A scheduled double dual on Tuesday night in Cody turned into a single dual for the Powell Panther boys’ wrestling team following a scheduling issue with Laurel, as the Panthers fell short in a close dual against Huntley Project 42-35.

“We wrestled well in certain areas,” coach Nick Fulton said. “We got some young guys some experience … Obviously we’d like to win those duals, but it’s all about matches this time of year.”

HUNTLEY PROJECT 42, POWELL 35

Kicking off the dual at 132 pounds, Tyler Wenzel fell short for the Panthers in an 11-3 major decision against Huntley Project to make it 4-0 early.

That started a trio of victories for the Red Devils, who went on to pin Broc Frank in the first round at 138 pounds and earn a 15-0 tech fall over Chase Visocky in the third period at 144 pounds to make it 15-0 early.

Powell got on the board at 150 pounds, when Patrick Haney dominated in a 16-0 tech fall at the end of the second period.

“Patrick had a nice match, kind of got us started there,” Fulton said. “That kid is a two-time state medalist and Patrick tech falled him and looked really confident in his positions.”

Huntley Project responded with an 18-1 tech fall at 157 pounds in the second period over Powell’s Reese Lowe.

McKale Foley got Powell another victory, getting a pin in the second period at 165 pounds to make it 20-11.

Another pair of Red Devils wins came at 175 pounds with a pin of Michael Legerski in the second period, while Dusty Carter fell via a 10-0 major decision at 190 pounds.

“That kid (Carter’s opponent) was a Bozeman champ. We had some scoring opportunities in that match, but that’s a top tier kid.”

Powell narrowed the scoreline at the heavyweight positions as Jacob Eaton got a forfeit at 215 pounds and Doug Bettger got a pin in the first period at 285 pounds to make it 30-23 swinging back to the lighter weights.

“Doug did Doug things. He’s pretty good with that front head, pretty good with his near side. Then when that didn’t work he changed off, he ran a nice wing on top and got a pin for us,” Fulton said.

Hunter Moulton got the nod for the Panthers at 106 pounds, but fell via pin in the second period.

“An undersized freshman going out there at 106 for us, and scrapping. The kid battled and he’s learning, I was appreciative of his effort,” Fulton said.

Jonathan Hine followed at 113 pounds and also fell via pin in the second period to guarantee the win for the Red Devils.

Powell closed the gap at the final two weights, with both Gabe Whiting and Chevy Hill earning pins in their respective matches at 120 and 126 pounds to make the final score 42-35.

“Huntley is a good bunch. They’re well coached, they’re kind of on a nice little roll right now,” Fulton said.

The Panthers will now move into a little extended break after the two quick events to start the new year, taking this upcoming weekend off and preparing over the next week to return to Montana on Jan. 17-18.

“We have a good week ahead of us that we can practice and sharpen up a little bit. We had a quick turnaround there, one day of practice and then back at it,” Fulton said. “A whole list of things that we can work on from Bozeman weekend and then from tonight as well, get us ready for Missoula and then into our Wyoming stretch.”

The Missoula tournament will be the final out-of-state action for the Panthers, as they will return to Wyoming for a dual in Lander on Jan. 23 followed by the Lander Invite on Jan. 24-25.