Seven come home with medals A loaded field greeted the Powell wrestlers at Miles City last weekend, but the Panthers fought their way to seven individual medals and a third-place team finish among 30 teams from four states.Randy Andrews and Auston Carter reached the finals for the Panthers but had to settle for second place. Monte Nickles finished fourth, while Charles Wittick, Trent Gillett, Jimmy Seckman, and Cole Kary finished fifth. Jessee Craig brought home sixth place.Defending Wyoming 4A champion Gillette won the tournament, although, like Powell, they had only two wrestlers in the finals, and Billings Skyview finished second. Powell edged Belgrade, Mont., second ranked among Montana class A schools, for third place in the 30 team tournament. Coach Nate Urbach said the tournament featured top wrestlers in every weight. “Most weights had eight to 10 really good wrestlers and some had 12,” Urbach said.An example was at 119, Urbach said, where he could not get Jessee Craig seeded in the top eight despite his 20-4 record for the season. He added that when three-time state champion Auston Carter reached the finals, he faced another three-time champ in Hunter Azure of Poplar, Mont., who won the match by pinning Carter late in the second period.“Auston ran into a buzz saw,” Urbach said of Azure.Andrews wrestled well to earn his second-place medal, and coupled with Gillett's fifth-place win, a pin in 34 seconds, gave the Panthers two medalists at 140. Nickles lost two matches, both to Carson Hilliard of Billings Skyview, who finished second in 2A in Montana last season. Craig lost his first match to a top-seeded wrestler at 119, a weight that was loaded, according to Urbach, but wrestled his way back through the wrestlebacks for his sixth place finish. Seckman advanced to semi-finals before losing a close match and Kary and Wittick both won key matches on their way to fifth-place.Among the non-placers, Urbach noted that heavyweight Trevor Griffeth came within five seconds of reaching a medal round, the closest he has come to placing this year, and Joe Lujan also wrestled well. Olie Olson reached the second round of the wrestlebacks before being eliminated by a Montana state medalist.“I was real happy with them,” Urbach said of his team. “We had lots of pins and scored a lot of points in a real tough tournament.”This week, the Panthers duel with Greybull/Riverside, the top-rated 2A team at 7 p.m., Thursday. The team also travels to the Buffalo tournament, scheduled to begin at noon Friday at Buffalo High School.

Seven come home with medals

A loaded field greeted the Powell wrestlers at Miles City last weekend, but the Panthers fought their way to seven individual medals and a third-place team finish among 30 teams from four states.

Randy Andrews and Auston Carter reached the finals for the Panthers but had to settle for second place. Monte Nickles finished fourth, while Charles Wittick, Trent Gillett, Jimmy Seckman, and Cole Kary finished fifth. Jessee Craig brought home sixth place.

Defending Wyoming 4A champion Gillette won the tournament, although, like Powell, they had only two wrestlers in the finals, and Billings Skyview finished second. Powell edged Belgrade, Mont., second ranked among Montana class A schools, for third place in the 30 team tournament.

Coach Nate Urbach said the tournament featured top wrestlers in every weight.

“Most weights had eight to 10 really good wrestlers and some had 12,” Urbach said.

An example was at 119, Urbach said, where he could not get Jessee Craig seeded in the top eight despite his 20-4 record for the season. He added that when three-time state champion Auston Carter reached the finals, he faced another three-time champ in Hunter Azure of Poplar, Mont., who won the match by pinning Carter late in the second period.

“Auston ran into a buzz saw,” Urbach said of Azure.

Andrews wrestled well to earn his second-place medal, and coupled with Gillett's fifth-place win, a pin in 34 seconds, gave the Panthers two medalists at 140. Nickles lost two matches, both to Carson Hilliard of Billings Skyview, who finished second in 2A in Montana last season. Craig lost his first match to a top-seeded wrestler at 119, a weight that was loaded, according to Urbach, but wrestled his way back through the wrestlebacks for his sixth place finish.

Seckman advanced to semi-finals before losing a close match and Kary and Wittick both won key matches on their way to fifth-place.

Among the non-placers, Urbach noted that heavyweight Trevor Griffeth came within five seconds of reaching a medal round, the closest he has come to placing this year, and Joe Lujan also wrestled well. Olie Olson reached the second round of the wrestlebacks before being eliminated by a Montana state medalist.

“I was real happy with them,” Urbach said of his team. “We had lots of pins and scored a lot of points in a real tough tournament.”

This week, the Panthers duel with Greybull/Riverside, the top-rated 2A team at 7 p.m., Thursday. The team also travels to the Buffalo tournament, scheduled to begin at noon Friday at Buffalo High School.