Archive for the 'Cheyenne Central' Category
Friday, February 26th, 2010
More unpublished material: The wrestling edition
Much of the following state wrestling capsules made it into the print edition of today’s Wyoming Tribune Eagle. However, the “About …” section of each team capsule had to be cut so we could fit the remainder of our prep sports coverage into today’s paper. So here are the full state wrestling capsules for Cheyenne Central, Cheyenne East, Cheyenne South, Burns-Pine Bluffs and Wheatland.
Class 4A
Cheyenne Central
Last season: Fourth place
Returning state placers: Six
Regional champs: 130 Leandro Arias, jr.; 145 Austin Breckenridge, jr.; 152 Bob Helmerick, sr.; 171 Hayden Jones, sr.
Other regional placers: Second, 125 Joe Baca, sr.; 160 Matt Spoon, sr.; Third, 103 Austin Vye, so.; 119 Bailey McHenry, fr.; 189 Taelor Prado, sr.; Fourth, 103 Mike Nelson, so.; 130 Logan Guidry, so.; 135 Chris Nelson, sr.; 140 Tucker Collins, sr.; 215 Russ Bowlin, sr.; 285 Ryan Kuster, sr.
Other qualifiers: 112 Alex Brown, fr.; 119 Tim Scherdon, so.; 125 Brayden Sosa, so.; 135 Dillon Karajanis, sr.; 140 Kendall Nuss, jr.; 145 Mike Hughes, jr.; 152 Ethan Birt, sr.; 160 John Beedle, sr.; 189 James Fossett, fr.; 215 Leon Romero, jr.; 285 Ken Rushing, jr.
About the Indians: Arias, Breckenridge and Jones all wrestled for state titles last year. Only Breckenridge walked away a winner, becoming Central’s first state champ since 2001. … Karajanis is wrestling with a broken left hand. He clinched his state berth by winning his first match at the East Regional in Casper. He defaulted the rest of his bouts but will wrestle at state. … Arias has lost just one match this season.
Cheyenne East
Last season: Sixth
Returning state placers: One
Regional champs: 215 Cheyton Vermillion, sr.; 285 Jacob Edwards, jr.
Other regional placers: Second, 103 Blaze Cress, fr.; 119 Jordan Puente, sr.; 189 Taran Triplett, sr.; Third, 112 Lance Kailey, so.; Fourth, 119 Hayes Stone, fr.; 160 Tanner Hinds, jr.
Other qualifiers: 103 Tanner Wickham, fr.; 112 Darien Briggs, fr.; 125 Kyle Rose, jr.; 125 Luis Reyes, fr.; 130 Blake Hanzlik, so.; 130 Trevor Brower, so.; 135 Isaac Gonzalez, fr.; 152 Nick Haller, jr.; 152 Corey Nelson, so.; 160 Christian Robinson, fr.; 171 Blaine Backman, sr.; 171 Brian Schaefer, so.; 189 Gared Krakow, fr.; 285 D.J. Doolin, jr.
About the Thunderbirds: East does not have an entrant in the 140- and 145-pound classes. … Edwards and junior Dalton Nelson are the only Thunderbirds to place at last year’s state. Nelson spent the winter dealing with a shoulder injury that eventually ended his season. … East coach Dan Ley considers senior 119-pounder Jordan Puente one of the most dangerous wrestlers in the tournament. He also thinks sophomore Lance Kailey (112 pounds) could make some noise.
Class 3A
Cheyenne South
Last season: First-ever state tourney
State qualifiers: 119 Erik Fair, fr.; 152 Tyler Colley, fr.; 171 Che Roberts, fr.; 189 R.J. Nelson, fr.
About the Bison: Fair was 2-2 at the Class 3A East Regional while Colley was 1-2. … Fair’s first round opponent is Wheatland’s Shawn Zavala, who was second at the East Regional. … Colley drew top-seeded Jimmy Seckman of Powell in the fist round. … South is the third-smallest team in the tourney. Class 2A Kaycee and Wind River only have three entrants each.
Wheatland
Last season: Fourth
Returning state placers: Four
Regional champs: 145 Tyler Smart, sr.; 160 Dustin Finnerty, sr.
Other regional placers: Second, 119 Shawn Zavala, jr.; Third, 189 Tyler Tillman, sr.; 215 Travis Jenkins, sr.; Fourth, 103 Jhett Eike, fr.; 125 Joel Dappen, jr.; 135 Dillon Cotterman, jr.; 140 Ceasar Zavala, fr.
