Rugby will enter today's, Feb. 6, Region 3 Dual Team wrestling tournament in Tioga as the third seed, but the Panthers won't necessarily be a strong contender for a top two finish.

"We're hurting right now,' said Rugby coach Ken Higbee. "We have two wrestlers in our lineup who are healthy, the rest either have nagging injuries or serious ones. It's not a good situation."

Unfortunately, the Panthers will have to do the best they can when they meet No. seed 6 New Town in a first round match at 10:30 a.m. The Eagles defeated Rugby earlier this season.

The winner moves on to the semifinals to face No. 2 Des Lacs-Burlington, which received a first round bye. The loser will be eliminated.

Initially, the Panthers were not going to wrestle in the dual team tournament and instead use the weekend to rest for the Region 3 Individual Tournament on Feb. 13. However, weather caused the last regular season tournament on Jan. 23 to be cancelled and Rugby didn't want to face a long layoff before regionals. So the team decided to tough it out and compete at the dual tournament.

Higbee hopes something positive can come out of the tournament and the squad won't have any more injuries to contend with heading into next week.

"It don't think we've ever been in this position before,' Higbee said, referring to so many injuries at the the end of the season.

The top two finishers at the dual team tournament will represent the region at the Class B state dual tournament in Fargo.

No. 1 Velva-Garrison is the favorite to defend its title. The Aggies will face the winner of the other first round match between No. 4 Minot Ryan and No. 5 Kenmare-Tioga-Ray.

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