Gaining plenty of experience with a young team at the Wyoming 3A State Wrestling Championships in Casper, the Powell High School boys’ wrestling team placed five, including two finalists in an eighth place effort as a team.

One Powell finalist was junior Jonathan Hine at 106 pounds, who worked quickly en route to the final with a 28 second pin in the first round, a 20-4 tech fall in the quarterfinals and a pin in 2:25 in the semifinals.

In the final in a rematch of the regional championship Hine fell to Cody’s Bobby Hernandez, who pinned Hine in 4:58.

“Jonathan put together three pretty dominant wins … Cody was on a roll, had the momentum of the team going with him, and it’s hard to beat a good kid three times in a row,” coach Nick Fulton said.

Powell’s other finalist was freshman Russell Goolsbey at 126 pounds, who started with a pin in 1:52 before holding on for a pin in 6:53 during a difficult quarterfinal match to reach the semifinal.

In the semifinal Goolsbey defeated Wheatland’s Grady Bohlander 8-3, a defending state champion which moved up two weight classes this season to compete.

In the final Goolsbey fell to one of the top wrestlers in the state, as Glenrock’s Brody Allen pinned Goolsbey in 1:50 to earn his third state championship in his junior season, only losing one match this season.

“Certainly nothing to hang his head about … In my opinion, he’s (Allen) probably one of the top three or four kids in the tournament all-class,” Fulton said. “The kid is a three time state champ for a reason, but very impressed with Russell. He put together a good freshman campaign. He’s going right back to work immediately … I look forward to the next three years with him.”

Powell’s lone senior on the team, Tyler Wenzel, finished fourth at 144 pounds.

Wenzel started with an 18-4 major decision before a narrow 11-10 loss in the quarterfinals.

He rebounded with a pin in 2:22 and a 17-7 major decision to reach the consolation semifinals.

He earned a 4-1 win in that round before losing a 9-2 decision in the third place match.

“One thing I appreciate about Ty and the integrity of our program, but especially I think he displayed it, just having the pride to wrestle back through and still score as high as you can,” Fulton said. “I think he provided such a great example for those younger athletes that we had down there at the state tournament.”

Another freshman, Jacob Christofalos, earned a fifth place finish, winning the first round at 285 pounds with an upset pin in 2:27 of the second placed wrestler out of the east.

He followed that with a narrow loss in the quarterfinals, falling to Worland’s Ray Rice in an ultimate tiebreaker, after the two had advanced through three overtimes and Rice earned a late escape for a 4-3 win.

He rebounded with two pins to reach the consolation semifinals, before a narrow 1-0 decision loss in that round.

He finished with a pin in 4:06 to finish fifth overall.

“He put his head down and went to work in the consolation bracket,” Fulton said. “Good stuff for a young kid, relatively inexperienced. He started wrestling in eighth grade, freshman getting top five in the state bodes well for the future. He’s got a ton of upside to him.”

Sophomore Sean Lowe was the final placer for Powell, as he dropped his first match via pin before earning three straight wins with two tech falls and a pin to reach the consolation semifinals. He fell via a tech fall in the final two rounds to finish sixth.

“That was a really deep weight, just a lot of talent. Really happy with him,” Fulton said.

The Panthers got plenty of wins from other wrestlers in the tournament, most of them their first as Dylan DeBoer went 2-2 at 120 pounds; Forest Kleinfeldt went 1-2 at 138 pounds; Jayce Lejeune went 1-2 at 150 pounds; Isaiah Torres went 1-2 at 165 pounds; Justin Marquez went 1-2 at 190 pounds while William Taylor and Tucker Muecke went 0-2 at 106 and 157 pounds respectively.

Fulton said getting that mat experience at the state tournament was huge for this group, as 10 of the 12 competitors were freshmen or sophomores.

“We’ll still be young next year, but we’ve got some medals in our pocket and some experience under our belt, looking forward to the future with them,” Fulton said. “It was positive in a lot of ways.”

The Panthers finished eighth as a team with 103.5 points, as Cody claimed the team crown with a dominant 305.5 points well ahead of Torrington which was second with 159.5.

Powell also returns back several wrestlers they lost throughout the season next year, with Fulton extremely hopeful for the future of the team.

“Improving our physical strength will go miles, if they make the same jump next year that they did this year, we’re right in the mix,” Fulton said. “I like what’s standing in my room just fine. We’ve got good eighth graders coming in … Kids with a lot of varsity experience, they’re not seeing things for the first time. I think that maturity will go a long way.”

