‘Underdogs’ give Panther wrestling a push

LOVELL — Any idea that Powell High School’s dream of a fourth straight state wrestling title rests on the shoulders of five Panthers was shattered on Friday and Saturday.

PHS saw 10 of its grapplers reach title matches at the Class 3A West Regional Tournament at Lovell High School, with six claiming gold, and six other Panthers finished sixth or better as PHS scored 248 points to win the regional crown for the second straight season.

“I thought we did well, and I still think we can get better,” PHS head coach Nate Urbach said.  “I talked to the kids all week and I’ll talk about it this coming week; it’s the underdogs that are going to win [state] for us.

“It’s the Zach Easums — no one knew about him — he sneaks in and does those good things,” he said. “It’s the Marshall Witticks that come out of there and ends up fourth. There’s all kinds of them.”

Urbach’s insistence that his team needs help from the “underdogs” comes from his belief that the Class 3A state meet could feature a two-team battle between the Panthers and Star Valley. The Braves scored 207 points to finish second, and had six wrestlers finish in first or second place. Urbach has remained adamant that his team’s chase for a fourth straight championship will come down to the wire.

“We just have to remember that this wasn’t the state tournament,” Urbach added. “It’s nice and I thought we rose to the occasion, but we can do that again over the next seven or eights days and show up again in Casper.”

For two days, Urbach’s role players showed up in Lovell, and it pushed his team over the hump.

Easum, a sophomore, turned some heads at 220 pounds, working his way to the title match after a 12-3 major decision over Lovell’s Nash Jolley in the semifinals. Easum caught a break in the title bout, where he scored a takedown of Jackson Hole’s Joey Caffaro (ranked No. 1 at 220) in the first round that caused a severe arm injury. Caffaro was unable to continue, and Easum was awarded the victory.

Easum was unhappy with the way he earned the win, but to his credit, the youngster appeared to be in complete control of Caffaro prior to the injury.

“It was good to win, but nobody likes to win by injury,” Easum said. “I really want to see [Caffaro] next week; hopefully he’s better.”

Easum went 1-2 in the regional tournament as a freshman, and said it felt good being among PHS’ star performers at the end of the tourney this year.

“It feels pretty good, but we’ve got to keep our focus, not on individual championships but more as a team,” he said.

Easum’s medal joined a pile of gold accumulated by juniors Chance Karst (132), Nic Urbach (138) and Kyle Catlin (145), and seniors Jake Davis (170) and Riley Stringer (285). He led a quintet of PHS wrestlers who snuck under the radar heading into Friday’s action.

At 113, Noah Wozney showed flashes of brilliance after making the jump from 106. He went 2-1 on the weekend, capturing silver, but shocked No. 2-ranked Gavin Patterson (Star Valley) with a first-round pin in the semifinals to advance to the championship.

“That was really, really nice to see,” Nate Urbach said of Wozney. “He ran into a tough kid and pinned him, and faced another tough kid in Mark McConnell (Lander Valley) in the finals and lost, but he still had a great tournament.”

Wittick, a sophomore, went 4-2 at 120 pounds, earning fourth place. He had the PHS coaching staff applauding after knocking off Pinedale’s Marcus Cantu. Cantu as he wrestled more than 40 varsity matches this season, while Wittick has competed in six.

After senior Bailey Atkinson took second at 152 pounds, junior Tucker Darrah added to the celebration at 160. He collected two victories before running into Cody’s defending state champion, John Beaudrie. Darrah lost a 10-1 major decision, but earned praise from coach Urbach in the form of “Hey, you wrestled with him the whole match,” following the bout.

Sophomore Ty Dearcorn also earned high praise from Urbach after placing third at 182. Dearcorn reached the semis after a pin of Lander’s Austin Bennett in :27, but was knocked into the consolation bracket against Bowdy Long of Mountain View. Dearcorn stayed composed, however, and won his next two matches by pinfall to claim third.

Urbach continued to gush over the results.

“I knew the key for us would be the guys that nobody has thought of yet doing well,” he said. “I was really proud of those boys for coming back through and doing a great job.”

Senior Colton Parham claimed second in an unusual situation, as he and Karst (No. 1) are the top two wrestlers in the 132-pound polls. Karst downed Parham by decision to take the crown.

“It’s hard wrestling your own teammate, but you’ve still got to stay focused,” Karst said. “I feel really good right now, and I think the entire team is feeling the same way. This was a good weekend for us.”

After Karst, Nic Urbach continued to dominate at 138 despite a flu-like illness. He went 4-0 during the tournament, capping it with what may end up being one of the toughest technical fall victories this season. Urbach was visibly ill as he attempted to outlast Star Valley’s Brandon Claye for the gold. He finally scored a takedown of Claye late in the match to win 17-2, but had to find a trash can afterward.

“I just wasn’t feeling very good ... it’s been like this both days,” Urbach said. “But I just had to be strong and get through the match as best I could. I knew [Claye] he’d come at me hard and I just had to stay focused.”

Catlin, who underwent surgery on the meniscus in his right knee on Jan. 29, returned to the mat for the first time in more than three weeks, and looked as sharp as ever. Looking for his third state title in as many years, Catlin wasted no time in cruising to the title match. He defeated teammate Teagan Cordes in his first match, grabbed a 13-4 major decision over Cody’s Dan Beaudrie in the semis, and made quick work of Star Valley’s Wyatt Nield in the finals with a first-round pin. Catlin missed half of the season due to surgery to repair repeated partial dislocations of his right shoulder. He returned after PHS’ Christmas break, but suffered a meniscus tear last month.

He said returning victoriously was great, but he knows he has work to do after missing so much time.

“I’m still a little tentative with my knee, and my conditioning can be a little better, but I feel good,” Catlin said. “I’ve just got to keep getting better in the wrestling room and continue staying focused through state.”

Davis continued his trek toward his first state title with a perfect weekend at 170. He went 4-0, and didn’t break a sweat until he met Cody’s Ben Flickinger in the finals. In an unfamiliar sight, Davis actually trailed early in the bout when Flickinger scored a quick takedown. But Davis recovered with two escapes and a takedown to take the lead before scoring an 8-3 decision.

“[Flickinger] just got behind me and got one on me,” Davis said. “But I wasn’t worried. I know the second and third periods are my periods, and I know I my conditioning is great, so I can outlast guys and really pick my spots, and that’s what I did.”

Stringer, coach Urbach’s lone heavyweight, had a nail-biter of a title match. A scoreless bout between Stringer and Lovell’s Jaret Collins finally ended near the one-minute mark of third period when Stringer controlled Collins’ left leg before turning him around and tripping him up for a takedown. Stringer eventually let Collins up for an escape, but Stringer avoided a takedown attempt to secure the 2-1 win. Stringer has been battling ankle injuries since the beginning of his football season, and aggravated the injuries during the match. He said getting through the match was just a matter of fighting through the pain.

“I tried a takedown and I just tweaked something and it killed,” Stringer said. “But in that situation you just have to keep going if you want to win. I wasn’t going to let that stop me.”

In all, PHS will bring 16 wrestlers to the state meet that begins Friday at the Casper Events Center. Matches begin at 9 a.m.

Coach Urbach is now looking forward to his team’s final week of practice, where he hopes his younger kids will continue to improve, and his veterans will keep the team’s top goal in their sights.

“[The younger kids] see the veteran guys and they want to be like them. And they know the way to do that is working hard, and when opportunity presents itself, you’re ready to make the most of it,” Urbach said. “There are no givens at all. Even our best kids, there are no givens — you have to earn it.

“And in a close team race — and I think state is going to be one — everyone matters.”