The three-team wrestling meet at Whitman-Hanson Saturday morning seemed to get more attention for the team that wasn’t there than the teams that were. The meet was originally supposed to be a quad meet, and was the first meet that Bridgewater-Raynham was forced to forfeit after suspending their program amidst accusations of hazing.

But the Panthers did not let the added drama sidetrack them, and rallied behind some first-time winners to sweep Springfield Cathedral and Boston College High School.

“We put the focus on the teams that could come,” coach Ed Flanagan said. “The matches shifted to focusing on technique and building confidence … Saturday was a great day for our younger and less experienced kids to really get some quality matches under their belts.”

Freshmen Tysun Plouse and Garrett McSweeney and junior Jeremey Ashe each got their first varsity wins at the meet. Plouse got wins against both Cathedral and BC High at 120 pounds while Ashe bounced back from a hard fought loss against Cathedral to get the victory at 138 against the Eagles. McSweeney added some excitement in his match against BC High with a pin late in the third period to earn his first victory.

“Garret works very hard and is gaining confidence in his freshman season. This will be a big boost for him going forward,” Flanagan said. “[Jeremy] lost to a very good wrestler from Springfield Cathedral but rebounded very nicely with his first varsity win of the season over his BC high opponent — a major confidence boost and weight off his shoulders … and many more [wins] will come [from Tysun] the way he is wrestling right now.”

The Panthers also got a boost from sophomore Zach Perkins, who filled in for junior captain Jeff Bechen at 152 pounds and got two wins.

“Zach is wrestling really well right now and is a huge asset to our team’s depth right now and to our success in the future,” Flanagan said.

Junior Brody DeMinico also had two wins at 126, as did junior Mark Rogers at 160. Captains Colin McSweeney (145) and Greg McGrath (182) won both their matches as well.

The Panthers will try to stay in the hunt for a league championship Wednesday when they host the Silver Lake Lakers on Senior Night. Flanagan said is hoping that the momentum from the two wins on Saturday will propel the Panthers to a strong finish to the season.

“Right now, our team is heading in the right direction,” he said. “We are stringing together W's and getting into a good rhythm, as a group. We have a big challenge on Wednesday against Silver Lake. This is another tough league meet and we need to win to stay alive for the league title.”