Traveling to Missoula, Montana, over the weekend, the Powell High School wrestling team battled some of the best wrestlers from Montana, Idaho, Washington and Wyoming at the Jug Beck Classic Invite.

Out of 32 teams, Powell finished ninth and had four wrestlers place in the top five individually.

“It’s a really good tournament,” PHS head coach Nate Urbach said of the invite. “Any time you can have any success there, that is a good showing — especially for young kids. We did well.”

A total of 11 Powell wrestlers competed in Missoula: four freshmen, one sophomore, one junior and five seniors; two of the seniors are in just their second year of wrestling.

Senior Zach Easum placed third in the 205-pound weight class. Easum pinned his way through three matches to reach the semi-final, where he had a heartbreaking 9-8 loss to Seth Jensen of Helena Capital. Easum then won two more matches to take bronze, finishing the weekend with a 5-1 record. Of those wins, four of the five came by pin.

Reese Karst, the sole sophomore competing for Powell, placed fourth overall in the 132-pound weight class and went 5-2 for the weekend. His two losses were to Caleb Birdwell of Fergus County in both the quarterfinals and the third place match. Of the five wins, three were pins and one was a technical fall.

Urbach said that a “fourth place finish as a sophomore is excellent.”

Both seniors Ty Dearcorn and Eli Briggs finished in fifth place.

Ty Dearcorn pinned his way to the semi-finals. In that semi-final match, Chase Short of Great Falls won by a tech fall and then continued on to win the 170-pound weight class. Dearcorn lost his next match in the consolation semi-finals, to Manny Rivera of Hamilton, but Dearcorn pinned his next opponent for the fifth place finish. Overall Dearcorn went 4-2 for the weekend, with all four wins being by a pin.

Briggs, who’s dropped down to the 182-pound weight class from 220, was described by his coach as having a stand-out tournament.

“Best tournament I have seen him wrestle, ever. (I) was really proud of him,” said Urbach.

Briggs received a first round bye and pinned his opponent in the second round in 1:42. In the quarterfinals, Casey Randles of Coeur d’Alene, pinned Briggs. But Briggs then won his way back in the consolation bracket to make it to the consolation semis. Briggs lost that match by a 4-2 decision, but pinned his opponent in the fifth place match in the second period. Overall, Briggs went 4-2-1 for the weekend.

All of the PHS freshmen who competed — Michael Maddox at 113 pounds, Ethan Asher at 126, Brody Karhu at 138 and Bo Dearcorn at 145 — won at least one match.

Maddox finished just one round out of the top eight; Asher had to compete against the No. 3 and No. 4 wrestlers in his weight class; Karhu was the only freshman competing in his weight class; and Bo Dearcorn competes in a generally tough weight class at 145 pounds.

“For being a freshman at 145 he is having a stand out season,” said Urbach.

This was the first competition in the varsity line-up for the single junior Stephen Preator.

The two seniors who also competed this weekend were Shattuck Swenson and Terrance McLaughlin, who are both in their second year of wrestling.

Coming up, Urbach said the Panthers have a “healthy week of competition.”

On Tuesday night, the wrestlers will travel to a dual in Laurel, Montana, at 6 p.m. Then on Thursday, the team will travel to Lander for a 6 p.m. dual. Finally, they’ll wrap up the week at the Lander Invite, which starts at 1 p.m. Friday and 9 a.m. Saturday.

The Lander Invite will be a kind of a Class 3A showcase as several 3A teams will be competing.