Sunday, February 14th, 2010
Prep profile: Jeremy Ware
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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.”
Thursday, February 11th, 2010
Poll politics
I’ve said it before on this blog and I’ll say it again, I take my role as a voter in the WyoPreps.com polls very seriously. I weigh a lot of factors when deciding how to slot teams, including head-to-head results and my impressions of that team when I saw them live. I know the polls don’t serve as anything except fodder for discussion, but I still make every effort to put forth a vote I can easily explain — and maybe even defend.
Watching the Class 4A girls poll in recent weeks, it has become abundantly clear some folks have different criteria and maybe even agendas. I don’t know how else you explain one voter ranking Rock Springs first and Cheyenne East fifth.
East has earned the top spot in my poll because it hasn’t lost to a Wyoming team this winter. It’s earned the top spot in my poll because it’s beaten six of the seven teams receiving votes by a very wide margin (the Lady Thunderbirds haven’t played sixth-ranked Casper Natrona County). It’s earned my vote because it has won 13 consecutive outings, including a 66-31 demolition of Rock Springs. East’s average score against the teams ranked in this week’s top 5 (Laramie, Rock Springs, Gillette and Cheyenne Central) has been 66.75-45.75.
If those aren’t the results of a clear-cut and unanimous No. 1, I don’t know what are.
WyoPreps revealed this week that it’s going to discontinue distributing a poll breakdown come soccer season. That breakdown includes how many points each team received from voting and a breakdown of how many first through fifth place votes each team received. I’m disappointed in that decision because makes it impossible to notice horrible discrepancies such as this.
Yes, everyone is entitled to their opinion, but that opinion becomes little more than a joke when the facts heavily sway the argument in the other direction.
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.”
Tuesday, February 2nd, 2010
Wrestling reflections
Here are a few things I took away from spending most of my Saturday watching Cheyenne East and then Cheyenne Central wrestle against Gillette.
–Cheyenne East 103-pounder Blaze Cress could make some serious noise at the state tournament. The freshman was already ranked third in the WyoWrestling.com poll, which means he’s getting respect. But he showed a lot of heart and poise in his 4-2 win over Gillette’s Lukas Poloncic. Poloncic, who also is a freshman, has spent much of the season as Class 4A’s top-ranked 103-pounder.
Cress scored a takedown late in the first period and was unable to battle off the bottom in the second. Poloncic knotted the score 2-2 when he scored a reversal just two seconds into the final frame. Cress got his match-winning reversal with 11 seconds remaining. It’s a quality win over a quality opponent.
Poloncic was dominant in his 6-3 win over Cheyenne Central’s Austin Vye later in the afternoon. This was Vye’s first weekend at 103, so that could have played a role in him not wrestling to his usual form. Nonetheless, the win over Poloncic bodes well for Cress.
– Central 215-pounder Russ Bowlin dropped a 7-5 decision to Gillette’s James Boylen on Saturday afternoon, but, in my mind, that match played as big a role in the Indians’ 35-28 win over the Camels as any of their eight wins. Injuries helped thrust Bowlin into the varsity lineup. First Taelor Prado suffered a back injury and then 189-pounder Zach Mowry suffered separated ribs. Prado moved down to 189 and Bowling stayed at 215. I wouldn’t be surprised to see him keep that spot for the forseeable future after the way he wrestled Boylen.
Central’s coaches hoped to get at least one win between 189 and 285. Senior 285-pounder Ryan Kuster provided the win in that section of the lineup and Bowlin very well could have too.
Bowlin jumped to a quick 4-0 lead with a first-minute takedown and two-point back exposure. Boylen rebounded to take a 5-4 lead, but Bowlin quickly knotted the score with an escape.
Boylen tried to muscle Bowlin around the mat, but Bowlin gave little to no ground. Boylen scored the final takedown with 30 seconds remaining. Both wrestlers were nearly out of bounds when Boylen scored the takedown.
Boylen was 17-22 a year ago and gave East’s Cheyton Vermillion — the state’s third-ranked 215-pounder — fits before Vermillion held on for a win. I’m indifferent when it comes to moral victories, but I would have to say Bowlin’s close loss has to be an enormous confidence-builder. It was a winable match for Bowlin and I think its something he can’t use as a foundation for future success.
Looking ahead to the East-Central dual
Assuming the lineups stay relatively the same, here are some matches I’m looking forward to when Cheyenne Central and Cheyenne East get together Feb. 12 at Central.
103: Cress vs. Vye: Vye is only a sophomore, but is a battle-hardened veteran who placed sixth at state. This has the potential to be an action-packed match with lots of points. It’ll be another good test for the youngster Cress. It also should serve as a good barometer of where Vye is at once he settles into the lighter weight class.
125: Jordan Puente, East, vs. Joe Baca, Central: Save for Saturday’s loss to Gillette’s Dani Fischer, Baca has been pretty consistent all year long. Puente has been up and down coming off a season-ending leg injury. East’s regular 125-pounder Dalton Nelson has been struggling with a shoulder injury. This will be an equally interesting bout if Nelson is healthy and Puente drops to his normal spot at 119.
215: Bowlin vs. Vermillion: Vermillion has been one of East’s most consistent performers all year long. Bowlin is a relative upstart. Both are big, strong kids.
285: Jacob Edwards, East, vs. Ryan Kuster, Central: The No. 1 and No. 3 heavyweights in 4A according to WyoWrestling.com. Both are light for their division. I know for a fact Kuster could wrestle at 215, but the Indians need him at 285. They’ve split their head-to-head match-ups this season.
Thursday, January 28th, 2010
Can familiarity help?
There’s a big wrestling dual on the schedule for this weekend between Class 4A No. 1 Cheyenne Central and second-ranked Gillette. Central coach T.J. Castillon wrestled in high school for Gillette coach Tom Seamans when both were in Green River.
Castillon has tried to coach the Indians with a style similar to what he learned from Seamans. It’s that familiarity he hopes can put the Indians over the top against the Camels on Saturday.
“They ride the legs and have a similar style to us,” Castillon said. “Coach Seamans still does a lot of the same things. They ride legs and come out firing. We’re similar in our wrestling styles.”
It’s not going to be easy for Central, which may have a handful of its top guns missing because of illness. If the Indians are at full strength, it should be a pretty good dual.