Days of bitterly cold, subzero temperatures didn’t keep the Panther wrestling squad from warming up to victory in four of its five matches last week — defeating Cascade, Choteau and Conrad, while winning one and losing one to the Manhattan Tigers.
Saturday’s match against Broadwater was cancelled due to the wrestling and basketball teams being quarantined.
The Panthers came out strong against Manhattan at home on Monday, Feb. 8, dominating the field at nearly every weight class, ending the dual with a 48-12 victory.
Leo Anderson (103 lbs.), Dominick Davis (113 lbs.), Dylan Mikesell (120 lbs.), Christian Davis (126 lbs.), John Armstrong (145 lbs.), Jace Oxarart (152 lbs.), Braeden Jones (182 lbs.) and Joe Riehl (205 lbs.) all put points on the board for the Panthers.
Armstrong and Oxarart took their opponents by pin in their respective competitions as well as in exhibition.
Wyatt Rauch also won by pin in an exhibition match.
Manhattan returned fire on Friday, when the Tigers took on the Panthers again in what is called a multi-team mixer. It was the last match out of four being hosted at Cascade. This time, the Tigers got the better of the Panthers, winning 18-6.
Jones at 182 pounds scored the only points for Jefferson. Keaton Poulsen at 145 pounds, Wyatt Rauch at 160 pounds and Matt Riehl at 285 pounds were not as fortunate.
Prior to that match, the Panthers competed against three smaller teams, Cascade, Choteau and Conrad, which didn’t have wrestlers below 126 pounds — weight classes where JHS is strong with Anderson, Dominick Davis, Mikesell and Christian Davis.
Jefferson would have overwhelmed the smaller teams due to their inability to fill weight classes, so team scores were only kept for the individual matches that were contested.
Against Cascade, Dayton Brown bumped up a weight class and pinned his opponent at 126 pounds. Oxarart was able to pin his opponent at145 pounds. Wyatt Rauch was defeated at 160 pounds and Matt Riehl lost a close match at 285 pounds.
Jefferson defeated Cascade 12-9.
Next up, the Panthers took a bite out of the the Choteau Bulldogs, winning 9-6.
Armstrong, wrestling at 138 pounds, won by decision in overtime against a former state placer. Kaden Johnson was defeated at 152 pounds while Jones pinned his opponent at 182 pounds.
Conrad was next with the Panthers picking up another victory 11-9. Oxarart won by technical fall (19-4) at 145 pounds and Johnson won by pin at 160 pounds. Armstrong lost a close 3-0 decision against a former two-time state runner-up. Poulsen was defeated at 152 pounds.
Coach’s comments: We won a lot of matches this week even though our lighter wrestlers were not able to compete due to lack of competitors with the other teams. We continue to suit up more athletes than most other teams we face, which gives us a distinct advantage in duals. I was also pleased that we finished the week with a 3-1 record.
Armstrong has been selected by his coaches as the JHS Panther Wrestler of the week. Armstrong had a 3-1 record on the week and wrestled great against two competitors who had brought home hardware from previous state competitions.
Oxarart had the quick pin of the week for the Panthers when he pinned his opponent in 37 seconds during his match with Cascade.
The next action for the Panther wrestling team will be at Whitehall on Thursday, Feb. 18 at 6 pm. The team travels to Three Forks on Friday, Feb. 19 with action starting at 6 p.m. Jefferson will host East Helena and Cut Bank for their final competition of the regular season on Saturday, Feb. 20 starting at 1 p.m. This is also senior night for the Panther wrestlers.
