A smaller Powell Panther wrestling squad excelled during the Jug Beck Rocky Mountain Classic this past weekend, placing eight of 10 wrestlers in Missoula during the Panthers final trip to Montana.

Leading the way for Powell was Talon Nuss, who ended the weekend 3-1 after battling back from a quarterfinal loss to finish third at 103 pounds.

“He had a great tournament,” coach Nick Fulton said. “He lost to the kid that won it. He was in that match, we talked to him afterwards and he wasn’t feeling his best … Sometimes you win when you aren’t your best but he strung together some wins on that backside and wrestled all the way back to third.”

Just behind Nuss was Jacob Eaton, who slotted in at 205 pounds — also bouncing back from an early loss to finish the weekend 3-2 and earn a fourth place finish.

Powell had a host of wrestlers finishing in fifth place, including Gabriel Whiting at 120 pounds (3-2) who lost in the semifinal, Tyler Wenzel at 126 pounds (4-2) and Jeremy Harms at 152 pounds (3-2) who lost in the semifinal.

“Tyler had a great tournament at 126,” Fulton said. “He dropped a match early and wrestled his way back and matched the same kid in the medal match. He was able to turn that kid and get a win there.”

Three additional Panthers placed sixth, including Chevy Hill at 113 pounds (3-3), Wyatt Heffington at 138 pounds (2-3) and Doug Bettger at 285 pounds (2-3) who lost in the semifinal.

The final Panthers in attendance were Cody Seifert who went 1-2 at 145 pounds and Dusty Carter who went 0-2 at 182 pounds.

“We have a lot of people that we can put out there and they can be competitive,” Fulton said.

Powell finished in seventh with 109 points as the only Wyoming team in attendance.

Fulton said the team opted to leave some kids at home to rest and recover, knowing that they needed to take care of themselves before the final month of the season.

“We were a little shorthanded with some injuries,” Fulton said. “We hope to get some of those guys back this week — we just need to take care of our guys.”

That stretch will kick off back at home this week, taking on Worland in a dual at 6 p.m. on Thursday.

“It sure is nice to get the Warriors in our gym,” Fulton said. “They are a good team, a well-coached team.”

Powell will then hit the road on Friday, heading down to Lander to take part in a tournament that will likely feature most of the 3A teams in the state.

“I’m excited to see where we stack up against these guys,” Fulton said.