Other qualifiers: 112 Chaz McAuley, so.; 119 R.J. Schmidl, jr.; 125 Layne Eike, jr.; 130 Andrew Blumer, jr.; 135 Ben Sanderson, jr.; 145 David Chesser, so.; 171 Quinn Zimmerman, jr.; 189 Chase Irvine, fr.; 285 Chuck Maike, sr.
About the Bulldogs: Dappen, Finnerty, Smart and Tillman all medaled last year. Dappen and Tillman were fourth; Finnerty and Smart were sixth.Class 2A
Burns-Pine Bluffs
Last season: 19th
Returning state placers: None
Regional placers: Second, 215 Todd Baker, sr.; Fourth, 160 Frank Vossler, sr.
Other qualifiers: 112 Grady Mikesell, so.; 119 Trenton Culp, so.; Jacob Miller, fr.; 152 Travis Herrington, fr.; 189 Shawn Cole, jr.; 189 Adan Gandara, jr.
About the Broncs: Baker, Cole and Gandara have qualified for the past three state tourneys. … Baker and Gandara won two matches each at last year’s state to account for four of the Broncs’ six wins.
Friday, February 26th, 2010
Unpublished prep preview
Every now and then the WTE sports staff is a little too prolific for its own good and we produce way more copy than we have space in our section. Such was the case yesterday. As a result, the following “prep preview” had to be left out of Friday’s WTE because we didn’t have room for it.
Its ticket to state already is punched, but that doesn’t mean the Cheyenne East girl basketball team is content to rest on its laurels.
In fact, the No. 1-ranked Lady Thunderbirds want nothing less than to end their season by extending their current 16-game winning streak to 23 – two more regular season wins and then the five necessary to win a state title.
East (19-2 overall, 8-0 Class 4A East Conference) puts that streak on the line when it plays at fourth-ranked Gillette (15-6, 4-4) at 7:30 tonight. It closes out the regular season at Sheridan (12-8, 3-5) at 1:30 p.m. Saturday.
“Now that we’ve won our conference, we, as coaches, hope the kids will relax a little bit and we’ll see a little more out of them,” first-year coach Rusty Horsley said. “We’ve been a little bit tight offensively and not executing as well as we need to early in the past six or seven games.
“We’ve been getting off to slow starts, but they usually work it out. The kids are still working their tails off; we just hope they’ll relax a little more.”
Cheyenne Central (15-6, 4-4) can lock up third place with a sweep this weekend. It travels to Sheridan for a 7:30 p.m. tip-off tonight and to Gillette at 1:30 p.m. Saturday.
Boys basketball
The first scenario for Cheyenne East (14-6, 6-2) is simple: beat Gillette and Sheridan and lock up sole possession of the No. 2 seed at next weekend’s Class 4A East Regional and a berth at state.
But should the fourth-ranked T-Birds fall to No. 1 and unbeaten Gillette and beat second-ranked Sheridan, they would have the same league mark as Sheridan, forcing a series of tiebreakers.
The Broncs might own the edge in that scenario based on the highest ranking opponent from the other 4A conference at a common site.
Sheridan downed Rock Springs in Rock Springs; East lost there.
The task of pulling the sweep was made a little tougher this week when sophomore guard Nikko Johnson was suspended for what coach Damon Artery calls an internal disciplinary issue.
Johnson – who leads the T-Birds in points (12.6), assists (3.2) and steals (2.6) per game – should be back for next weekend’s regional, Artery said.
East hosts Gillette (20-0, 8-0) at 7:30 tonight and Sheridan (14-6, 6-2) at 1:30 p.m. Saturday.
Cheyenne Central (8-12, 1-7) plays the opposite schedule.
Friday, February 19th, 2010
Laramie girls 42, Cheyenne Central 32
Central trimmed Laramie’s eight-point third-quarter lead to one midway through the fourth before junior Amber Vandiver scored back-to-back buckets to help Laramie hold off Central. Vandiver finished with a team-best nine points.
Central was led by senior Katelyn Means’ 13 points and five rebounds. She was 5-for-6 from the free-throw line and scored seven of her points in the fourth quarter.
For more of this story, see Saturday’s Wyoming Tribune Eagle.
Thursday, February 18th, 2010
Prep profile: John Beedle
School: Cheyenne Central
Grade: Senior
Sports: Football, wrestling and lacrosse
Favorite class: I have my sports marketing class with Mr. (Chad) Whitworth first thing in the morning. It’s a great class that keeps me entertained and it’s a great way to start my days.
