A high school fall season that began back in August with football practices and season opening golf meets came to a close this past Saturday in Laramie with the state championship football games. As Sheridan stood in the South end zone of the University of Wyoming's War Memorial Stadium and accepted its Class 4A state champion trophy -- for the fourth year in a row -- it signified the end of the fall campaign for football, volleyball, cross country, girls swimming, tennis and golf. There were 25 team titles up for grabs during the fall campaign and 19 schools took home championship hardware. Student-athletes, coaches, officials and fans can take a break from competition until after the Thanksgiving break when the winter sports -- alpine and Nordic skiing, indoor track & field, boys swimming, wrestling and basketball -- swing into action. Here's a quick look back at the 2024 fall season.
Girls golf
Evanston won its first team title in 10 years with a three-stroke victory (519-522) over defending 4A champ Sheridan. Star Valley's Jordyn Horsley was the individual medalist. In 3A, Douglas junior Maddie Brace won gold to lead the Bearcats to their first team title since 1990. Savanah Peterson was the 2A runner-up to help lead the Bulldogs to the team title. Kemmerer freshman Tazlyn Wagner was the individual winner. Boys golf
Jaxon Burr and Drew Gemar finished second and tied for seventh, respectively, to lead Gillette to its first team title in 41 years. Evanston's Ryker Lind was the individual medalist in 4A. Wheatland's Tate Nichols won gold in 3A as the Bulldogs placed five golfers in the top 10 to easily win the team title. In 2A, Hayden Overfield from Thermopolis was the individual champ to lead the Bobcats to their sixth team title in the last seven years. Girls tennis
Cheyenne Central's Hailey Mathis-Brietkopf and Caitlyn Smedley won the singles titles and Quincy Dereemer and Rachel Gertz teamed up to win No. 2 doubles to help the Indians defend their team title. It was the third consecutive individual title for Mathis-Brietkopf, who won No. 2 singles the past two years. Cody's Alyssa Despain and Natalie Wenke won No. 1 doubles and Kelly Walsh's Clarabelle Ramsey and Whitney Bradfield were the No. 3 doubles champs. Boys tennis
Cheyenne Central won only one bracket -- Zeman Collins and Andrew Lance were the No. 3 doubles champs -- but the Indians had enough depth to win their first outright team title since 2009. Laramie's Paulo Mellizzo and Gillette's Rylan Robertson won No. 1 and No. 2 singles, respectively. The Kelly Walsh tandem of Miles Romer and Gage Christensen won No. 1 doubles and Sheridan's Jaeger Conrads and Tanner Hamrick won No. 2 doubles. Boys cross country
With individual champ Jase Burton leading the charge, Star Valley ran away from the field to win their third consecutive 4A title. Two-time defending state champ Habtamu Wetzel was second behind Burton, followed by teammate Colton Cranney in third. Worland's Trajn Swalstad took gold and teammates Will Bishop and Scottie Thomas finished fourth and seventh, respectively, to lead the Warriors to their first team title. Worland finished one point ahead of runner-up Buffalo. Wyoming had three top-10 finishers -- Colton SunRhodes was fifth, Heeyeiniitou Monroe-Black was seventh and Jordan Black eighth -- to help the Chiefs win their state-best 23rd state title and first since 2017. Wyoming Indian edged defending state champ Burlington by one point. Thermopolis' Jadeth Elder was the individual medalist to give the Bobcats their first gold medalist. Girls cross country
Cheyenne Central edged defending champ Natrona County by one point to win the program's third 4A title in four years. Cheyenne East's Maggie Madsen finished first, with defending champ Madison Antonino of Jackson taking second. In 3A, Cody claimed its fifth team championship in six years behind top-10 finishes from Raina Wachob (second), Hailie Schramm (third), Kylie Silva (eighth) and Danielle Foote (10th). The individual winner was Powell's Kinley Cooley. Tongue River and Big Horn both finished with 32 points, but the Eagles grabbed the team title thanks to having an additional runner. It was Tongue River's first team title since 2020. Big Horn's Lyla Marney was the individual champ. Girls swimming
Lander won all three relays and eight of nine individual events to easily win the 3A title. The Tigers' Vayda Havens (200 free, 500 free), Sara Kearns (50 free, 100 free), Emily Plaisted (200 IM, 100 breast) and Katy Anderson (100 fly, 100 back) all won two events to lead Lander to its seventh state title in 10 years. Laramie had only one individual state champ -- Maggie Turpin defended her diving title -- and won the 400 free relay to hold off Green River and win its seventh state championship in eight years. Tavia Arnell won two events (200 IM, 100 fly) for runner-up Green River and Jackson's Maren Tattersall (200 free, 500 free) and Amaya Olivieri (100 free, 100 back) also were two-event winners. Volleyball
