CHANUTE, Kan. – The Neosho Panthers posted a 2-1 record with a pair of duals against teams ranked or receiving votes in the latest NJCAA poll. The Panthers (3-2) dropped the first match of their nearly 900 mile round trip to No. 22 Colby on Friday evening, but bounced back to pick up wins against Northwest Kansas Technical College and Wentworth Military Academy on Saturday.
                                                                    
The Panthers opened the road trip with a dual against No. 22 Colby Community College. The Trojans knocked off the Panthers 34-16, but the dual was much closer than the score showed said head coach Wayne Petterson.
 
"We knew Friday's match was the big dual of the weekend for us. With Dallas Vesta out with an injury at 133 we were planning on brining Kyle Stroot out of his red-shirt to keep from forfeiting at two weights but he got sick so we were open at 125 and 133. As a whole we wrestled pretty well, but two big mistakes cost us and opened the score up for Colby."
 
After forfeiting the first two weights, Alex Shea got the Panthers on the board with a pin. Things were looking good for the Panthers as the 149 pound match headed into the 3^rd period with Terrance Moore in the lead before Colby's John Peden countered Moore's takedown attempt to pin him and give the Trojans an 18-6 lead.
 
The bad luck would continue for the Panthers at 157 pounds as well. Ryne Cokeley held a commanding 16-7 lead before an injury forced him to run injury time with just 1:39 to go in the match. When wrestling resumed, Colby's Gavin Grater escaped and got a take down before locking Cokeley in a cradle, earning the pin with just 29 seconds left on the clock.
 
Sammy Reyes picked up a win by fall in the first period and Dillon Archer earned a major decision but the two late wins proved to be the difference.
 
Saturday the Panthers responded to the difficult loss by picking up 8 wins in 10 matches wrestled to beat No. RV Northwest Tech 26-21 and Wentworth 41-6.
 
"I can live with that after Friday night," commented Petterson. "I thought Alex Shea did really well this weekend as well as Sammy Reyes. Dillon Archer and Brogan Humphrey had nice weekends as well."
 
The Panthers work wont' get any easier when they host defending national champion Northeastern Oklahoma A&M Thursday evening.  The Norsemen are currently ranked 5^th in the latest NJCAA poll. The dual will begin at 7:30 pm.