Boys’ wrestling strong at Jug Beck Classic

Head to Lander this week

Posted 1/21/25

Heading back into Montana, the Powell Panther boys’ wrestling team competed well at the Jug Beck Rocky Mountain Classic in Missoula, finishing 10th as a team including one finalist against …

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Boys’ wrestling strong at Jug Beck Classic

Head to Lander this week

Posted

Heading back into Montana, the Powell Panther boys’ wrestling team competed well at the Jug Beck Rocky Mountain Classic in Missoula, finishing 10th as a team including one finalist against competition from Montana, Idaho and Washington.

That one finalist was Doug Bettger at 285 pounds, who won through his quarterfinal matches via pin, with each match not lasting over a minute.

In the semifinal, Bettger won a close match with a 4-3 decision over Isaac Tolan from Great Falls High School.

In the final, Bettger came up just short against Tommy Lewis from Havre, losing 6-4 against a difficult opponent.

“Doug had a really excellent weekend. He was dominant through the opening rounds there,” coach Nick Fulton said. “He (Lewis) just was a huge kid. Anybody that makes Doug look small out there is obviously a pretty big man … He should be pretty pleased, he wrestled his way through a really tough bracket.”

In addition to Bettger, the Panthers had plenty of podium finishers, as Jonathan Hine went 3-3 to place sixth at 110 pounds; McKale Foley went 4-3 to place sixth at 165 pounds; Tyler Wenzel went 3-3 to place eighth at 132 pounds; Patrick Haney went 3-3 at 150 pounds to place eighth; Mitchel Wainscott finished 4-3 to take eighth at 175 pounds and Jacob Eaton went 2-3 at 215 pounds to finish eighth.

“Seven guys on the podium which is pretty tremendous. I think that really speaks volumes to the way the kids are improving,” Fulton said. “All the guys are improving, because that tournament is the most competitive tournament we go to all year. We won some really good matches and beat some quality kids. I think our kids showed a lot of growth.”

Other Panther competitors included Wyatt Nicholson going 3-2 at 118 pounds; Cody Seifert going 1-2 at 157 pounds; Dusty Carter going 1-2 at 190 pounds; Chevy Hill going 0-2 at 126 pounds; Broc Frank going 0-2 at 138 pounds and Chase Visocky going 0-2 at 144 pounds.

Overall the Panthers earned 123 points as a team as the only Wyoming team in attendance among 30 different teams. Flathead, Montana, won the team title with 233 points well ahead of the competition.

“That Missoula trip overall was such a positive thing for our team. You talk about things that make teams tick, building relationships with kids and having a culture, well how do you do that? You spend a lot of time (together). You load kids up in Suburbans and drive them for 12 hours. You get to visit with kids and you’ll sit down and have a nice sit down meal which we don’t oftentimes have time for,” Fulton said. “I think that’s important, being able to talk to those kids and then build those relationships. That’s a good thing for us, and I think it’s something our program does well and that Missoula trip is a big part of it. So I always look forward to it every year.”

Returning to Wyoming for the rest of the year, the Panthers will be on the road in Fremont County the next two weeks, starting with a dual against Lander at 5:30 p.m. on Thursday.

The Panthers will stay in Lander on Friday and Saturday, taking part in an invitational which will see most Wyoming 3A teams in attendance.

“This is where our guys need to wrestle in tournaments that are in the state and really cement that wrestling criteria that becomes important to the regional tournament. The Lander tournament and this dual are a good opportunity for that,” Fulton said. “That’s where we can put our guys in favorable positions and I think they’re ready to do that. We’ve got quite the grind going right now, and kind of hard but the message is to keep your head down and keep working hard. Good things will happen. Keep improving and good things will happen.”

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