Guest Posts on County 10 are provided by contributors and the opinions, thoughts, and comments within are their own and may not necessarily reflect those of County 10.
It’s the final week of the regular season, and a few local teams know when and where they’re going to play in the postseason. What they don’t know for sure is who their opponents will be.
For Wind River and Wyoming Indian, this week marks the end of the season. Neither team qualified for the playoffs this year.
Shoshoni has a game remaining this Friday at 6 pm when they host the Big Piney Punchers, a team that lost in a close game to Greybull but edged Rocky Mountain 30-28. Both Rocky and Greybull dominated the Wranglers.
The magic of high school sports is that you can’t ever tell what’s going to happen. There are a few absolutes from year to year: Sheridan will beat Cheyenne South 50 out of 50 times. That’s not necessarily true when it comes to every team in every division.
Common opponents for the Wranglers and Punchers outside the conference are Pine Bluffs and Lingle. Lingle was a close game for both, a game Shoshoni could have won on just a single turn of events.
Pine Bluffs is another story. The Hornets have dominated the Class 1-A 9-man ranks for a long time and are on another unbeaten streak dating back to the state championship game last November in Laramie. The Hornets should make it an unbeaten regular season, then will likely host Shoshoni, but that’s not guaranteed.
A win by the Wranglers over Big Piney complicates things a bit. It would create a three-way tie for second place, resulting in a tie-breaker system to determine playoff positions.
With so few teams in each division in Wyoming under the present classification system, ties are inevitable.
Also inevitable is Riverton and Lander hosting the opening round of the playoffs. It’s been a while since both of Fremont County’s largest schools hosted playoff games the same weekend. The Tigers are second in the 3-A East, and the Wolverines are the champions. Likely opponents for Lander are the Jackson Broncs, and for Riverton, the Green River Wolves.
The second round is where it gets interesting for both teams. The Tigers will likely travel to unbeaten Star Valley in the semi-finals while Riverton gets another chance at runner-up Cody. Cody beat them at Wolverine Field early in the season in a 55-38 shootout. It’s Riverton’s only blemish on an outstanding season.
There is one more team in the county with the playoffs almost in reach. Dubois is 3-4 overall but plays in a very tough 6-man conference. Aside from Burlington, the best five teams in 6-man football are in the Class 1-A South.
A win at Casper Christian on Saturday puts the Rams into the post-season with a trip to Big Horn County to face the Burlington Huskies. A loss, and it’s another 10 months before they play again.
Other teams approaching the post-season are the Lander and Riverton girls’ swim teams. Both have had great seasons.
The Lady Tigers are looking to repeat yet again in Class 3-A, while the Wolverine girls are a resurgent team that will make a splash (I know, bad pun) in the Class 4-A championships.
Lander, Riverton and Wyoming Indian cross-country teams are in the taper, with workouts designed to get the Tigers, Wolverines and Chief boys and girls in top form for the final races of the season this weekend in Cheyenne.
Head coach Caleb Her Many Horses has a championship-caliber group of girls despite losing one of his best runners, Dai’Onna Posey, in an automobile accident last month that ended her season. We hope Dai’Onna is on the mend and back in action for basketball season.
Fremont County volleyball has been a struggle this season. It’s rebuilding mode for the Lady Wolverines, Tigers, and Cougars. Wyoming Indian has tallied a few upsets and is a dark horse to qualify at the 2-A Regional Tournament in a few weeks in Lander.
Shoshoni, too, has struggled at times but looked great at other points in the season for first-year head coach Jamie Maddock. If the Lady Wranglers can string together a couple of games at the tournament, they have a great shot of making it to the “Big Dance.”
Fremont County’s smallest high school is having the best season of any of the others. The Lady Rams of Dubois are having a memorable season under head coach Katrina Dingman. The Rams are 17-5 overall and 7-0 in the Class 1-A Northeast.
They have one game remaining to win the conference outright, but it will be a tough one. They finish the season at 5-1 Burlington. The Lady Rams beat the Huskies 3-1 at home earlier in the year, and that is Burlington’s only loss in league play.
A win and Dubois takes the top seed. A loss and we’re back to the tie-breaking system to see who is seeded first and who is second between the Rams and Huskies.
Summer ended a few weeks ago; it was a gloriously long one this year. Culminating events in fall sports always mark the inevitable advance of cold and darkness for a few months.
Why not catch Riverton’s final swim meet the day before Halloween, or the last chance in Lander? If you’re around Friday, the Wranglers and Wolverines are home. There’s nothing like a high school football game on a crisp fall evening.
Riverton volleyball takes the home court a final time early Saturday afternoon against Star Valley. Lander finishes the regular season at Mountain View on Thursday.
The Class 1-A/2-A West Regional Volleyball tournament fills both gyms at the Bob Carey Memorial Field House in nine days.
Why not get out and support the youth of Fremont County one more time before we’re all locked inside (except the Lander Ski Team) until March?