.

Foley fell via pin to Pinedale’s Landon Fornstrom in 1:36, but finished with a 40-14 season for the Panthers.

The third runner up for the Panthers was Mitchel Wainscott at 175 pounds, who won his first two matches via pins, before a 21-5 tech fall in the semifinals to reach the championship bout.

Wainscott fell short in the final via an 11-2 major decision to Pinedale’s Garrett Haley.

“The finals didn’t go the way I wanted to, but there’s so much more to be proud of,” Wainscott said. “I was probably the worst freshman ever, and I just put in endless hours. I thought I had a pretty good weekend. Even in the state finals I thought I wrestled tough but he’s a good kid. He’s very deserving.”

The final second place finisher for Powell was Jacob Eaton at 215 pounds, who picked up quick wins in his first two matches, before a late takedown and four point near-fall helped him squeeze past Cody’s Anker Stewart 11-9 to advance to the championship bout.

“Every win on Friday is a big win, you go from the blood rounds and getting in the medal matches and then the semis, it’s a bit of a roller coaster,” Fulton said. “[We] dropped a couple close ones, but then won a couple great ones.”

Eaton lost in the final to Lyman’s Max Gregory via pin (4:39), but still helped the Panthers earn the team title, while Pinedale finished 6-0 to squeeze past Cody into second place.

ADDITIONAL MEDALISTS

Powell put together a strong performance in the consolation rounds on
Friday and placement rounds on
Saturday, leading every step of the way in the team standings.

Third place finishers included Talon Nuss at 106 pounds, Chevy Hill at 120 pounds and Dusty Carter at 190, as all three of those athletes rebounded from semifinal losses, winning two on Saturday to claim the third spot at their respective weights.

“Obviously the goal is always to be in that finals match,” Carter said. “But you know, if you lose and you gotta wrestle through the backside, everyone matters on the team. That’s what Fulton preached. I think a lot of us seniors were preaching to the younger people that maybe got kicked out on the backside of the bracket just to wrestle through and get as many team points as we can.”

The lone fourth place finisher for the Panthers was Denton Wainscott, who battled back from a first round loss to the eventual champion at 215 pounds, winning four straight before losing in the third place match.

Two fifth placers rounded out the medalists for the Panthers, as Tyler Wenzel also battled back from an opening round loss to the eventual champion at 132 pounds to finish 4-2 and take fifth, while Cody Seifert bounced back from a quarterfinal loss, winning three of his final four at 157 to place fifth.

“We lengthened the lead every day. I don’t think we were ever trailing in the tournament, and that’s a mark of a good group of individuals top to bottom,” Fulton said.

On Saturday the Panthers only lost one of their medalist matches prior to the championship bouts, allowing for Powell to hold a comfortable lead over the remaining teams.

“It put us on a wave and we were just running away in the team scores,” Carter said.

GAINING EXPERIENCE

At the state tournament the Panthers also had Dylan DeBoer go 2-2 at 126; Broc Frank go 2-2 at 138; Chase Visocky go 2-2 at 144; Channing Wenzel go 1-2 at 120; Sean Lowe go 1-2 at 126; Kash Brazelton go 1-2 at 138; Reese Lowe go 1-2 at 150; James Emmett go 1-2 at 285 and Michael Legerski go 0-2 at 165.

STRONG SENIOR CLASS, TEAM BOND

Throughout the season the Panthers have had a strong bond both on and off the mat, led in part by a 16-strong senior class to help push the Panthers to their limit.

“We’re just such a tight knit team,” Wainscott said. “We’re all friends and we all hang out outside of school … We’ve all had each other’s backs and are wrestling for more than just ourselves, wrestling for our brothers out there.”

Fulton said that this senior class has been special for the Panthers as they didn’t come into the program with the most talent, learning through difficult times to reach the peak.

“It didn’t come easy for these guys,” Fulton said. “I think that’s kind of why they performed so well, because they had to learn the hard way, and they learned together, and that’s a hell of a group to stay together. They wrestle a lot for each other, but they wrestle for themselves as well.”

