Archive for the 'Pine Bluffs' 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More unpublished material: The wrestling edition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.
Monday, January 18th, 2010
Hometown heroes Part 1
Occasionally, we’ll do a feature called Hometown Heroes where we catch up with a former area high-school athlete having success at the college level. Obviously, we can’t always remember every area athlete, what school they’re at and what sport they’re playing.
Here’s the list of local athletes playing college basketball that I came up with off the top of my head.
Jasmine Belin, Cheyenne East, Casper College
Desmond Blue, Cheyenne Central, Lee University (Cleveland, Tenn.)
Seth Ganison, Cheyenne East, redshirting at Laramie County Community College
Lindsey Fearing, Cheyenne Central, Casper College
Tyler Kimzey, Pine Bluffs, Laramie County Community College
Lara Merritt, Cheyenne East, University of Northern Colorado (Greeley)
Tom Parks, Cheyenne Central, Youngstown State University (Ohio)
Kaleb Rehmer, Cheyenne East, South Dakota School of Mines (Rapid City)
Trey Stephens, Cheyenne Central, Presentation College (Aberdeen, S.D.)
Travis Werner, Pine Bluffs, redshirting at Laramie County Community College
Did I miss anybody?
Tuesday, December 22nd, 2009
Talent pool hits Eastern Laramie County
On my two trips out to Burns and Pine Bluffs, it is apparent that both girls basketball teams will contend for the Class 2A state title this season.
The Lady Broncs and Lady Hornets know what they have to do to have success, and they do it.
They don’t do any more or any less than that. Plus, the two teams listen to their respective coaches.
That tells me as situations arise as the season goes on, they are open to being coached. And that, more than anything else, is what leads me to think as I do.
What gives Burns a slight edge over its bitter rival is experience.
The Broncs have gone through this before when they finished third at state a season ago.
You can tell their loss to eventual state champ Big Horn serves as their motivation to make sure this season turns out different.
Burns plays in your face defense, forces turnovers and has a balanced offensive attack.
On any given night, the Broncs have four players who can score. The mix of those three things makes for a dangerous team.
Now, whether that means Burns will win a state title this season, I don’t know.
As for the Hornets, it’s just a matter of gaining experience and growing as a team, as cliche as it sounds.
The thing Pine as going for it is it has talent and depth.
At the same time, those are the same things Burns possesses.
I don’t know who will win the Class 2A state title this season, but from what I’ve seen, both of these teams will have a say in who does.
Tuesday, November 3rd, 2009
Class 1A football playoff: Pine Bluffs follow up
I was able to include a lot of quotes from Pine Bluffs coach Dale Gilbert in my story about his team’s 40-14 loss Monday at Cokeville. However, there also was a lot I wasn’t able to use. Here are some other nuggets from my talk with Gilbert.
On difficulty stopping the Panthers on third down
“We missed some tackles. (Cokeville) had a couple drives where it was third and long and we had kids in the right spot, but we missed tackles. (Panthers’ running back Chance Maddock) ran hard and ran behind his pads and got away from us a couple times. I have to give them credit, they converted two third downs on this drives where it looked like we had them.”
Close calls
“We had a passes on some hitch routes that were called incomplete. We threw them low and inside and I thought our kids got under them, but we just didn’t get the calls. That’s going to happen too.”
A 13-play, 86-yard drive was good drive, but it took too much time of the clock
The Hornets’ final touchdown came on a 13-play, 86-yard drive that pulled them within 12 points in the fourth quarter. Gilbert liked what he saw on the drive, but it needed to be quicker.
“We used too much time on that drive and it’s unfortunate. We’ve got an audible built in where if the linebacker is cheating to the line, we switch to a pass. Or, if he’s playing away from the line, we can audible to a run. I’m not going to cuss our kids for trying to make the right audible at the right time.”
Reflection
“I thought the kids did a great job. Chris (Gorman) ended up with more than 1,600 rushing yards this season. Offensively, we came a long way. Defensively, I thought our run stop defense was pretty good in the second half (against Cokeville). They had to go to the air to score against us.”
Monday, November 2nd, 2009
Class 1A football playoff: Cokeville 40, Pine Bluffs 14, final
Cokeville turned the ball over three times in the second half, but held on for the win, scoring a pair of fourth-quarter touchdowns to advance to the semifinals for the 17th consecutive season. The Panthers (9-0) will host Lingle-Fort Laramie (8-1) either Friday or Saturday.
For more on this game, see Tuesday’s Wyoming Tribune Eagle.
Monday, November 2nd, 2009
Class 1A football playoff: Cokeville 40, Pine Bluffs 14, fourth quarter
The Panthers scored twice, including an interception return for a touchdown by Jordan Sparks. There are 4 minutes, 11 seconds remaining.
Monday, November 2nd, 2009
Class 1A football playoff: Cokeville 26, Pine Bluffs 14, fourth quarter
The Hornets capped a 13-play, 86-yard drive with a two-yard touchdown pass from junior quarterback Blayne Gilbert to senior Tanner Eastman. There are more than eight minutes remaining in the game.
Monday, November 2nd, 2009
Class 1A FB Playoffs: Cokeville 26, Pine Bluffs 7, halftime
Pine Bluffs scored on its opening drive when quarterback Blayne Gilbert and tight end Ryan May hooked up for a 64-yard touchdown. However, the Panthers reeled off 26 unanswered points to close the half.
Pine Bluffs turned the ball over on its next two possessions, but Cokeville got just six points off those miscues.
Cokeville got two touchdowns on the ground and two more through the air.
A live Internet broadcast of the game from Cokeville’s KVSI radio can be found by clicking here.
Saturday, October 31st, 2009
State volleyball: Big Horn downs Pine Bluffs for 2A title
Big Horn won its third consecutive Class 2A state championship with a 25-11, 25-13, 25-14 win over Pine Bluffs on Saturday night in Casper.
“Big Horn played flawless,” Pine Bluffs coach Lisa Gilbert said.
Sophomore Laura Gross paced the Hornets with seven kills. Senior Brittney Bowman had nine digs and five kills.
For more on this match, see Sunday’s Wyoming Tribune Eagle.
Friday, October 30th, 2009
State volleyball: Pine Bluffs reaches title tilt
Pine Bluffs downed Wright 25-23, 20-25, 25-22, 26-24 to advance to the Class 2A championship match. It’s the first time the Lady Hornets have played for a state title since capping a run of three consecutive crowns in 2005. They’ll take on Big Horn in the state title match at 5 p.m. Saturday night.
Senior Ariel Geouge led Pine Bluffs with 14 kills and five blocks.
For more information, see Saturday’s Wyoming Tribune Eagle.