The third time was the charm for Powell High School senior Allison LeBlanc, as she became the first Panther girl to claim an individual title at the Wyoming State Wrestling Championships in Casper, overcoming prior defeats to cap off a 37-4 season at 110 pounds.

“I finally was able to achieve my goal,” LeBlanc said. “From taking second freshman year, third sophomore year and second junior year, it feels so good to finally take this state title at 110 pounds my senior year.”

Starting off her tournament run LeBlanc earned a first round bye, before taking on Isabella Hetzel of Thermopolis, the only Wyoming competitor to defeat LeBlanc this season at the Greybull Memorial in early February.

LeBlanc earned a pin in 1 minute, 41 seconds, advancing to the semifinals for the fourth time in her career.

She earned a pin of Green River’s Kayleigh Johnson in 4:19, advancing to the championship match for the third time in four years.

In the past, LeBlanc ran into a difficult matchup in Moorcroft’s Rebekah Anderson her freshman and sophomore seasons, losing in the finals and semifinals each year.

She rebounded her junior year and returned to the state championship bout, but fell via pin to Pinedale’s Kaylea Mortensen.

“Losing, it just shows me that there is always room to improve. There’s always room to improve and it’s really up to you,” LeBlanc said. “That’s the main thing. You have to accept the loss, learn from it, regroup and go get after it the next time.”

In the final this year LeBlanc faced another Mortensen from Pinedale, this time the twin sister of Kaylea in McKinzie.

In the fourth matchup between the two, LeBlanc held narrow margins of victory in the first three championship bouts, defeating Mortensen at the Lander Invite by a 5-3 decision, a 1-0 decision at the Ron Thon Memorial and a 1-0 sudden death win at the regional championships a week prior.

Heading into the state championship match, LeBlanc wanted to be the aggressor, not wanting a violation to be the reason she took the state title.

“It was super important to me, because the last thing I wanted was to win state by her in Ron Thon giving up a full Nelson [a penalty], or last weekend with a stalling call in overtime,” LeBlanc said. “It feels amazing to have been the aggressor and it was just me wrestling. It wasn’t me wrestling her game. It was me wrestling my game.”

LeBlanc did just that, earning a first period takedown which proved to be the difference in the match, as Mortensen’s only point came from a penalty in the second period in a 3-1 match as LeBlanc held off any near fall points in a close third period where Mortensen chose top.

“It’s such a nice feeling, it makes me feel like I can be someone who can give people a little extra push, motivation,” LeBlanc said.

Coach Jeriah Horsley noted the importance of this title to LeBlanc, having watched her as a fan for three years before becoming the Panthers coach this year.

“I’ve watched this girl for the last three years, not as a coach, but getting to watch her just fight for it, grind it out,” Horsley said. “To see her come out here, get the take down and secure the win and solidify she’s number one, so awesome.”

While she took the top spot at 110 pounds, LeBlanc was impressed by the placement of her sister Avery, who took fifth at 105 pounds in her first campaign at the state tournament.

“I’m super proud of her … She got out there and she got after it this weekend,” LeBlanc said of her freshman sister.

As a team the Panthers also impressed, being the only team on the podium where every wrestler brought home a medal competing amongst other teams that had more wrestlers than the Panthers.

“I’m super proud of everyone. We took five people to state and took third as a girls’ team,” LeBlanc said. “It’s truly inspiring. I love these girls … When we stood up on the podium we looked to our left and right, and none of the other teams had as low (numbers) as us and scored as many points … We were the only team up there that everyone had medals on.”

LeBlanc said she plans on picking her next step in the coming weeks, planning to continue her wrestling career at the collegiate level.