The Jefferson High School Panther wrestling team opened up their season at the Badger Invitational Tournament in Cascade on Friday and Saturday, Dec. 2 and 3. The Panthers had eighteen wrestlers participate in the tournament, which had 20 teams entered.
The Panthers had a rocky start in the first round when Dominic Hurlbert at 113 pounds, Dylan Mikesell and Leighton LaFromboise at 120 pounds, Nik Richard at 126 pounds, Cooper Mikesell at 132 pounds and Jeyce Sullivan at 138 pounds all were defeated. Mike Richard advanced with a bye, but the Panthers got back on track when Colman Thornton at 138 pounds picked up a win by pin. Following suit were Jace Oxarart at 152 pounds, John Armstrong at 160 pounds, Hunter Steele at 170 pounds, Brady Armstrong at 182 pounds and Kolbe Michaud and Jeyden Sullivan at 205 pounds. Luke Jackson at 205 pounds advanced as well.
In the next quarterfinal round Thornton, Oxarart, both Armstrongs and Jeyden Sullivan all advanced by pin. In a consolation match LaFromboise was eliminated while Hurlbert, Nik Richard and both Mikesells advanced by pin. Mike Richard, Jeyce Sullivan and Dylan Stevens (at 285 pounds) were eliminated. The next round of consolation matches found Hurlbert, both Mikesells, Steele, Jackson and Michaud all advancing by pin.
The next round was the semifinals and Jefferson had five wrestlers competing. The Panthers had three wrestlers win by pin, which advanced them into Saturday’s finals. Jefferson’s finalists were John Armstrong, Brady Armstrong and Jeyden Sullivan.
The final round of the day was in the consolation bracket where a win would put the wrestler into the second day of action and guarantee them a spot on the awards podium. Dominic Hurlbert, Dylan Mikesell, Cooper Mikesell and Kolbe Michaud pinned their opponents to qualify for Saturday’s action.
In the girl’s division Shae Jones-Moore at 138 pounds advanced past two rounds to earn herself a spot on the awards podium as well.
The Jefferson wrestlers found themselves in unfamiliar territory. After the first day of competition they were in third place with 146 team points. The Panthers also advanced ten wrestlers into Saturday’s competition.
Saturday’s action started out in a mixer format for the wrestlers that were eliminated in Friday’s competition. Collecting a win for Jefferson in the mixer was Leighton LaFromboise, Cole Jeske and Dylan Stevens. Nik and Mike Richard, Jeyce Sullivan, Hunter Steele and Luke Jackson also competed in the mixer.
The varsity tournament started on Saturday with the consolation semifinals. The Panthers got on a roll as both Mikesells, Thornton, Oxarart and Michaud all won by pin to advance into the consolation finals. Hurlbert and Jones-Moore were defeated. In the fifth and sixth place matches Hurlbert and Jones-Moore finished sixth. In the third and fourth place matches Cooper Mikesell won by pin and Oxarart won by major decision to finish third while Dylan Mikesell, Thornton and Michaud finished in fourth place.
In the finals, John Armstrong and Jeyden Sullivan won by pin to finish as champions of the tournament. Brady Armstrong lost a close 5-4 decision to end up in second place. The Panthers had ten wrestlers finish in the top six in their weight class. Jefferson was able to close the gap considerably on second place Whitehall, but in the end the Panthers would be bringing home the third-place trophy.
Coach Humphrey’s comments: We managed to get past our less-than- spectacular start to put together a really great tournament. Our 200 team points would have won the tournament most years, but that wasn’t the case this year. Look for our team to improve as the season progresses.
Sullivan has been selected by his coaches as the JHS Panther Wrestler of the week. Sullivan steam-rolled through the competition to collect his first ever tournament championship.
Brady Armstrong had the quick pin of the tournament for the Panthers when he pinned his opponent in a blistering 9 seconds.
The next action for the Panther Wrestling team is a home mixer against Cascade, Deer Lodge, Manhattan and Three Forks on Thursday, Dec. 8 at 6:00 pm. This is also “Pack the House” night. The Panthers travel to the Whitehall Dual Team Tournament on Friday and Saturday, Dec. 9 and 10. This tournament will be in the dual team format and action gets underway at 10:00 a.m. each day.
