Full 2014 Cougar Wrestling Invitational Results -- click here

The Royal Valley Panthers head to Shawnee Mission Northwest high school on Saturday to take on some top flight wrestling competition in the State.

As a team the Panthers finished with only 39 points, placing 14th out of 14 teams but did have a pair of top four individual performances on the day to highlight their performance at the 12th annual Cougar Invitational.

Noah Hart put the best performance together for Royal Valley on the day as he went 4-0 on the day earning first place at 145lbs. Hart opened up competition in the opening round with a pinfall win in 3:45 over a grappler from Basehor-Linwood and followed that up in the quarterfinals with another pinfall win in just 53 seconds over a Shawnee Mission West wrestler. In the Semifinals, Hart need a decision victory to move on beating a wrestler from Olathe Northwest by an 8-2 decision to move into the Championship bout. Standing in the way of Hart for first place a was wrestler from Washburn Rural and Hart used a 8-6 decision to earn the win and finis 4-0 and the 145lbs Champion at the Cougar Invitational.

Jacob Box was the only other Royal Valley Panther to place on the day at the tournament earning a fourth place finish after 2-2 on the mats at 182lbs. Box opened up the tournament with a first round bye and in the quarterfinals had his first match picking up the 9-1 major decision win over a Shawnee Mission Northwest grappler. In the Semifinals, Box fell by pinfall, 1:31 falling to a wrestler from Blue Valley Northwest, pushing Jacob into the consolation bracket. The Panther grappler, bounced back in the consolation semifinal earning the TB 2-1 win. In the third place match things went in favor of Box's opponent from Basehor-Linwood as Jacob fell by pin, 2:08, giving him a 2-2 record on the day and a fourth place finish at 182lbs.

Zack Lux (132lbs) and Jerry Coan (138lbs) both also competed at the Cougar Invitational for Royal Valley. Lux fell in both of his matches on the day, while Coan posted a 2-2 record on the day earning a pair of pinfall victories in 1:32 and 5:17.

Royal Valley heads into the break with two tournaments and a dual under their belt in the wrestling season and will gear up for more action coming out of the holiday break when they hit the mats again on Saturday, January 10th at the Topeka-Seaman Dual Tournament.