Fulton said he wanted to thank his assistant coaches for this season, and congratulate the girls’ team on their success at the state tournament.

“Huge congrats to our women’s team,” Fulton said. “That was fun to be there and watch them experience success. Proud of them. Congrats to coach [Jeriah] Horsley and coach [Aimee] Kawano, they did a good job.”

3A STATE WRESTLING CHAMPIONSHIPS

Team scores — 1. Cody 305.5, 2. Torrington 159.5, 3. Glenrock 158.5, 4. Rawlins 140.5, 5. Wheatland 135.5, 6. Lyman 130, 7. Douglas 123, 8. Powell 103.5, 9. Pinedale 99.5, 10. Mountain View 92.5, 11. Lovell 91, 12. Lander 76, 13. Buffalo 61, 14. Worland 52, 15. Burns/Pine Bluffs 44.5, 16. Newcastle 27

William Taylor (106) — Barrett Bruch (Torrington) def. Taylor by fall 1:13; Asic Dawson (Newcastle) def. Taylor via MD 19-9

Jonathan Hine (106) — 2. Hine def. Asic Dawson (Newcastle) by fall :28; Hine def. Mason Jolley (Douglas) via tech fall 20-4; Hine def. Nick Ticknor (Glenrock) by fall 2:25; Bobby Hernandez (Cody) def. Hine by fall 4:58

Dylan DeBoer (120) — DeBoer def. Keller Dehmel (Worland) by fall 3:10; Jonas Hendricks (Torrington) def. DeBoer by fall 1:48; DeBoer def. Dominic Beale (Pinedale) by fall :27; Dax Platt (Lander) def. DeBoer by fall 4:37

Russell Goolsbey (126) — 2. Goolsbey def. Rylee O’Brien (Mountain View) by fall 1:52; Goolsbey def. Darius Dickinson (Douglas) by fall 6:53; Goolsbey def. Grady Bohlander (Wheatland) via decision 8-3; Brody Allen (Glenrock) def. Goolsbey by fall 1:50

Sean Lowe (132) — 6. Lance Baggs (Cody) def. Lowe by fall 5:12; Lowe def. Tanner Guzman (Pinedale) via tech fall 17-2; Lowe def. Lander RIce (Mountain View) by fall 2:05; Lowe def. Wyatt Holloway (Lander) via tech fall 19-3; Daysen Tucker def. Lowe via tech fall 18-0; Cooper Meyer def. Sean Lowe via tech fall 24-5

Forest Kleinfeldt (138) — Kleinfeldt def. Kabre Miller (Worland) by fall 4:00; Caysen Ross (Burns/Pine Bluffs) def. Kleinfeldt by fall 1:52; Jaeden Ruiz (Torrington) def. Kleinfeldt by fall 2:15

Tyler Wenzel (144) — 4. Wenzel def. Logan Anderson (Worland) via MD 18-4; Bridger Herring (Rawlins) def. Wenzel via decision 11-10; Wenzel def. Evan Wing (Buffalo) by fall 2:22; Wenzel def. Clayton Sawyer (Mountain View) via MD 17-7; Wenzel def. Octaveas McGahan (Douglas) via decision 4-1; Bridger Herring (Rawlins) def. Wenzel via decision 9-2

Jayce Lejeune (150) — Ty Albaugh (Torrington) def. Lejeune by fall 1:17; Lejeune def. Billy Velarde (Lander) via decision 14-10; Taiden Hunt (Buffalo) def. Lejeune by fall 2:31

Tucker Muecke (157) — Colby Sandusky (Torrington) def. Muecke by fall :23; Joseph Espinoza (Worland) def. Muecke by fall 1:35

Isaiah Torres (165) — Landon Fornstrom (Pinedale) def. Torres by fall 3:34; Torres def. Treysen Parker (Douglas) via decision 12-8; Riggs Cook (Mountain View) def. Torres by fall :45

Justin Marquez (190) — Boston Busskohl def. Marquez by fall 2:17; Marquez def. Kyler Sorensen (Glenrock) via decision 7-6; Monte Blank (Lovell) def. Marquez via decision 5-1

Jacob Christofalos (285) — 5. Christofalos def. Danny Warington (Rawlins) by fall 2:27; Ray Rice (Worland) def. Christofalos via ultimate tiebreaker 4-3; Christofalos def. Aaraon Chavez (Torrington) by fall 1:24; Christofalos def. Ayden Cooley (Mountain View) by fall 2:57; Xakery Aleman (Lyman) def. Christofalos via decision 1-0; Christofalos def. Taevyn Gruell (Lovell) by fall 4:06