RANGELY I The Rangely Panthers wrestling team traveled to Oak Creek to compete in the South Routt County (Soroco) Invitational Tournament and six of the grapplers placed in the top four.
The competition featured eight other teams, including Hayden, Buena Vista, Steamboat Springs, West Grand, Battle Mountain, Lake County, Soroco and the Panthers. Rangely finished in fifth place.
Four Panthers wrestled in the championship match, but none won a title while two others finished fourth.
Heath Peters (132), Caleb Lawson (145), Lucas Heinle (152) and Ethan allred (170) all advanced to the finals but all finished second. Nych DeLeon (JV-145) and Ryan Wilczek (195) finished fourth in their respective weights. KiKi Ruiz won a match but did not place.
“We started the day off wrestling exceptionally well,” head coach Jeff Heinle said. “Caleb, Nych and Lucas all wrestled in five- and six-man round robins and we had a tough final round, losing all six matches to quality wrestlers.
“Caleb lost in sudden death overtime, Lucas lost by one point, Nych and Ryan both lost by three,” he said.
The Panthers will wrestle Alamont and Duchesne in Altamont, Utah, tonight before traveling across the state to Wray, where they will wrestle the Eagles in a dual on Friday, then compete in the Bob White Invitational on Saturday.