The Whitman-Hanson wrestling team got their first real taste of state competition at the Marshfield Holiday Tournament Dec. 27 and 28 at Marshfield High School.

Junior captains Jeff Bechen and Greg McGrath both placed fourth to lead the Panthers to a 16th place finish out of 32 teams competing.

“As a team we were right where we expected,” coach Eddie Flanagan said. “It’s a very tough tournament, and it’s notoriously tough the last few years because they’ve added a lot of good teams. We’re really young so it was good experience for a lot of those young guys to see good wrestling.”

Both McGrath and Bechen were high seeds in their divisions, and Flanagan said both captains wrestled well.

“Jeff and Greg have been wrestling really tough for us all year,” he said. “Those kids wrestled really hard and they’re both juniors, so there’s a lot to look forward to.”

Flanagan was also impressed with senior Billy Madden, who advanced to the second day of the tournament at 220 pounds, and sophomore Brody DeMinico, who did the same at 126.

“They both wrestled pretty good,” he said.

The Panthers will return to league action on Jan. 4 when they host the Hingham Harbormen at the high school. The meet between the two teams has decided the Patriot League championship each of the last two seasons, and Flanagan expects it to be another good matchup this year.

“That’s a big meet for us,” he said. “They have a really good team this year, so it should be a pretty good meet.”