Late-starter: I’ve played lacrosse since my freshman year at Upper Arlington (Ohio) High and in the two years since my family moved back to Cheyenne. This was my first year playing football and wrestling in high school. The wrestling coaches have been trying to get me to come out for the team since my sophomore year, so I finally decided to give it a shot my senior year. I always thought the sport was a little weird, but I decided to try it out and now I love it. Both of those seasons were more than I ever expected. I’ve gotten to know some awesome coaches and awesome athletes.
Learning curve: The toughest thing about coming out for wrestling my senior year was getting used to the conditioning. It was way hard to start off with, but I got used to it.
On my mp3 player: I usually listen to Eminem’s “‘Til I Collapse” before I wrestle. Before football games, I listened to “Ain’t No Mountain High Enough,” (by Marvin Gaye and Tammi Terrell). It’s an old song, but a really good one.
Appointment TV: I have to watch “SportsCenter” every night and every morning before I come to school. I want to know how the Cleveland Cavaliers and Ohio State Buckeyes have done.
Saturday, February 13th, 2010
Cheyenne East boys 65, Cheyenne Central 59
When his team needed it most, Trevon Hinker delivered.
The Cheyenne East sophomore wing had two steals that turned into two layups in the final minute of his game against crosstown rival Cheyenne Central on Saturday afternoon.
It was those two big plays from Hinker that sealed the 65-59 win for the Thunderbirds at Storey Gym. For the game, Hinker finished with 12 points on 4-for-7 shooting.
Sophomore wing Nikko Johnson and senior guard Jeremy Ware led East with their 15 points a piece.
What makes this loss so tough for the Indians to stomach is the fact they held a 57-56 lead with 1 minute, 28 seconds left. It was the first time Central led in the game, and it appeared as if it had taken control of the momentum. That is until Hinker’s two steals buried the Indians.
Senior forward Josh Reynolds finished with a game-high 16 points on 6 of 11 shooting for the Indians.
The win gives the T-Birds the season sweep over Central, and the win improves their record to 12-6 overall and 4-2 in the Class 4A East Conference. The Indians are now 8-10 and 1-5.
Saturday, February 13th, 2010
Cheyenne East girls 58, Cheyenne Central 38
The Thunderbirds improved to 17-2 overall and 6-0 in the Class 4A East Conference with its second consecutive 20-point victory over its crosstown rivals.
Central held two separate six-point leads in the first half, but East was able to turn the tables and took a 24-22 lead into the locker room at halftime. The T-Birds opened the second half with an 11-2 run and never looked back.
Senior Breanna Johnson fronted East with 15 points and four steals, while junior post Meghan Sipe chipped in with 12 points. Senior Jazmyn Webster added eight points and nine rebounds for East.
The Indians (14-5, 3-2) were led by senior post Katelyn Means’ 15 points. Nine of those came in the first half.
Saturday, February 13th, 2010
More wrestling
A few things I forgot to mention in my last wrestling post.
1.) Cheyenne Central has now won the past three conference duals with Cheyenne East. That winning streak improves to four if you count the Indians dual win at the Bill Thoman Memorial in Green River earlier this season.
2.) Central senior Dillon Karajanis missed Friday’s dual with a broken left hand. He injured the hand helping a teammate warm up for Tuesday’s dual with Casper Kelly Walsh.
Karajanis expects to get a soft cast/wrap he can legally wrestle with some time next week. He had one doctor tell him he shouldn’t cause further damage to his hand by finishing the season and another advised against finishing the year, but said he should be OK. Karajanis said he’s going to give it a go.
3.) East junior Dalton Nelson’s shoulder injury is going to keep him out for the rest of the season. Nelson had been in and out of the lineup because of that injury. He tested it in practice earlier this week, but tweaked the injury again and was forced to shut it down.
Saturday, February 13th, 2010
Misc. thoughts from the East-Central wrestling dual
First things first, tonight’s 48-21 Central win was pretty entertaining. The Indians raced to a 21-0 lead behind four wins. East knotted the score 21-21 behind five consecutive victories. Central closed the dual with four wins and a forfeit.
Here are some notes and quotes I wasn’t able to work into my story.
When I spoke with Cheyenne East junior 285-pounder Jacob Edwards and East coach Dan Ley for a Prep Athlete of the Week feature on Edwards, both said smaller, athletic heavyweights could pose problems for Edwards, who is a smaller heavyweight himself. Cheyenne Central’s Ryan Kuster fits that bill, but also presents different problems for Edwards.