Kelly Walsh won its second 4A title in three years, and 11th overall, with a 3-1 victory over defending champ Laramie. The Trojans (32-3) dropped the first set but won the next three to finish 2-2 against the Plainsmen (32-2) on the season. Douglas (35-4) rallied to defeat Cody (29-6) 3-2 and win its first 3A championship since 2017. In 2A, Big Horn (30-9) went back-to-back with a 3-1 victory over Tongue River, which advanced to the championship match for the first time since 2005. Big Horn has won three of the last four 2A titles. Snake River claimed the 1A title with a 3-2 victory over defending champ and Southwest Conference rival Cokeville. It was the first state title for the Rattlers (32-4) in eight years. Football
This past weekend's state championship game results bore a striking resemblance to those of two years ago. In addition to Sheridan winning its fourth 4A state title in a row; Star Valley won its third consecutive 3A championship; and Big Horn (2A), Pine Bluffs (1A/9-man) and Snake River (1A/6-man) won their second titles in three years. Finishing in the South end zone at War Memorial Stadium has almost become a rite of passage for all five programs since the state championship games moved to Laramie in 2009. (In 2020, all five state title games were played on home fields, however, because of the pandemic.) Since 2009, Sheridan is 10-2 at War Memorial, Star Valley is 7-1, Big Horn is 6-4, Pine Bluffs is 4-0 and Snake River is 6-2. Cokeville's Madilyn Dayton sets for a teammate during Saturday's loss to Little Snake River in the Class 1A state championship game at the Ford Wyoming Center in Casper. Members of the Snake River volleyball team celebrate their Class 1A state championship victory over Cokeville on Saturday at the Ford Wyoming Center in Casper. Members of the Little Snake River volleyball team celebrate their Class 1A state championship victory over Cokeville at the Ford Wyoming Center in Casper. Tongue River's Jeniah Lovingood hits the ball over the Big Horn block of Emme Mullinax (21) and Hannah Clark during the Class 2A state championship match at the Ford Wyoming Center in Casper. Big Horn's Ava Taylor serves against Tongue River during the Class 2A state championship game Nov. 9 at the Ford Wyoming Center in Casper. Big Horn's Leah Phillips hits the ball over the net during Saturday's championship game against Tongue River at the Ford Wyoming Center in Casper. Big Horn's Hannah Clark tips the ball over the net towards the Tongue River duo of Chaney Reish (12) and McKinlee Scammon during the Rams Class 2A championship victory at the Ford Wyoming Center in Casper. BIg Horn's Teeka Baker, from left, Hannah Clark and Emme Mullinax celebrate a point during the Rams' victory over Tongue River in the Class 2A championship match Saturday at the Ford Wyoming Center in Casper. Ava Taylor (3) and her Big Horn teammates watch in anticipation of scoring the final point of the Class 2A state championship volleyball match on Saturday at the Ford Wyoming Center in Casper. Members of the Big Horn bench storm the court after defeating Tongue River in the Class 2A state championship volleyball match on Saturday at the Ford Wyoming Center in Casper. Douglas' Avynn Yost sets for a teammate during the team's win over Cody in the Class 3A state championship game at the Ford Wyoming Center in Casper. Cokeville's Whitli Groll hits the ball over the block of Little Snake River's Jaydence Dietrich (5) and Jori Maxson during the Class 1A state championship game at the Ford Wyoming Center in Casper. The Douglas Bearcats celebrate their Class 3A state championship victory over Cody on Saturday at the Ford Wyoming Center in Casper. Snake River's Jori Maxson (left) and Jaydence Dietrich go up for a block against Cokeville's Brooke Bell during the Class 1A state championship match Saturday at the Ford Wyoming Center in Casper. Kelly Walsh's Jordan Kroeger sets the ball for a teammate during the Trojans' Class 4A state championship match against Laramie on Saturday at the Ford Wyoming Center. Kelly Walsh's Breckyn Fagot (11) and Lillian Hudson go up for a block against Laramie's Ava Plassmeyer during the Class 4A state championship match Nov. 9 at the Ford Wyoming Center. Kelly Walsh's Makieha Humphreys digs a serve during Saturday's Class 4A state championship match against Laramie at the Ford Wyoming Center. The Kelly Walsh student section cheers on the Trojans volleyball team during the Class 4A state championship match against Laramie on Saturday at the Ford Wyoming Center in Casper. Kelly Walsh's Jordan Kroeger hugs Makieha Humphreys (4) after the Trojans defeated Laramie to win the Class 4A state volleyball championship on Saturday at the Ford Wyoming Center in Casper. Kelly Walsh players storm the court after the Trojans' victory over Laramie in the Class 4A state volleyball championship match Saturday at the Ford Wyoming Center. Cody's Ellie Talich digs a serve during Saturday's loss to Douglas in the Class 3A state championship match at the Ford Wyoming Center in Casper. Douglas' Samantha Yost digs a serve during Saturday's win in the Class 3A state championship match against Cody at the Ford Wyoming Center in Casper. Douglas' Landree Meeks tips the ball over the block of Cody's Allison Gee during Saturday's Class 3A state championship match at the Ford Wyoming Center in Casper.
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