The Powell High School girls’ wrestling team emerged as the highest placing Wyoming team at the Montana Super 14 in Belgrade, placing sixth with five individual placers to start the new year.

Despite not competing on the mat since the first weekend of the season — the second event before break was canceled due to weather conditions — the Panthers didn’t show much rust, including Allison LeBlanc at 110 pounds who was the highest placer for a second tournament.

She started with a 2-1 decision before reeling off two pins to advance to the semifinals.

LeBlanc earned a 3-0 decision in the semifinals, advancing to the final where she fell short via a 16-0 tech fall to Payten Van Pelt of Billings West.

“From what I could see, this girl was the No. 1 ranked Montana girl on FloWrestling for that weight bracket … I think she was a freshman, but she’s just a pretty seasoned wrestler, been wrestling for over 10 years,” coach Jeriah Horsley said. “She had a powerful shot and we just have to work on some stuff with that. Allison immediately afterwards was just asking questions like ‘hey, how do I improve this?’ The great thing is, we get to see that girl again probably this upcoming weekend as we have the duals up at Billings Skyview. So she’s (LeBlanc) going to put in the work this week.”

In addition to LeBlanc the Panthers added another pair of third place finishers, as both Caydee Eden at 100 pounds and Avery LeBlanc at 105 pounds bounced back from quarterfinal losses, going 6-1 and 5-1 respectively. Eden earned all of her victories by pin while LeBlanc earned four of hers by pin and one by an 8-6 decision in the consolation semifinals.

“She [Eden] continues to show major growth in her technical wrestling. She wrestles hard from start to finish, she never quits. That’s one of the things I just really appreciate about her wrestling. She keeps on going, she’s keeping her cool through those matches,” coach Horsley said. “She [LeBlanc] wrestled fantastic too. She had a tough loss there in the quarterfinals against a Worland girl. We made some adjustments in between matches that I was able to work with her on. She came back, wrestled the same girl again for third and she capitalized on it. She secured the win with a pin, a great example of coachability and resilience on her part.”

Powell also had a pair of fourth place finishes, as Eleasah Horsley went 4-2 at 115 pounds, falling in the semifinals but recording pins in all of her won matches, while Nalani Jordan went 6-2 in her first action of the season at 140 pounds, earning six pinfall wins sandwiched between a pair of losses in the opening round and third place match to the same competitor.

“Another top person in our bracket in the semifinals and she’ll [Horsley] get another look at that same girl probably this weekend at the duals. There’s some things we need to work on … That’s the thing about Eleasah, she absolutely cannot stand losing. She is so determined to keep driving and make those improvements,” coach Horsley said. “Nalani of course is showing great confidence and strength in her wrestling. She’s just a fantastic, fun athlete to watch wrestle.”

The Panthers also had Aubrey Blount go 0-2 at 125 pounds and Stella Schmidtberger went 0-2 at 155 pounds, with coach Horsley noting the improvement from two of their newer wrestlers so far.

“This was their second tournament … it’s a tough tournament and they showed a lot of heart. They’re all there the entire weekend no matter what, with smiles on their faces, and cheering each other on,” coach Horsley said.

As a team the Panthers finished sixth with 123 points, the highest Wyoming team just ahead of Sheridan which tied for seventh with 120 points despite the Broncs entering three times as many wrestlers as the Panthers.

Coach Horsley noted how proud he is of the group for continuing to place highly in each tournament.

“I keep telling them that we’re here to tackle giants. We take it one step at a time to tackle a giant this weekend, I think they proved it to themselves and the teams across Montana and Wyoming,” coach Horsley said. “I couldn’t be prouder of who they are, how they compete and how they represent Powell High School … It just shows you what caliber of ladies these girls are, and I couldn’t be prouder of them.”

Powell turns around quickly and heads to Laurel today (Tuesday) to take part in a quad along with Cody against Laurel and Huntley Project at 5 p.m.

The Panthers then head back to Montana on Saturday, taking part in a set of duals against the highest level schools in Billings — Billings West, Skyview and Senior.

“Their conditioning is coming along, really starting to see some of those technical skills start to sharpen up a little bit more,” coach Horsley said. “It’ll be fun to have them keep improving as a team. These duals we’re going to give up a lot because we don’t have a full team, then we have to figure out where they can wrestle … Some girls will have a match here and there, but some won’t. I’m just trying to find matches for them in the duals.”

The Panthers will compete at home for the first time early next week, hosting Worland in a dual on Jan. 13.