A difficult weekend for the Powell High School wrestling team — featuring a home dual against Worland and an invitational in Lander — brought mixed results, as the Panthers prepared for this weekend’s Ron Thon Invitational.

WORLAND 66, POWELL 18

The weekend started with a dual against Worland on Thursday, as the Panthers opened their conference duals against a tough experienced Warrior team.

The night started out fast for both teams.

Junior Andrew Valdez lost by pin at 138 pounds in the first period at the 1:44 mark and freshman McKale Foley lost at 145 in the second period at the 3:12 mark to put Worland up 12-0.

Needing a response, the Panthers turned to junior Jack Van Norman at 152 pounds. Van Norman earned the first pin of the night for the Panthers in the first period at 1:42 to score six points for PHS.

Worland came back with three straight pins. PHS senior Carter Gines lost at 160 pounds in the first period at 0:34, senior Karson Lamb lost at 170 in the first period at 1:45 and Dillon Melton lost a tough matchup at 182 in the second period at the 2:46 mark.

PHS sophomore Jimmy Dees — who’s emerged as a top competitor for the Panthers in recent weeks — then earned a pin for Powell at 195 pounds. In a tough matchup, Dees got his opponent at the 5:34 mark in the third period, making the match 30-12.

Finishing up the high weights, freshman Doug Bettger lost at 220 pounds in 1:32 and freshman Adam Flores lost at 285 in 0:23.

Circling back down to the lower weights to end the night, the Panthers were looking to get any victories they could.

Freshman Kaiden Apodaca was pinned at 106 in 1:56, freshman Sam Childers was pinned at 1:22 at 113 pounds and 120 pounds was open for the Panthers.

Brent Childers got the final pin of the night for the Panthers at 126 pounds, as he battled towards the end of the second period and earned the victory at the 3:38 mark.

Worland earned the final points as junior Vinny Timmons was pinned at 132 at the 1:03 mark, making the final score 66-18. 

“We did not look like we were very intense in some matches and we are going to try and fix that this week,” Panther head coach Nick Fulton said. “We focused a lot on fixing technical aspects these last couple of weeks but we need to remember this is a contact sport.”

LANDER INVITE

The Panthers were looking to turn things around as they made the trip to Lander to participate in their first Wyoming invite since the start of the season.

At the start of the Friday-Saturday tournament, Dees (26-16) was matched up with the No. 2 seeded Colter Haws from Burns/Pine Bluffs and lost by major decision, 12-4. But Dees then battled back through the consolation rounds, winning: by pin in 0:39, a 9-5 decision, a 4-3 decision and a 7-2 decision.

“I was really happy,” coach Fulton said of Dees’ performance. “He beat two kids that beat him earlier in the year out of Cody and Douglas.”

Dees reached the third place match, facing off again with Haws before falling in a tighter contest,  7-4, to take fourth overall.

Bettger (9-6) came out of the gates strong, as he won by pin in the first round at the 1:00 mark, and then defeated Noa Vega from Worland 5-4, who defeated him the night before to reach the semifinals.

Bettger dropped the semifinal match to Carter Archuleta from Douglas, and lost in the consolation semifinal and fifth place match by pin to take sixth.

Other results for the Panthers included: 

• Apodaca went 0-2 at 106 pounds;

• Brett Childers went 1-2 at 126;

• Wyatt Heffington went 0-2 at 132;

• Timmons (14-17) went 1-2 at 132;

• Jeremy Harms went 1-2 at 138;

• Valdez (10-15) went 1-2 at 138;

• Van Norman (7-21) went 0-2 at 145;

• Gines went 0-2 at 160;

• Merced Jordan-Silva went 0-2 at 160;

• Lamb (10-14) went 1-2 at 170,

• Stetson Davis (27-11) went 1-2 at 170;

• Dusty Carter went 0-2 at 182;

• Jacob Eaton (4-8) went 0-2 at 220; and

• Flores (15-14) went 0-2 at 285. 

The Panthers placed No. 15 out of the 21 teams in attendance.

Junior varsity went better for the Panthers, as they won the invite with an all-freshmen lineup, scoring 147 points to edge out Star Valley with 141.

Chevy Hill placed second at 106, Patrick Haney won 132 pounds, Foley won at 145 pounds, Mitchel Wainscott placed second at 160 pounds, Ricky Gonzalez placed second at 195, Jacob Harms placed third at 195 and Denton Wainscott placed third at 220.

The Panthers will now head to Riverton for a Thursday dual, before taking part in the annual Ron Thon Invitational on Friday and Saturday.

“We are excited to get back out on the mat this weekend,” Fulton said. “We have a good dual Thursday night and Ron Thon is kind of like an all state tournament and that is a fun experience.”

This weekend’s invite will be the Panthers final varsity tournament until regionals — in just over three weeks. They will primarily focus on conference duals after this weekend.