A Loaded State Championship Weekend for Laramie Teams [VIDEOS]
It’s a weekend full of high school state championships across Wyoming. Two are in Casper, while one is being contested in Gillette.
The 4A State Wrestling Championships are going on in Casper at the Events Center. The State Nordic Skiing Championships are being held at the Casper Mountain Trails Center. The third culminating event is the 4A State Swimming and Diving Championships in Gillette at the Campbell County Aquatics Center.
State Wrestling
The Laramie Plainsmen are one of 12 teams competing on the mat in Casper Friday and Saturday.
Laramie has 18 wrestlers in action. Coming off a fourth place finish at the 4A East Regional Wrestling tournament with champions, the Plainsmen have a goal of a top four finish.
LHS was sixth a year ago with five state placers. Two of them return, in juniors Carless Looney and Kaden Schriner. Looney is considered a favorite at 170 pounds, while Schriner is competing at 145. Along with junior Idris Elias, a favorite at 126 pounds, they lead the charge for Laramie.
Plainsmen head coach Mikah Kadera believes his squad is ready after what he saw at the 4A East Regional Championships; feels all their training will pay off this weekend; and he knows they've got two favorites to bring home a state title.
The State Wrestling Championships will conclude Saturday with finals matches at 5:15 p.m.
State Swimming
The 4A State Swimming and Diving Championships will be Friday and Saturday in Gillette. The action begins with the preliminary rounds at 3:30 p.m. Friday. The finals will commence at 10 a.m. Saturday.
Laramie enters the championships with 16 state qualifiers, 14 swimmers and two divers.
The Plainsmen are trying to reach their goal of a top three finish. LHS was fourth a year ago; just five points out of the top three. They did win three events last year, but are not favored going in to this year’s state meet.
Head coach Tom Hudson breaks down his team's chances; describes how their training has gone leading up to the state meet; and if LHS has a shot at any individual or relay state titles.
State Nordic Skiing
The cross country skiing championships are on Casper Mountain with a 5K Freestyle race Friday and a 10K Classic race on Saturday.
The Plainsmen were third a year ago, while the Lady Plainsmen were fourth. There are a total of three returning placers from the top 11 on the boy’s team. They are Liam McInroy, Albert Steiner and Lucas Thorsness. The girls have one returner that placed in the top 15 in Hailey Schmidt.
Head coach Rebecca Watson believes the Laramie boys have a shot at the school’s first state title.
“The big thing they have to do is just go in relaxed, and know that they know how to do this; that’s the number one thing. The next thing is that my fifth and sixth guys have to have really good races; so all the way down through the ranks; it can’t just be one or two, it has to be the whole team.”
Both days competition begins at 10 a.m.