The Jefferson High School Panther wrestling team took fourth place at the State Wrestling Tournament on Friday and Saturday, Feb. 10 and 11. The tournament is an all-class event held at the Metra in Billings. Forty-two teams were entered into the B/C State T,ournament.
Nine Panthers qualified for the tournament including Dylan Mikesell and Leighton LaFromboise at 120 pounds, Dayton Brown at 126 pounds, Colman Thornton at 138 pounds, Jace Oxarart at 145 pounds, John Armstrong at 152 pounds, Brady Armstrong at 182 pounds, Jeyden Sullivan at 205 pounds and Kolbe Michaud at 285 pounds. The Panthers had their work cut out for them after a disappointing fourth place finish at the Western B/C Divisionals the week before.
In the first round Mikesell, both Armstrongs and Sullivan were able to secure a win by pin, which put them into the quarterfinals. Next up was the quarterfinals, where a win would guarantee a spot on the podium and an advancement to day two. The Armstrong brothers registered a victory to put them into the semifinals and guarantee them a spot on the awards podium and earn All-State recognition. In the first round of consolation, LaFromboise, Brown, Thornton and Oxarart won by pin while Michaud was eliminated. The second round of consolation found Mikesell, Brown, Oxarart and Sullivan winning by pin to qualify them for the second day of competition.
This was the final round of the first day. Jefferson was in fourth place with 52 points in the team standings and qualified six wrestlers for the second day.
On day two in the semifinals both John and Brady Armstrong won to put them into the finals. In the consolation bracket Dylan Mikesell, Jace Oxarart and Jeyden Sullivan won to reach All-State status, which was the third time for Mikesell. Dayton Brown was eliminated and fell one match short of placing. In the consolation semifinals Mikesell won by pin while Oxarart and Sullivan were defeated. In the consolation finals Mikesell was defeated to finish fourth. For fifth and sixth place both Oxarart and Sullivan finished in sixth place. Jefferson had moved up to third place earlier in the day but slid back to fourth place after wins were hard to come by in the final consolation round.
Next up was the finals. John Armstrong faced an opponent from Anaconda that he had beaten for the divisional finals and was 3-1 against for the season. In a close match Armstrong was able to prevail with a 3-2 score and became the Panther’s first state champion since Tommy Clement won the title in 2005. Next up was sophomore Brady Armstrong, who was facing an opponent from Chinook who was undefeated and a previous state champion. Armstrong took the early lead but was reversed and fell behind by a point. With time running out, Armstrong reversed his opponent, but the officials determined that time had expired. The younger Armstrong would have to settle for runner up after a 3-2 loss. Jefferson was able to eclipse the 100-point benchmark and ended up with 101 team points, just under the team record 112 points set a year earlier. The Panthers would end up in fourth place, just shy of bringing home some hardware, and have five state placers.
Coach Humphrey’s comments: State champions have been elusive for this team. The Panthers have placed several into the finals over the years, but always seem to come up just short. The wrestling team represented their school well all season and fell a little shy of their goal of bringing home a trophy from state. The Panthers knew it would be tough to secure a trophy after finishing fourth at division, but they came out on fire and fought hard until the end and nearly reached their goal. Jefferson does graduate a number of seniors; however, the future looks bright for Jefferson wrestling.
