The Jefferson High School wrestling team hosted Townsend, Anaconda, Whitehall and Deer Lodge for a mixer on Thursday, January 12. In the mixer format wrestlers are matched up according to weight and ability and no team scores are kept. Two mats were used as the evening had 63 matches lined up which provided plenty of wrestling action for the spectators.
The Panther squad has been hit hard by the injury and sickness bug and so Jefferson was only able to suit up twelve wrestlers including Cody St. Clair, Michael Mitchell and Jayzic Beaupre at 113 pounds, Eli Hauptman and Tyler Dryer at 120 pounds, Jacob Travis at 138 pounds, Derek Nygaard at 145 pounds, Brett Hale and Jeremias Auch at 170 pounds, Asher Oliver at 182 pounds, Nick Workman at 205 pounds and Nathan Rasch at 285 pounds.
In the first round Beaupre, Nygaard, Hale, Oliver and Rasch registered pins while Mitchell earned a 4-0 decision. The second round found Mitchell, Travis, Nygaard, Hale, Oliver, Workman and Rasch in the winner’s circle when all seven of the Panthers won by pin. The Panther wrestling team got on the bus the next morning and traveled to Choteau to compete in a two day tournament on January 13 and 14.