TEAM TITLE

Fulton said that this title could not have come without a strong team both on and off the mat, including his two assistant coaches Juston Carter and Cody Kalberer.

“Juston and Cody, they’re the glue of this and they make good relationships with kids,” Fulton said. “They coach their hearts out, they are without a doubt the two best assistant coaches in the state. They’re amazing individuals.”

While only having the one state champion coming home, Fulton said the Panthers are ready to celebrate as a team, before preparing to move forward with a couple returning medalists and a ton of youth coming into the program.

“We’re gonna celebrate this tonight (Saturday). We’ll go back to work again tomorrow. We graduate a lot of guys, but we’ve got a lot of guys coming in and we’ve got a lot of experience on that team,” Fulton said. “They did a great job setting the program up for continuing this program’s excellence.”

He added that the team knows it took a full effort, as 29 of the 69 matches for the Panthers were won by pin.

“We’re bringing home a team full of state champs. Which is amazing, 24 of us can ride that bus home as state champs,” Fulton said.

STATE CHAMPIONSHIP RESULTS

Weight class in ()

Team scores — 1. Powell 227, 2. Pinedale 200, 3. Cody 198.5, 4. Torrington 137, 5. Rawlins 134.5, 6. Lander 107.5, 7. Douglas 105, 8. Lyman 103, 9. Glenrock 89, 10. Lovell 72, 11. Wheatland 70.5, 12. Mountain View 64.5, 13. Buffalo 59.5, 14. Burns/Pine Bluffs 56.5, 15. Worland 53, 16. Newcastle 20.5

Talon Nuss (106) — Nuss def. Wesley Morris (Buffalo) via pin, 1:13; Treyson Henderson (Lyman) def. Nuss via 10-6 decision; Nuss def. Lane Holt (Douglas) via 17-0 tech fall; Nuss def. Bobby Hernandez (Cody) via 4-3 decision

Wyatt Nicholson (113) — Nicholson def. Lathan Reiman-Villamore (Wheatland) via pin, :21; Nicholson def. Teague Duncan (Buffalo) via 13-10 decision; Grady Bohlander (Wheatland) def. Nicholson via 4-3 decision

Chevy Hill (120) — Hill def. Troy Christensen (Newcastle) via pin, 1:04; Hill def. Greg Vrooman (Douglas) via 17-1 tech fall; Brody Allen (Glenrock) def. Hill via pin, 2:32; Hill def. Tyler Nicolay (Torrington) via pin, 1:55; Hill def. Henry Quiver (Lander) via 8-3 decision

Channing Wenzel (120) — Jacob Jewell (Worland) def. Wenzel via 10-1 major decision; Wenzel def. Garrett Redden (Mountain View) via 12-2 major decision; Greg Vrooman (Douglas) def. Wenzel via 13-5 major decision

Dylan DeBoer (126) — DeBoer def. Wes Holman (Glenrock) via medical forfeit; Gabriel Trujillo (Rawlins) def. DeBoer via pin, 4:32; DeBoer def. Jasper Allen (Lyman) via major decision 14-4; Ivan Garcia (Rawlins) def. DeBoer via pin, :58

Sean Lowe (126) — Colin McWilliams (Lander) def. Lowe via pin, 1:11; Lowe def. Cayson Phillips (Newcastle) via pin, 2:53; Ivan Garcia (Rawlins) def. Sean Lowe via pin, 4:15

Tyler Wenzel (132) — Wylee Willson (Pinedale) def. Wenzel via pin, 1:49; Wenzel def. Andrew Schrader (Douglas) via pin, 3:51; Wenzel def. Nate Johnson (Worland) via pin, 4:52; Wenzel def. Zayden Stahl (Lovell) via pin, 4:19; Dino De La Cruz (Lovell) def. Wenzel via 6-2 decision; Wenzel def. Cooper Meyer (Wheatland) via 8-5 sudden victory

