Returning from break and continuing to battle illness and injuries the Powell Panther wrestling team earned a finalist and a third place medalist at the Tom LeProwse Tournament in Bozeman, Montana, on Friday and Saturday.

McKale Foley led the way for the Panthers, finishing second at 165 pounds.

He earned a 5-1 record, including three straight pins to begin the tournament.

He followed those pins with a 10-3 decision against Colten Conover of Flathead before an 8-7 sudden victory over Tucker Kaczmarek of Huntley Project in the semifinal.

“He wrestled the kid from Huntley and they were 1-1 throughout the year, which is kind of crazy that two kids have wrestled three times in the first three weeks, but ended up getting the win in overtime and was aggressive,” coach Nick Fulton said. “He’s just Mr. Consistent, he goes hard all the time; really strong, really aggressive and doing good things.”

Foley was pinned by Boden Bentley of Billings West in the final.

The next highest placer for the Panthers was Doug Bettger, who went 5-1 at 285 to take home third place.

After a close first round win 6-4 against Logan Scherman from Baker, Bettger secured two straight pins to reach the semifinal.

Bettger fell via pin to Ethan Wock of Whitehall in the semifinals before earning a pin in the consolation semifinals and a 6-1 decision over Tye Brown from Laurel in the third place match.

“He had a close match in the first round and then was dominant all the way up to the semis,” Fulton said. “The kid was just kind of a little bit weird and got Doug in a weird position. Heavyweights, that’s a tough position to be in. But Doug showed a lot of character.”

Jacob Eaton finished 4-2 at 215 pounds, Gabe Whiting went 3-2 at 118 pounds, Patrick Haney went 3-2 at 150 pounds, Denton Wainscott finished 3-2 at 215 pounds, Reese Lowe went 2-2 at 150 pounds, Wyatt Nicholson went 1-2 at 118 pounds, Tyler Wenzel went 1-2 at 132 pounds, Broc Frank went 1-2 at 138 pounds, Chase Visocky finished 1-2 at 144 pounds, Cody Seifert went 1-2 at 157 pounds, Jonathan Hine finished 0-2 at 110 pounds.

“I saw so much improvement from my guys, especially the mental aspect. They’re staying in matches better and just not panicking as much throughout the course of a match,” Fulton said. “We beat some really good guys up there. I think the bulk of my lineup got wins and they wrestled really well. Most matches we lost, we wrestled those matches well … I thought we were an improved team, and I expect more improvement.”

Five starters were missing from the lineup for the Panthers, who finished 15th as a team with 100 points just ahead of Cody which had 93.5 as the only Wyoming teams in attendance.

Billings West ran away with the team title with 269 points.

“They’re wrestling hard, they stayed in matches really well. They’re really focused right now,” Fulton said. “I’m excited to see their growth over the course of the next month. But coming out, missing five starters potentially, and we’re still the top Wyoming team there. Pretty happy.”

After the tournament in Bozeman the Panthers, along with several other teams in that tournament, will have a quick turnaround, as they will face Huntley Project and Laurel at a quad in Cody on Tuesday.

Cody and Powell will each take on the Montana teams in duals, as Laurel placed fourth in Bozeman and Huntley Project placed fifth.

“Really my focus for our guys is ‘hey, you’ve got to be better than you were the day before,’” Fulton said. “Sounds cliche a little bit, but I just told them to look themselves in the mirror and be a little bit better next time out. I think we’ve got to take it one day at a time right now.”

Fulton said they will be determining the lineup on Monday after assessing the team, before the Panthers take just over a week off from competition to practice before heading back into Montana on Jan. 17-18 to the Jug Beck Rocky Mountain Classic in Missoula.

“I’m looking forward to spending some time correcting some things and getting ready for Missoula, and then we hit the heart of our Wyoming season,” Fulton said. “I’m proud of the boys, they’re on the right track. I’m really excited for the second half of the season. They showed me a lot this weekend.”