Championship season has arrived yet again as the warm front slowly pushes out the Wyoming winter. PHS will soon send off its wrestling and basketball teams to compete for the top spot in 3A.

The wrestling team returned from the Wyoming 3A West Regional tournament with a total of 19 state-bound wrestlers and four who placed in the top three for each of their respective weight classes.

“This west side of the region is tough,” senior Lannon Brazelton said. “There’s a lot of good wrestlers, including the newcomers from Evanston.”

The four, top three wrestlers include 106 lbs. sophomore Gabe Whiting who placed 2nd, 160 lbs. senior Lannon Brazelton in 3rd, 195 lbs. junior Jimmy Dees took first and senior Stetson Davis swept the 220 lbs. weight class. 

“Overall we wrestled well,” head coach Nick Fulton said. “I always would like to take everyone to state, but 17 males and two females is a strong number. I’m confident our team will be ready; we just have to take it one match at a time.”

The wrestling team traveled to Casper two days ahead of schedule on Feb. 21 in order to avoid the incoming winter storm. The tournament begins on Feb. 24.

The Panther boys’ basketball team broke even over the weekend with a 1-1 win/loss ratio.

The boys lost to Lyman in overtime 54-49 on Feb. 17. However, the following day, the Panthers defeated Mountain View 4 -41 with a buzzer beating three point from Marshall Lewis.

“I definitely think we underperformed,” junior Trey Stenerson said. “Even though we had a long drive, we could have picked up our intensity.”

The Panthers don’t have much time left before the season ends; the Wyoming 3A State tournament is set to take place March 9-11 in Casper.

“We just need to be a little more consistent shooting the ball and executive on offense,” head coach Mike Heny said. “I feel like our best basketball is still ahead of us, and, hopefully, we can put together a strong postseason run.”

The girls produced nearly the same results over the weekend.

After a highly contested 40-36 victory over Lyman on Feb. 17, The Lady Panthers were unable to keep the momentum rolling and lost to Mountain View 48-41.

“I was proud of the girls for last weekend’s performance,” head coach Chelsea Buher said. “The girls did a great job of handling the pressure.”

The Lady Panthers are confident in their abilities going into the postseason.

“So far, we’ve beaten everyone in our region other than Mountain View,” senior Maddie Campbell said. “I think we have a good shot at winning regionals and a great chance at making it to state.”