On Sept. 25-27, Powell High School’s tennis team traveled to Gillette to face off against the competition for the Wyoming State Tennis championship.
Going head-to-head against 16 teams from towns across Wyoming, State Tennis is a battle of skill, determination, and hard work. Overall, the boys’ team came in 6th with a score of 21, while the girls finished in 8th place with a score of 14.
“I was extremely proud of how the team placed,” Assistant Coach Mr. Steve Whipple said. “Every single person who went out there playing did better than we expected from their seeding coming in. We played some pretty great matches playing the best tennis we have played all year, and that’s all you can really ask for as a coach.”
Senior Nathan Preator did exceptionally well, making it all the way to the finals before losing a hard-fought game for the championship.
“Obviously, I knew it was going to be my last tournament, so I talked to another guy I had been practicing with, Jessie Brown, and he told me just to have fun,” Preator said. “I just wanted to get All-State.”
On the girls’ side, junior Naomi Whipple made an exceptional comeback. After losing in the second round of the bracket, she fought hard and came back to secure 4th place.
“It felt really good, especially because I haven’t played really well in the past few years at state, so coming back to do that made me really happy,” Naomi Whipple said. “I got out in the first-round last year in 3 sets and my second match in 2 sets. I think we all improved a lot throughout the season. They were able to fight through a lot of things mentally and come back. I love all my coaches; I think they are great. It really helps when someone comes up to you and tells you how you can improve and be better.”
Not everyone who attends State Tennis necessarily participates. Junior Sawyer Wormald seemed more than happy to kick back and watch his team rather than being under the pressure of playing a match.
“As an alternate, I was looking forward to supporting the team,” Wormald said. “I wasn’t playing, so I didn’t have the pressure of playing. I could just cheer on the team. Overall, I thought the team did fairly well. They all played well against some tough teams. We improved on our partnership and what works for each other. We definitely saw that, and we saw a lot of aggressiveness. I like that.”