Broc Frank (138) — Frank def. Jaxon Tillotson (Lyman) via pin, 1:02; Barrett Eichenberger (Torrington) def. Frank via pin, 1:53; Frank def. Kash Brazelton via pin, 4:01; Scott Larson (Newcastle) via pin, :46

Kash Brazelton (138) — Octaveas McGahan (Douglas) def. Brazelton via pin, 1:07; Brazelton def. Kristian Martin (Glenrock) via pin, 1:22; Frank def. Brazelton via pin, 4:01

Chase Visocky (144) — Visocky def. Talon Burton (Lovell) via pin, 1:58; Waylon Milnes (Wheatland) def. Visocky via 10-0 major decision; Visocky def. Porter Kemp (Pinedale) via pin, 3:40; Gabe Grant (Cody) def. Visocky via 4-3 decision

Reese Lowe (150) — Lowe def. Branden Strong via pin, 3:24; Colby Sandusky (Torrington) def. Lowe via pin, 5:44; Cash Platts def. Lowe via 9-4 decision

Cody Seifert (157) — Seifert def. Colter Tims (Mountain View) via 18-0 tech fall; Brendan Woodard (Torrington) def. Seifert via pin, 3:13; Seifert def. Benaiah Potter (Cody) 1:35; Seifert def. Jayce Joss (Douglas) via pin, 1:00; Cody West (Lander) def. Seifert via pin, 1:49; Seifert def. Colter Tims (Mountain View) via 16-0 tech fall

Michael Legerski (165) — Alex Sitz (Cody) def. Legerski via pin, 1:27; Riggs Reeves (Mountain View) def. Legerski via 10-1 major decision

McKale Foley (165) — Foley def. Israel Robertson (Cody) via pin, 1:47; Foley def. Hunter Massie (Torrington) via pin, :37; Foley def. Kaden Romig (Torrington) via pin, 5:05; Landon Fornstrom (Pinedale) def. Foley via pin, 1:36

Mitchel Wainscott (175) — Wainscott def. Jackson Boggs (Douglas) via pin, 1:13; Wainscott def. Brandt Eichenberger (Torrington) via pin, 2:34; Wainscott def. Levi Jones (Mountain View) via 21-5 tech fall; Garrett Haley (Pinedale) def. Wainscott via 11-2 major decision

Dusty Carter (190) — Carter def. Boston Busskohl (Lyman) via pin, 2:21; Carter def. David Ibarra (Torrington) via 10-5 decision; Cale Dauwen (Pinedale) def. Carter via 13-9 decision; Carter def. Brady Calmes (Glenrock) via 15-0 tech fall; Carter def. Kasey Jordan (Lovell) via 17-7 major decision

Denton Wainscott (215) — Max Gregory (Lyman) def. Wainscott via pin, 3:38; Wainscott def. Adan Rodriguez via forfeit; Wainscott def. Ayden Underwood (Douglas) via 4-0 decision; Wainscott def. Case Barrett (Glenrock) via pin, 2:41; Wainscott def. Moses Lopez via 7-0 decision; Anker Stewart (Cody) def. Wainscott via pin, 3:58

Jacob Eaton (215) — Eaton def. Oliver Hares (Burns/Pine Bluffs) via pin, :28; Eaton def. Ayden Underwood (Douglas) via pin, 2:36; Eaton def. Anker Stewart (Cody) via 11-9 decision; Max Gregory (Lyman) def. Eaton via pin, 4:39

Doug Bettger (285) — Bettger def. Cash McCann (Pinedale) via pin, 2:35; Bettger def. Gage Gromman (Burns/Pine Bluffs) via pin, :14; Bettger def. Lucas Peterson (Rawlins) via pin, 1:20; Bettger def. Devlyn Cowan (Douglas) via pin, 1:10

James Emmett (285) — Wyatt Barton (Cody) def. Emmett via pin, 1:09; Emmett def. Gene Hershley via 5-0 decision; Mason Tims (Mountain View) def. Emmett via pin, :21