Northwest also climbs in first poll of 2012

The Powell Panthers climbed atop the latest statewide 3A wrestling poll in rankings released this week by Wyowrestling.com. Powell had trailed Douglas in the previous poll.

The Bearcats slid from first to third, however. Worland climbs into the No. 2 position formerly occupied by Powell. Star Valley, Lander and Torrington round out the top six.

Powell returns to action Thursday with duals against Billings Skyview and Billings Senior. The duals take place at Senior. From there, the team will travel to Bozeman for a Friday-Saturday tournament.

On the junior college side, Northwest College also moved up one spot in the latest JUCO rankings. The Trappers will carry a No. 7 ranking when they open the 2012 portion of their campaign at the National Duals in Springfield, Ill., this weekend.

The Trappers will open that event against the co-No. 4 team in the country, Lincoln. That dual will take place Saturday at 7 p.m. From there, they’ll take on either top-ranked Iowa Central or No. 20 Rend Lake. No. 2 Clackamas, No. 3 Labette, No. 11 Harper and No. 15 Muskegon round out the eight-team field.

Individually, Keithen Cast continues to hold down the No. 1 ranking at 174 pounds while several other Trapper grapplers are ranked in the top 12 of their weight classes.

Receiving votes: Middlesex, Mercyhurst, Alfred State, Northwest Kansas, Triton, Rochester Tech, Iowa Western, Jamestown.

Individuals — Whitey Gardner (10th at 133), Colton Thornton (10th at 141), Nathaniel Garcia (10th at 149), Bernie Dupuy (fourth at 165), Keithen Cast (first at 174), Miles Nixon (ninth at 184), Ben Price (eighth at 197).