Splitting up the squad for the second weekend of action the Powell Panther varsity and girls’ wrestling team battled in the Pat Weede Memorial in Gillette while the Panther junior varsity team earned wins at the Battle in the Big Horns in Worland.

PAT WEEDE MEMORIAL

Heading to Gillette, the varsity squad got a lot of experience against top teams around Wyoming and the Rocky Mountain region in a dual tournament setting.

“It’s nice to go test yourself against those bigger schools and really talented schools,” coach Nick Fulton said.

The opening dual came between Bismarck Century out of North Dakota, who jumped on the Panthers early en route to a 60-18 scoreline.

Wins for Powell came from McKale Foley at 175 pounds via a one minute pin and Wyatt Nicholson at 106 pounds with a pin in 24 seconds. Doug Bettger earned the final points for Powell at 285 pounds via forfeit.

“They kind of jumped on us pretty bad, worse than I anticipated,” Fulton said. “I don’t know if we were flat but we turned around and beat a couple of teams that beat Bismarck Century. It’s interesting how matchups work in duals.”

In the second match the Panthers came up against 4A Thunder Basin, resulting in another difficult matchup and finishing with a 58-12 defeat.

In that match, Talon Nuss rotated in at 106 pounds and earned a 5-4 decision, Mitchel Wainscott earned a 12-7 decision at 165 pounds and Foley once again earned a pin (5:27).

The third match of the weekend came against another North Dakota team, this time against St. Mary’s where Powell fell 44-34.

After trailing 9-0, Dusty Carter earned a forfeit at 190 pounds before Jacob Eaton got a pin at 215 pounds (2:48) and Bettger got a pin at 285 pounds (4:39).

Swinging back to the lighter weights, St. Mary’s earned two straight pins before Gabriel Whiting got a pin at 120 pounds (1:18).

Tyler Wenzel got a major decision 11-0 at 126 pounds, before St. Mary’s got a forfeit at 132 pounds.

Wyatt Heffington got a pin at 138 pounds (3:12) before St. Mary’s got two straight pins followed by a technical fall 22-5 to finish the scoring.

Another matchup had the Panthers going against 4A Star Valley, with the Panthers falling to the Braves 51-21.

Star Valley got a 9-5 decision to start, before Carter earned a 6-5 decision at 190 pounds, Jimmy Dees got a forfeit at 215 and Bettger got a pin in 35 seconds to give Powell the lead.

A major decision followed at 106 in favor of Star Valley, before Chevy Hill earned a pin at 113 pounds (5:43).

That was the final victory for Powell, as the Braves scored 38 straight points to earn the 51-21 win.

Needing a win, Powell then matched up with the defending 2A state champions in Moorcroft.

Carter got a forfeit to get things started, but Moorcroft tied it with a pin.

Bettger got a 7-6 decision at 285, Nicholson won in 38 seconds at 106 and Hill earned a pin in 1:35.

“Kids were going the distance with really good kids and showed growth throughout the weekend,” Fulton said. “Bettger looked a lot better this weekend. He was more aggressive and forcing action while getting at guys. We have pretty high hopes for him.”

Moorcroft got a pin at 120, but Wenzel responded with a pin in 3:29.

The Wolves got a forfeit at 132 and a win at 138 before Patrick Haney earned a pin at 144 (5:29) and Jeremy Harms got a pin at 150 pounds in 56 seconds.

Moorcroft followed with a decision at 157, a forfeit at 165 and a sudden victory at 175 pounds to make the final score 39-36 in favor of Powell.

That victory spurred confidence heading into a matchup with Sheridan, with Hill getting things started with a pin in 33 seconds.

Sheridan answered with a pin, decision and forfeit to make it 15-6.

Heffington got a pin at 138 (1:00), but Sheridan got a decision at 144 to make it 18-12.

Harms earned a pin at 150 (2:25) before Sheridan won four straight with a major decision, two forfeits and a pin to make it 40-18.

Dees earned a pin at 215 (1:12), Bettger got a pin at 285 (1:27) before Nuss got a forfeit at 106 to make the final score 40-36.

“We were in a dogfight with Sheridan and I was scratching my head wishing we had even one more person in the lineup,” Fulton said.

Another match came against Sidney, Montana, as Powell started strong with a Nicholson pin in 23 seconds and two straight forfeits to make it 18-0 early.

Sidney answered with three pins and a forfeit to make it 24-18.

Harms got a pin in 36 seconds, but Sidney answered again with a pin and forfeit.

Those were the final points for Sidney, as Foley got a forfeit, followed by pins from Carter (3:19), Eaton (:34) and Bettger (1:52) to give Powell the 48-36 victory.

One final matchup came against Moorcroft again, with the Wolves earning the victory the second time around.

Carter earned a pin in 43 seconds, Dees earned a pin in 56 seconds, Nuss earned a 5-0 decision, Hill earned a pin (1:51) and Whiting earned a pin in 52 seconds as the scorers from Powell outside a Harms forfeit victory.

For the girls, the Panthers wrestled in four matches in Gillette.

Angelina Bontadelli led the way and placed second after going 3-1, earning three pins in the 144-149 pound class.

Nalani Jordan went 2-2 in the 129-134 pound weight class; Abigail LeBlanc went 2-2 at 112-115 pounds; Eleasah Horsley went 2-2 at 107-113 pounds; Allison LeBlanc went 2-2 at 102-110 pounds; River James went 1-3 at 118-120 pounds; Caydee Eden went 1-3 at 96-105 pounds and Kaprina Haney went 0-4 at 134-140 pounds.

“They showed huge growth in a weeks’ time,” Fulton said. “The matches I did see they cleaned up their technique a bit. On Friday night I reminded them they are still learning, outside of Allison they don’t have a lot of experience. It’s amazing to see their growth from one week to the next.”

JV IN WORLAND

Another dual setting greeted the Panther junior varsity team in Worland at the Battle in the Big Horns.

Powell opened and fell to Torrington 53-12 before defeating Greybull-Riverside 36-27.

The Panthers then lost to Glenrock 51-24 and Pinedale 66-12 on Friday.

Heading into Saturday, Powell defeated Shoshoni 42-30, Newcastle 48-18 and Rocky Mountain 40-27 to finish the weekend with a 4-3 record against varsity teams.

“Had kind of a rough first day but turned around and won all three the second day,” Fulton said. “That’s pretty outstanding when you are sending a lot of freshmen and sophomores and they are winning varsity duals.”

HOME DUAL TONIGHT

Powell is not done before the winter break, with a dual against Greybull-Riverside originally scheduled for February being moved up to this week.

That dual will take place Tuesday (tonight) at 6 p.m. at Powell High School, before the Panthers take a break from competition before returning in January.

“I’m going to wrestle some of my younger guys and some of my varsity guys,” Fulton said. “It’ll be good to get some of those younger guys in front of the home crowd under the light. That’s important to build them for the future. I expect us to compete and wrestle hard and be more aggressive in the first period.”