Wrapping up the regular season on the road the Powell Panther tennis team made the trip to Casper to take on Kelly Walsh and Natrona County on Saturday.

The boys’ team narrowly lost to Kelly Walsh 3-2 before defeating Natrona County 4-1, while the girls fell short to Kelly Walsh 5-0 and Natrona County 4-1.

BOYS

KELLY WALSH 3, POWELL 2

The boys opened against Kelly Walsh first, where close matches happened throughout the lineup.

Nathan Preator at No. 1 singles narrowly won his first set 7-6 (7-4) before claiming a dominant second set victory 6-1 against Bode Stand.

At No. 2 singles, Trevion Solberg claimed a dominant opening set win 6-0, before a closer second set edged just in Solberg’s favor 7-6 (11-9) against Landon Ramsey.

“A pretty quick start in the first set was great,” coach Joe Asay said. “Then the kid kind of settled in and they just really had some tremendous tennis … It was a great win for him, definitely fun to see him battle in there.”

The Panthers struggled more in the doubles, as Taeson Schultz and Ryan Barrus fell against Mile Romer and Lochlan Byrnes 2-6, 2-6.

Isaac Stensing and Alex Watts claimed a strong 6-2 opening set win against Ayden Boyles and Laird Larsen, before the Trojans flipped the script in the second and third sets 1-6, 3-6.

At No. 3 doubles, Memphis Solberg and Calvin Opps came up short against Cooper Levin and Jackson Murdock 2-6, 1-6.

POWELL 4, NATRONA COUNTY 1

Turning around against the Mustangs in the afternoon the Panthers were looking to cap off the regular season with a win.

Preator finished off his strong day with a win over Zach Chenevert, 6-4, 6-3.

Trevion Solberg followed up with a close match at No. 2 singles, but narrowly missed a second win against Broc Anderson falling 2-6, 6-4, 6-7 (2-7).

The doubles teams rebounded from their losses earlier in the day, starting with Schultz and Barrus defeating Josh Rayes and Jeremiah Martin 6-4, 6-4.

“I would say Taeson and Ryan had a hard time finishing, but ultimately did kind of put things together,” Asay said.

Another three set match came at No. 2 doubles, with Stensing and Watts pulling a reverse result from their earlier match, coming back against Noah Estes and Thomas Gorman 0-6, 6-0, 6-1.

Wrapping up the strong matches for the Panthers were Memphis Solberg and Opps, who earned a 6-3, 7-5 win.

GIRLS

KELLY WALSH 5, POWELL 0

On the girls’ side, the Panthers came up against a consistently difficult opponent in the Trojans first.

It was a difficult match throughout, starting with Naomi Whipple at No. 1 singles falling to Harper Klinger 2-6, 3-6.

“Harper is probably one of the stronger players as a senior girl,” Asay said. “A lot of good, competitive tennis there, and once again, always a lot of good depth there with the Kelly Walsh girls.”

At No. 2 singles, Sophie Czirr battled against Olivia Wilson, but fell short 4-6, 3-6.

Kyra Morrow and Anneliese Peterson had a difficult matchup at No. 1 doubles, as they fell 0-6, 1-6 to Mya Hager and Sarah Klosterman.

Isabelle Urbach and Elaina Kousoulos matched up with Lauren Bradfield and Hailey Larsen at No. 2 doubles, but were unable to find a set win in a 2-6, 3-6 loss.

The lone set win against Kelly Walsh came from Bailee Allred and Ava Stearns at No. 3 doubles, as they lost the first set 1-6, rebounded in the second set 6-3 before losing the third set 1-6 to Clarabelle Ramsey and Whitney Bradfield.

NATRONA COUNTY 4, POWELL 1

Against the Fillies the Panthers saw close matches throughout, but were only able to pick up one victory to wrap up the regular season.

At No. 1 singles, Whipple won the first set 6-2 against Clara Mueller before losing the next two sets 2-6, 1-6.

Czirr also had a close match at No. 2 singles against Madeline Elston, losing the first set 2-6 and the second set 6-7 (4-7).

Morrow and Peterson came within a couple break points against Arielle Purcell and Jordynn Scott, losing the first set 4-6, winning the second set 6-3, before losing the third set 4-6.

Urbach and Kousoulos won the first set against Emily Biggs and Ellie McMaster 7-6 (7-4), before losing the second and third sets 3-6, 1-6, respectively.

“There were three three-set matches, and unfortunately came up short but played really good tennis throughout,” Asay said. 

The lone win for the Panthers came at No. 3 doubles, as Allred and Stearns defeated Bentley Abegglen and Sara Lester 6-3, 6-1.

REGIONALS IN CASPER

Powell heads right back to Casper this weekend, taking part in the north regional tournament.

That tournament was supposed to start later in the week, but has been pushed up to be Wednesday and Thursday due to forecasted weather.

“I’m pretty excited about all of them getting out there to compete,” Asay said. “It’ll be fun to see them all battle.”