“His length and height are also a problem,” Ley said of Kuster, who could wrestle at 215 pounds if the Indians were already three deep at that spot. “He’s got such an advantage in reach. Those things give Jacob a lot of problems. … Kuster is really tough on top. Jake isn’t bad standing up, but if Kuster gets a takedown on him, he can reach both ends easily and make things tough.”
Edwards is 3-2 against Kuster this season and the two will most likely meet in the East Regional final next week. It should be another good match.
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Ley has been dissatisfied with the performance of some of his upperclassmen in recent weeks and has made some very pointed comments to that effect. Friday was a different story.
“I’m pleased with the idea of the competition and the way we stepped up and rose to a challenge,” Ley said. “It’s reminiscent of the dual we had with them at the Green River tournament about a month ago. I think that scored ended up 48-24. That’s what we were hoping. We wanted to step out, compete and win the matches we probably were even or had slight advantages in.
“A lot of people don’t realize that, yeah, the dual was what is was, but the regional tournament is next week and those seeds we gained in a couple of weight classes could help us. We needed to win some of those matches to maintain the seeding advantage.”
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Cheyenne Central coach T.J. Castillon got a call from freshman Alex Brown on Thursday night. Brown wanted Castillon to consider putting him at 112 pounds so the Indians wouldn’t have to be open in that weight class. Brown promised Castillon he wouldn’t surrender six points (the value of a pin in a dual meet) to East’s Lance Kailey. Brown delivered on that promise, dropping a 12-6 decision to Kailey. Central’s coaches were probably as excited as they’ve ever been for a 12-6 defeat.
“I told him he was going to have to go out and wrestle tough,” Castillon said. “He told me, ‘I can keep the score within four or five instead of giving up six.’ He did that. That was a win for us in that situation. To call me and say, ‘I want to wrestle varsity,’ that shows a lot of character for Alex Brown in that situation.”
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Joe Baca’s 12-6 win over Kyle Rose swung things back in Central’s direction and halted East’s five-match winning streak. Baca scored five takedowns in that match and allowed Rose to escape two times so he could go for more takedowns. It’s was all part of a strategy.
“He actually started to take some shots and that’s something we really needed from him,” Castillon said. “That’s why we kept cutting (Rose free) and going after it again. (Baca) is usually a defensive wrestler. That’s how he’s posted such a good wrestler, but in order to win matches you’ve got to go and get the first takedown.”
“It felt right and I was in the right position to get them all,” Baca said. “… I think I’m in a lot better shape than other people, it’s just a matter of scoring the points I need to get the lead.”
Sunday, February 7th, 2010
Swimming qualifiers
The results of the Gillette Invitational swimming and diving meet came in early Saturday, so that page had already been composed by the time Cheyenne Central coach Mark Miller and Cheyenne East coach Jamie Winkler had e-mailed their results. As a result, their new state-qualifiers didn’t make Sunday’s Wyoming Tribune Eagle.
East had Daniel Devine and Rory Fichtner beat the qualifying standard in the 100-yard breaststroke.
Central saw Brian Wingate post his first qualifying mark in the 100 breast, while Andrew Leach qualified in the 500 freestyle.
Saturday, February 6th, 2010
Power conference
A few years ago I wrote a column about how much of a meat grinder the Class 4A East Conference was in girls basketball. It’s abundantly clear the power still lies in the East with four of the league’s six teams ranked in this week’s WyoPreps.com poll.
The difficulty of winning games in the league was further illustrated tonight when Cheyenne Central topped second-ranked Gillette 67-57. Central is by no means a bad team, but it was unranked and has been struggling as of late. It would have come as no surprise if the Camels had beaten Central. Instead, Gillette suffered its second consecutive conference loss. That after having won 21 of 22 league games (and 12 straight) dating back to the 2007-08 season.
“You have to come ready to play every single night in this conference,” said first-year East coach Rusty Horsley who was an assistant under East’s previous staff. “(Casper) Kelly Walsh took Gillette into overtime and they’re still winless in the conference. Everybody is good. The kids are going to have to show up to play.”
Being ready to play means not worrying about what the other teams are doing, East senior Kelli Cordell said.
“You can’t score watch, though, because everyone is beating everyone else,” she said. “You just have to worry about playing your game and doing your best rather than worrying what the other team might be playing like at that time.”