The NRHEG wrestling team traveled to Waterville Thursday night for a triangular meet against Waterville-Elysian-Morristown/Janesville-Waldorf-Pemberton and Lake Crystal-Wellcome Memorial.

The Panthers came away with two big wins, including a big comeback win against the Knights and a blowout win over the Buccaneers.

Starting out against the Knights, the Panthers found themselves in a 24-0 hole after the first five weight classes. Seventh-grader George Roesler turned the momentum around with a pinfall in the last second of the second period.

Sophomore Thor Routh picked up a major decision with a 12-2 victory at 145 pounds. Junior Argo Gushwa, freshman Ralph Roesler and senior Tyler Jacobson kept the energy rolling by notching three straight pinfalls, giving the Panthers a 28-24 lead.

Eighth-grader Makota Misgen got a 9-4 decision win at 220 pounds and senior Quinten Arndt won via pinfall in the first period at 285 pounds. The Panthers came out on top of the dual, 37-30.

In their second dual, NRHEG went up against WEM/JWP and dominated the competition, dropping only four matches in the dual.

In the first match, Annabelle Petsinger made NRHEG history by becoming the first female to win a match at the varsity level for the school. She won via a pinfall, giving NRHEG a 6-0 led to start.

Every victory by the Panthers in the dual came by pinfall. Freshmen Nikolas Petsinger and Clay Stenzel, and sophomores Connor Okland, Gushwa, Jacobson and Arndt picked up the extra-point victories en route to a dominating 48-19 win.

“Tonight we wrestled well and gutted out good matches,” said head coach Shawn Larson. “Our wrestlers were prepared for battle today, and we fought through many tough situations to get wins. We had a very good night getting bonus points, most of which came from falls.”

The Panthers are back in action Saturday when they travel to Stewartville for the Stewartville invitational. They take on Gopher Conference foe Westfield on Thursday.