The NRHEG wrestling team got a taste of success on Saturday when they traveled to St. James for the Paul Krueger Invitational .

The Panthers finished in eighth-place as a team and placed five wrestlers individually.

Quinten Arndt placed second at  285; Cole Staloch placed third at 160; Tyler Jacobson placed third at 170; Argo Gushwa and Brendon Strand placed fourth and fifth at 145 respectively.

Also wrestling for the Panthers were Nikolas Petsinger and Andrew Reich. Although they did not place, head coach Shawn Larson they each wrestled very competitively throughout the day.

According to  Larson, Jacobson looked good in all of his matches as well, including his only loss of the day, which came from a state tournament finalist from last season.

Arndt, who made it to the finals for the second consecutive year at this tournament, ultimately lost the match. However, Larson said it was a hard-fought battle and (Arndt) never quit.

“We are making strides in the right direction,” Larson said. “Wrestling, like many other aspects of a person’s life, takes persistence and effort to succeed. We are all working hard and I feel good about the direction we are heading.”

NRHEG will wrestle again on Thursday when they open their conference season with a meet at United South Central, then in Jackson on Saturday for the Pizza Ranch Invitational.