Three Panther wrestlers win titles; PHS survived Lander on Thursday

Only one more dual stands between the Powell High School wrestling team and the postseason, and on Friday and Saturday, the Panthers may have put the stamp of approval on their preparedness.

With 147.5 points, PHS placed second at the two-day Ron Thon tournament at Riverton High School in Riverton, and saw three of its wrestlers claim first place. Forty-six schools competed at the all-class tournament, which was won by 4A powerhouse Campbell County (224 points). PHS just beat out Green River (144) and Sheridan (142) for runner-up status.

“I was pretty pleased,” said PHS head coach Nate Urbach, whose three champions were the most he’s had at the event in his 11 seasons at Powell. “Any time you can get top three at Ron Thon, that’s good. Gillette just had a little too much depth for us to catch them, but we still wrestled well.”

Defending Class 3A state champion and junior Chance Karst continued his dominance with another tournament title. Five wins pushed his season record to 39-1, and the 132-pounder never really struggled.

He earned a second-round pin in his opening match, a 15-4 major decision in the quarterfinals and a 15-0 technical fall in the semis. Karst’s toughest bout came in the finals, but he still outlasted Thermopolis’ Ryan Bradshaw (28-2 coming in) for a 13-7 win.

“It feels pretty good ... it’s a good set-up for the end of the year and it justifies my [number-one ranking] and keeps my confidence up,” Karst said. “I feel like I’ve really stepped it up the last couple years, and I’m competing at a different level that’s good for me and for the team.”

For the second straight tournament, senior Colton Parham (35-10) ran into Karst in the 132-pound bracket. At the Lander Invite on Jan. 24, Parham was beaten by Karst by technical fall in the title match. Saturday, Karst pinned Parham in the semifinals. Urbach is aware of the logjam at 132, as Parham is a returning state medalist who may be at a disadvantage at the state meet. Parham placed third in Riverton.

“He had a heck of a tournament,” Urbach said of Parham. “He has improved so much since his freshman year that he’s not even recognizable. But, his best chance for him to make the state finals is at 132.”

At 138, PHS earned its second top finish when Urbach’s son, defending state champion Nic Urbach (39-5) cruised to a title. The junior earned first-round pins in his first three matches, and a second-round fall in the semis. He was forced to work a full match against Campbell County’s Chris Moodry, but did so successfully for a 6-2 win.

“This tournament has always been really important for me ... especially after last year when I took second,” Urbach said. “I could’ve performed better last year, so I wasn’t going to let this one slip away.”

Urbach was also impressed with his teammates.

“It was really special,” he added. “I feel like we performed well as a team. We all just performed well ... everyone was important.”

The Panthers’ final title came from two-time state runner-up and senior Jake Davis (36-3). Davis bumped up from 160 to 170 this season, and has hit his stride as he searches for an elusive state championship. He picked up pins in his first two matches of the tournament before collecting a 14-5 major decision and an 11-4 decision heading into the finals.

Evanston’s William Kishpaugh gave Davis a run in the finals, and led the match heading into the third period. But Nate Urbach said Davis showed resiliency in rallying for the win.

“It can be hard to wrestle Jake because of the intensity he comes at you with,” Urbach said. “He’s trailing in the third period there, but he just kind of exerted his will.”

Davis said he just found a way to win.

“I feel like I wrestled really well ... I just made everything happen when I needed to,” he said. “Since it’s all class, it’s everyone in the state, so if you can win that ... it’s not guaranteed ... but it makes you feel like you have a good chance at state.”

Senior and last season’s 225-pound state champion, Riley Stringer, placed second despite battling through an injured ankle. He picked up victories in less than a minute in his first two matches and a second-round pin in the quarterfinals before sneaking out of the semis with a 3-0 decision. Sheridan’s Tory Music proved too much for Stringer in the finals, however, downing him 9-3.

Coach Urbach said that strong performances at Ron Thon are encouraging, but has remained adamant that everything is a preparation for the state tournament on Feb. 27-28 in Casper.

“We wrestled pretty well for the most part ... even the guys that lost matches and didn’t place wrestled hard,” Urbach said. “I think we’ve got some young kids who are going to make it to state and make some noise.

“Ron Thon is a great tournament, but it’s not the state tournament, and our main goal is the state tournament.”

Powell 44, Lander Valley 28

In one of their toughest duals of the season, the Panthers had to rally after finding themselves in a hole on the road.

Stringer started things off at 285 with a quick 35-second pin of Marty Armajo, but LVHS responded with victories in the next four matches. William Atnip dominated Powell’s Noah Wozney for a 9-1 win at 106 before Mark McConnell, Palmer Schafer and Kyle Carey earned pins at 113, 120 and 126, respectively. The string of victories had Lander ahead 22-6.

Parham broke up the Lander scoring when he was awarded a forfeit at 132, and a pair of Panther juniors began the PHS rally. Nic Urbach pinned Jacob Winchester in 1:16 before junior Teagan Cordes outlasted Deaundre Velarde 9-8 at 145 to cut the Tigers’ lead to 22-21.

Back-to-back Lander decisions padded its lead, but the Panthers won out to secure the win.

At 170, Davis earned a 20-4 technical fall over Nathan Womack before sophomore Ty Dearcorn pinned Sean Davis in 3:32 at 182. Sophomore Eli Briggs then earned a pin in 2:43 over Talon Connell at 195. Sophomore Zach Easum finished PHS’ victories with a forfeit at 220 pounds.

Notes: Instead of medals or plaques, Ron Thon champions are traditionally awarded championship belts, as was the case Saturday.

PHS’ Tucker Darrah didn’t come home with a title belt, but he did leave Riverton a winner. After being pestered by a young boy selling raffle tickets, Darrah finally bought one, and ended up winning a 47-inch television.