Wrestling trip to Sheridan canceled due to weather

The Powell High School girls’ wrestling team was scheduled to attend the Sheridan Lady Bronc wrestling tournament Saturday, but as with the boys’ wrestling in Worland, the Panther girls were unable to travel Saturday due to the state of the roads after a Friday evening snowstorm.  Wrestlers now get a week off for Christmas before practice resumes to prepare for an invitational Jan. 2-3 in Belgrade, Montana. ”

An eight-man Powell boys’ wrestling team went up against some of their toughest competition of the season Friday and Saturday at the Pat Weede Memorial Invitational in Gillette. But despite giving up a number of weights in each dual, the Panthers still came away with individual successes. 

Sophomore Sean Lowe (132) finished 5-3. His victories included a win by fall in 4:45 against Brody Bollinger of Dickinson, a pin of Wyatt Garrett of Campbell County in 3:30, a win by 8-5 decision over Alex Velez of the Rapid City Cobblers and a 22-5 tech fall over Landon Johnson of Scottsbluff.

Head coach Nick Fulton said Lowe has been cutting down on “big mistakes” to become more competitive as he improves.

“He’s starting to mature in his matches and being real competitive,” he said. “I thought he took a nice step this weekend against some really good competition.”

Broc Frank (150) also finished 5-3. His victories included a win by tech fall 17-0 against Briggs Caudle of Dickinson, a win by fall over Rodrigo Armas of Campbell County in 1:29, a pin of Zayden Gering of the Rapid City Cobblers in 1:07, a win by fall over Alyck Rodriguez of Scottsbluff in 1:44 and a 13-1 major decision against Landon Huck of Bismarck St. Mary’s.

Fulton and Frank had a long talk Saturday and he’s definitely picked up and made a step from where he was at the end of last season, Fulton said.

“He had some really nice wins. And, you know, with Brock, he goes hard the whole match. He works really hard in his matches, and has a high pace,” Fulton said. 

Fulton said the hard work is paying off and that his losses came from “very, very good” wrestlers. 

Russell Goolsbey (126) finished 4-4. His wins included a win by fall in 1:41 over Campbell County’s Gunner Johnson, a pin of Mason Hoff of Bismarck Century in 1:12 and a 15-0 tech fall over Holdyn Quick of Scottsbluff.

Fulton said the 126-pound weight class was “no joke” in the tournament.

“Russell is stepping up to the big leagues, and for a freshman, he’s really competing hard,” Fulton said.

He told Goolsbey and 165-pounder Trevin Morton “you need to feel this, because in two or  three years, you’re going to be that guy.”

Morton picked up a couple nice wins there, finishing 2-6. His victories included a win by fall over Gavyn Nelson of Bismarck Century in 1:32 and a pin of Kaden Schneider of Scottsbluff in 2:27.

Tyler Wenzel (144) finished 2-2. His victories included a win over Carson Lucius of Scottsbluff by fall in 1:21 and a 2:53 pin of Jude Leingang of Bismarck St. Mary’s.

Half a team

Forfeiting four or five weights each dual the Panthers were giving up too many to earn wins, but competed in a series of tough matches. Powell fell to Sturgis Brown 78-0, Dickinson 71-11, Campbell County 58-14, Rapid City 61-9, Bismarck 56-18, Scottsbluff 53-28, Bismarck St. Mary’s 54-22 and Thunder Basin 65-6. 

Fulton said the team had a long talk between the Friday and Saturday matches after he thought his wrestlers may have been intimidated by the high level of competition on day one of the invitational.

“I said, hey guys, we have to fight back against these guys. Don’t let them dictate everything,” he said. “I was pretty happy with the progress, really, from just Friday to Saturday. It looked like we were just competing harder in our matches, which is what it’s going to take for them to continue to improve.”

Fulton sent the rest of his team, many of them his younger wrestlers, to the Battle in the Big Horns in Worland, where some of the wrestlers competed alongside Thermopolis wrestlers to form a varsity team for dual matches, while others wrestled a JV tournament. 

However, wintry weather forced Powell to cancel traveling down for the second day of the tournament Saturday. 

“The bus time was 5 a.m. — before the plows were out. Sometimes it’s best to air on the side of caution.”

Up next

Wrestlers now get a week off for Christmas before practice resumes to prepare for an invitational Jan. 2-3 in Bozeman, Montana. 

Fulton said the team needs the break to help get healthy after the flu and some injuries have slowed them down early in the season.. 

“Tyler Wenzel got banged up in his first match against a really good Sturgis kid, and he just wasn’t able to go the full eight matches, but he had two really good wins,” he said. “Sometimes it’s smarter to rest them and let them heal, you know, rather than risk getting someone hurt.”