Powell grapplers dominate Battle in the Big Horns

Panther's Horton named Best of the Best

Posted 12/24/19

T he Panther wrestlers stood alone on the mountain top at the Battle in the Big Horns tournament in Worland Friday and Saturday, winning the event. And in his first tournament of the year, Seth …

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Powell grapplers dominate Battle in the Big Horns

Panther's Horton named Best of the Best

Posted

The Panther wrestlers stood alone on the mountain top at the Battle in the Big Horns tournament in Worland Friday and Saturday, winning the event. And in his first tournament of the year, Seth Horton beat the top wrestler in the state to win the 152-pound match to be named the Best of the Best.

As a team, Powell went 7-0 in the tournament, impressing head coach Nate Urbach with the early season win. Rated No. 3 in the state, the Panthers dominated competition in four dual matches on Friday, beating Pinedale, Glenrock, Newcastle/Upton and Shoshoni. On Saturday, they took down Thermopolis in the quarterfinals, squeaked by Rock Springs in the semis and then beat Worland in a tough championship match.

“This was very much a tournament about our team,” said Urbach.

The coach was particularly impressed with Horton.

“He had the best couple days of any of our guys,” Urbach said. “He’s a kid that loves wrestling and everything is coming together for him. He had a great tournament.”

During the tournament, Horton beat two 2018 state runner-ups. Then, in the Best of the Best
finals, Horton picked up an 11-6 decision over the top-rated 3A wrestler in the state, Riverton’s Traytan Hyatt; Horton was ranked No. 3 going into the tournament.

Powell had four wrestlers in the final matches, including No. 2-ranked Colt Nicholson (106), No. 1-ranked Bo Dearcorn and No. 6-ranked Matthew Seckman. Dearcorn met Lander’s Jack Sweeney in a possible preview of the state championship match. Dearcorn was leading going into the final round, but got out of position late in the round and was pinned by Sweeney.

“Sweeney is a dangerous kid,” Urbach said. “It’s better now than at the state tournament.”

Urbach mentioned several top performances, but said Powell wouldn’t have won the team tournament without a gutsy performance by 138-pounder Corey Linebaugh in a loss against Rock Springs. Zach Vasquez, Class 4A’s No. 1-rated wrestler in the division, had Linebaugh on his back, but Linebaugh fought through the challenge, avoided a pin and helped give Powell a two-point 36-34 win.

“Corey [Linebaugh] showed a lot of guts,” Urbach said.

Urbach also mentioned a big win by Emma Karhu (120 pounds), who beat No. 4-ranked Jory McFarland of Newcastle on Friday, and the effort of Dallas Oliver (220 pounds), who “showed a ton of guts” against Worland’s Brody Hernandez in the finals. The final match also included Riley Bennett (145) beating Colton Woffinden 15-7 for a major decision and Bo Dearcorn pinning Jose Rose in 20 seconds in the 170-pound match.

Freshman Lannon Brazelton stepped in to fill a big hole in the 160-pound class, going 4-3 for the weekend.

“Lannon is a hard worker and likes the sport and awfully proud to be varsity for this team,” Urbach said.

Powell will be out of town all of January, first heading to tournaments in Bozeman and Missoula, Montana, for the “two toughest matches of the year,” Urbach said. Then they face a tough Lander team on Jan. 25 before heading to the Ron Thon tournament in Riverton on the first weekend in February. More than 40 teams will be at Ron Thon, the biggest tournament of the year outside of the state tournament, which is set to take place in Casper on Feb. 28-29.

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