A tale of two matchups with the Casper schools over the weekend had both Powell tennis teams walk away 1-1 — with the girls losing to Kelly Walsh 5-0 and defeating Natrona County 3-2 while the boys lost to KW 4-1 and beat NC 4-1.

KELLY WALSH

Kicking off Saturday the Panthers came up against the defending state champions on both the boys and girls side in KW.

Cade Queen got the sole victory in No. 1 singles for the Panthers on either side, completing a comeback after losing the first set 3-6.

Queen battled back to win the second set 7-6 and the third set 7-5 to walk away with the victory over Owen Putnam.

“He [Queen] has been one of the strongest competitors at the No. 1 singles this year,” Panther tennis coach Joe Asay said. “He has been working very hard at it. His move to that No. 2 doubles spot as a sophomore and now No. 1 singles as a junior, he has put in a lot of work even during a busy baseball season in the summer.”

Nathan Preator had a difficult matchup at No. 2 singles, losing in straight sets 1-6, 1-6 to Isaak Mamot.

Kalin and Keegan Hicswa lost in their No. 1 doubles matchup 0-6, 1-6 to Ethan Palmer and Treydon Ward.

Seegar Wormald and Isaac Stensing dropped their matchup at No. 2 doubles 2-6, 0-6 to Miles Romer and Finn McCoul.

In No. 3 doubles, Ryan Barrus and Taeson Schultz dropped a difficult matchup to Patrick McGrath and Gage Christensen 2-6, 4-6.

On the girls side, Chase Anderson lost her No. 1 singles matchup to Gabriella Blumberg 0-6, 0-6.

Lachelle Lee lost her No. 2 singles matchup 1-6, 2-6 to Avery Strand.

In doubles, Alli Harp and Sydney Hull lost the No. 1 matchup to Bailey Collins and Taylor Nokes 1-6, 3-6.

Hannah Hincks and Alexis Terry lost the No. 2 doubles matchup 0-6, 3-6 to Ella Catchpole and Harper Klinger.

No. 3 doubles saw Maya Landwehr and Lucy Whipple drop their matchup 0-6, 1-6 to Malan Wilson and Keating Chase.

Despite the losses on the day, the Panthers felt strong about their tennis before heading across town to take on NC.

“I think we felt strong about our play even though the scores did not reflect it,” Asay said. “There were deuces and good play despite the scores.”

NATRONA COUNTY

After a short break, the Panthers matched up with NC who Powell has seen recent success against.

Queen built on the momentum of his No. 1 victory at KW earlier in the day, defeating Micah Bush in straight sets 6-0, 6-4.

Preator rebounded at the No. 2 singles spot, winning a tightly contested match against Titus Timbers 6-3, 4-6, 6-4.

The Hicswa brothers came back stronger in the afternoon, winning 6-2, 6-2 against Alek Stevens and Sam True.

Wormald and Stensing dropped the only match for the Panthers, losing 1-6, 4-6 to Jerome Neumiller and Grayson Ingram.

Barrus and Schultz had another tight matchup at No. 3 doubles, but came out on top 6-3, 6-4 over Zach Chenevert and Noah Estes.

For the girls, Anderson had a difficult matchup in the No. 1 singles against Marina Sanchez, losing 0-6, 1-6.

Lee walked away with a strong victory over Ari Gener Gallego in No. 2 singles 6-1, 6-0.

No. 1 doubles saw Harp and Hull defeat Asia Limmer and Iliana Tavlealea 7-6, 6-1.

NC got another victory at No. 2 doubles, with Hincks and Terry losing in three sets to Aubrey Vondra and Ilee Crabb 7-5, 1-6, 5-7.

Landwehr and Whipple secured the victory for the Panthers, winning 6-2, 6-1 over Madeline Elston and Jordynn Scott in No. 3 doubles.

REGIONALS

Powell wrapped up the season on Monday in Cody after the initial matchup was delayed from Thursday due to inclement weather. The results of that matchup were determined after the press deadline.

After wrapping up the regular season the Panthers will return home this weekend to host the North Regional Tennis Tournament on Friday and Saturday.

“The kids enjoy the travel and the time together,” Asay said. “I think they will miss that, but the opportunity to play on the courts they are familiar with and no distractions being on the road will be a positive thing.”

Due to Powell not having enough courts, the tournament will be using courts in Cody on Friday, with the No. 1 girls doubles, No. 2 boys doubles, No. 3 boys doubles and No. 3 girls doubles playing at Cody Middle School.

All Saturday matches will be played at Powell High School. Both days are scheduled to start at 8 a.m.