Powell High School’s junior varsity wrestlers ventured to Worland over the weekend, competing in the Battle of the Bighorns — a varsity meet made up of duals — on Friday and Saturday. The Panthers went 1-2 on the weekend, defeating Worland and falling to Thermopolis and Glenrock.

A week after the JV squad opened the season with a series of home duals, coach Cody Kalberer saw significant growth from the group of wrestlers.

“Overall, I thought the kids wrestled well,” Kalberer said. “We had some kids win some tough matches, and we avoided some of the mistakes that we made during our first week. They showed a higher level of intensity as well, which was great to see.”

Two of the wrestlers who stood out as improvers from week one to week two were Caleb Cruz and Hadley Mehling. Cruz pinned Worland’s Jaiden Lloyd in 37 seconds, while Mehling earned a win over Glenrock’s JD Holman via pin.

“I thought they brought a high level of intensity to their matches and really corrected some of the mistakes they had made during the previous week,” Kalberer said.

When the new year arrives, the JV squad will compete Saturday, Jan. 9 in a set of home duals. Based on what he saw in Worland, Kalberer expects to see even more growth once the wrestlers return from winter break.

“I was happy to see that many of the mistakes we went over after our first competition were corrected, and that’s a credit to the effort these kids are putting in during practice,” Kalberer said. “As a coaching staff we expect to see them improve throughout the year as they become more comfortable with the technique we are showing.”