| Panthers
split against two 4A antagonists
The Panthers split a pair of wrestling duals against 4A visitors Dec. 16. Casper Natrona downed Powell 40-20 in the early-afternoon dual. Later, the Panthers upended Kelly Walsh, 45-30. Against the Mustangs of Natrona, Powell fell behind 18-0 through the first five weight brackets before George Laughlin got the first win at 135 pounds. Laughlin and Kyle Henderson battled in a terrific match that went to the Panther sophomore, 5-3, on a takedown in each of the first and second periods and a third-period escape. In the earlier bouts, Kanin Asay lost 5-3 to Derick English at 103 and Tanner Shuler wrestled one of the top dogs in 4A close before dropping a 4-2 decision to Bryce Leonhardt at 119. Evan Kawano fell by a 6-4 score to Clyde Barella and Jared Shuler came up on the short end against Benny Roberts, 7-1. Powell was open at 112. Panther senior Ryan Richardson went to the mat after Laughlin, taking on Natrona's Brock Leclere. Richardson scored a takedown and a three-point near-fall in the opening two minutes, added a reversal in the second and added an escape and another takedown in the third. Leclere came up empty on the scoreboard, making it a 10-0 major decision for Richardson. Andy Scott kept things going Powell's way at 145 with an exciting victory over Mick Novotny, 1-0, on a single, second-period escape. Novotny needed only a two-point takedown to win, but Scott refused to give it up to the increasingly desperate and frustrated Mustang. By the last half of the third period the crowd was in full roar as Novotny threw himself at Scott's legs time after time. But in every instance the Powell senior slipped away until, finally, the horn brought the house down. "Andy did a good job beating that kid," said Panther Coach Steve Zawacki. "He (Novotny) was second in the (4A) state tournament last year." Shane Zawacki quickly overpowered his 152-pound opponent, Wayne Linford, with a pin that came in just 48 seconds with the Panther senior leading 2-0. Sophomore Trevor Gillett, trailing by a count of 5-0 at the time, was pinned in 3:18 by Mustang Mike Malone. Senior Carson Kleinfeldt got four points right back, though, with a major decision, 11-1, in the 171-pound bout. Kleinfeldt got a takedown in the first, a reversal and two back points in the second and a takedown and three-point near-fall in the third while giving up only a one-point escape in the second. With three matches to go the Panthers were right back in it with the Mustangs leading 24-20. But 20 were all the points Powell was going to get. Panther junior Jacob Jarrett got caught in a mistake and was pinned by Josh Elliot in :30 at 189, Powell was open at 215 and heavyweight Tom Fulton dropped a 10-0 major decision to the Mustangs' big man, Joe Fiumara. |
George Laughlin works a cross face on Natrona's Kyle Henderson. The Panther defeated his Mustang opponent 5-3. "We just weren't intense enough," said Zawacki of some losses that might have gone the other way. "We won five matches so we didn't beat them on the mat. And we gave them two (forfeits at open weights) for 12 points. That was big, too." Just like against Natrona, Laughlin notched the first Powell victory when the Panthers faced Kelly Walsh. "George wrestled well," said Zawacki. "He had a very good day." Laughlin rolled up a 6-3 lead on Trojan Nic Dillon, then ended it at the 3:34 mark with a pin. Ahead of Laughlin's win, Asay opened the dual with a 13-4 major decision loss to Adrian Tyler, the Panthers were open again at 112 with the absence of Nate Nix, Tanner Shuler fell to a 5:32 pin by Kellen Miller, Kawano lost to Kyle Dye by major decision, 14-5, and Jared Shuler suffered a major decision defeat to Josh Tolin, 13-4. "They were real solid in the lower weights," said the coach of his lightweight Panthers' Trojan opponents. Richardson followed Laughlin with a pin of Jance Elston in 4:59, leading 8-0. Scott won 7-3 over Jon Butler on a takedown and two back points in the first, an escape in the second and a third-period takedown. Zawacki made it less than 100 seconds of work in the two duals combined by taking a quick 4-0 lead, then pinning Matt Henderson in :45. The next match was a pin, too, only this time Gillett was the victim when Trojan James Shipley got a 5:41 fall while leading 7-2. Then came the killers for Kelly Walsh, which was open against Kleinfeldt, Jarrett and Wayne Gines in order. The trio of forfeits added 18 points to Powell's total, three more than the Panthers' winning margin of 15. In the final match of the dual, Panther senior Tom Fulton broke a scoreless tie against Trojan heavyweight Shane Davis in a big way, winning by pin with 36 seconds gone in the second period. "Tom getting that pin helped us," said Zawacki, adding that longer term help will come now that Matt Lawson (215) and Nix (112) are ready to go back into the lineup. Both have been sidelined with injury but will be ready to go when school reconvenes in the new year. The back-to-back duals wrapped up the Panthers' pre-holiday break schedule. They will take a 3-1 dual record to the two-day Gillette Invitational on Thursday and Friday, Jan. 4-5. |
