With more suited wrestlers than its been able to muster all season, the Panthers improved its performance against rival Whitehall — ending the match 36-36 and with the Trojans taking the win due to tie-breaking criteria — a close match that JHS considered a victory.
The remaining four duals, with the Panthers nearly at or at full strength, were all wins for Jefferson High School as the team now begins divisionals this week.
The Panthers were able to suit up 15 when the team traveled to Whitehall on Feb. 18 to take on St. Ignatius-Charlo and Whitehall. Prior to that dual, the team had only managed to field 12 wrestlers.
St. Ignatius-Charlo was the first dual of the evening with Jefferson coming out on top 42-24. Leo Anderson at 103 pounds, Dylan Mikesell at 113 pounds and Dayton Brown at 120 pounds all put points on the board. Isaac Van Blaricom at 126 pounds and Zack Supalla at 132 pounds both lost their matches. John Armstrong at 138 pounds and Jace Oxarart at 145 pounds both won by pin. Kaden Johnson at 152 pounds and Wyatt Rauch at 160 pounds both lost their matches while Braeden Jones at 182 pounds won by pin. Joe Riehl at 205 pounds would lose his match while brother Matt Riehl won at 285 pounds.
The second dual was against cross-county rival Whitehall.
Once again, Jefferson went on a scoring run in the lighter weights with Anderson, Mikesell and Brown putting points on the board. Anderson and Brown won by pin. Christian Davis and Supalla were not as fortunate. Armstrong stapled his opponent to put the Panthers up 24-12. The Trojans would go on a scoring run as Oxarart, Keaton Poulsen and Johnson were defeated. Jefferson was behind 24-27.
Rauch secured a pin and Jones got a win to put the Panthers up 36-27. Both Riehl brothers were defeated and now the score was tied 36-36. Whitehall would win the dual by tie breaker criteria, but it was still a victory for Jefferson as the Trojans had beaten them soundly twice before earlier in the season.
The Panthers traveled to Three Forks on Friday, Feb. 19. Three Forks had gotten the best of Jefferson earlier in the season by a lopsided 44-12 margin. The Panthers were at full strength with all 16 of their wrestlers suited up, so they were intent on reversing the previous outcome. To start the dual, Anderson lost a close decision. Mikesell picked up an overtime victory while teammate Brown stapled his opponent. Up next, Van Blaricom was defeated and Supalla picked up a Panther victory. Surprisingly, Jefferson lost the next three matches as Armstrong, Oxarart and Johnson were defeated.
The Panthers were behind 15-24, but the big guys got on a roll and won the next four matches. Wyatt Rauch, Braeden Jones, Joe Riehl and Matt Riehl all claimed victory with Joe Riehl winning with an exciting pin. The Panthers got their revenge on the Wolves and won the dual 39-24. Several exhibition matches took place after the dual, with Dominick and Christian Davis, Supalla, Colman Thornton, Poulsen, Rauch and Jones participating. Christian Davis, Poulsen and Jones all won by pin.
The final competition of the week was Feb. 20 when Jefferson hosted East Helena and Cut Bank. This was also senior night and the Panthers paid tribute to wrestlers Christian and Dominick Davis, Matt Riehl and Miles Dodge as well as manager Kim Riehl.
East Helena was the first dual up for Jefferson as they flexed their muscles with a 51-12 victory. Anderson, Christian Davis, Brown, Thornton, Poulsen, Rauch, Jones, Joe Riehl and Matt Riehl all scored points for the Panthers with Davis, Thornton, Poulsen, Rauch, Jones and Joe Riehl all doing so by pin. Van Blaricom and Johnson also wrestled for Jefferson. Several exhibition matches took place after the dual, with Dominick Davis, Mikesell, Armstrong and Jace Oxarart winning by pin.
The next dual up was against perennial powerhouse Cut Bank. Anderson started it off with a quick pin followed by a decision by Mikesell. Brown, Van Blaricom, Armstrong and Poulsen were defeated to put the score at 21-9 in favor of the Wolves. Things looked a little gloomy until Oxarart and Johnson both pinned their opponents to bring the score to a 21-21 tie. Rauch was up next and was overpowered but did not get pinned. After this match it was all Jefferson. Jones and Joe Riehl scored points for the Panthers. With the victory already at hand, the big cat Matt Riehl stepped up and tossed his opponent around the mat. Riehl finally pinned his opponent in the third period to put Jefferson on top 39-26.
Coach’s comments: It was so exciting to finally be at full strength and show our potential. Coming into the week I thought we would realistically be 2-3 in duals based on how we fared against these teams in previous meetings. Ending up 4-1 with our only loss being a tie with Whitehall was beyond my expectations.
Joe Riehl has been selected by his coaches as the JHS Panther Wrestler of the week. Riehl scored valuable team points in three of his matches with two of those coming by way of pin. Riehl helped “seal the deal” in two of our duals.
Braeden Jones had the quick pin of the week for the Panthers when he pinned his opponent in a blistering eight seconds during the East Helena dual. Jones also had a pin of 15 seconds during the St Ignatius-Charlo dual. Both of these times lead the team for the season.
The next action for the Panther wrestling team will be the Western BC Divisional Tournament in Cut Bank on Feb. 26-27. The wrestlers will need to place in the top eight in their weight class to qualify for the state tournament.
