Battling it out at the state tournament in Gillette the Powell Panther tennis team saw some strong finishes, including Nathan Preator finishing fourth in No. 1 singles while the rest of the Panthers showed some fight to end the season.

BOYS FIGHT

Starting out the tournament, Preator fought back from an opening set loss to Green River’s Dylan Archibald, losing 3-6 before winning the next two sets 6-4.

“When we start the day on Thursday we’ve obviously got wins on the mind, and ultimately hoping for at least that one win,” coach Joe Asay said.

In the quarterfinals, Preator fell in straight sets to Cheyenne East’s Colin Crecelius 0-6, 0-6, who eventually finished as the runner-up in No. 1 singles.

Preator then earned straight set wins over Natrona County’s Zach Chenevert (6-1, 6-3), Torrington’s Skyler Thomas (6-0, 6-4) and Cheyenne Central’s Thomas Smedley (6-4, 7-5) to work his way into the third place match.

He came up against a familiar face in Cody’s Nick Stewart, and lost in straight sets 1-6, 1-6.

“He had a good go, it was fun,” Asay said. “His biggest challenge was that semifinal match in the consolation bracket against the Central kid … He did a good job of getting out there and a straight set win was phenomenal.”

The next furthest place for the boys was the No. 3 doubles duo of Memphis Solberg and Calvin Opps, who battled back from an opening match loss to the duo of Jenkins and Powell from Rock Springs in two tiebreakers (6-4, 6-7 (5-7), 6-7 (6-8)).

They rebounded to defeat Campbell County’s Melinkovich and Kindsvogel 6-3, 6-4; Laramie’s Allen and Gosar 6-0, 6-4, and Cody’s Wood and Laing by identical 6-4 scores to reach the consolation semifinals.

The duo came up short against Cheyenne East’s Schutz and Gorman in straight sets 4-6, 4-6.

“They ended up having to play through from the front of that bracket in the consolation and they actually got some pretty easy wins in those first couple matches,” Asay said. “Two sophomore boys playing some really good tennis.”

Powell also saw both the No. 1 and No. 2 doubles duos of Taeson Schultz and Ryan Barrus alongside Alex Stensing and Alex Watts finish the tournament 2-2 to finish in the top eight.

Trevion Solberg earned a victory but finished 1-2 at No. 2 singles.

GIRLS KEEP GROWING

The highest placing team for the girls came at No. 3 doubles, where the duo of Bailee Allred and Ava Stearns earned an opening round win over the Laramie duo of Martin and Proctor 6-1, 6-3.

In the quarterfinals the Panthers fell to the eventual state champions from Kelly Walsh Ramsey and Bradfield after taking them to three sets (6-3, 4-6, 5-7).

Heading down to the consolation bracket Stearns and Allred defeated Green River’s Davis and Britton 6-3, 6-3, before defeating Cody’s McGonagle and Paddock 7-6 (7-5), 7-6 (7-4) to reach the consolation semifinals.

In that match the Panthers fell short against Sheridan’s Ligocki and Akers, losing in three sets after winning the first set 6-2 before losing 5-7 and 0-6.

“They played some really good tennis and battled,” Asay said. 

In the other doubles slots, the duo of Kyra Morrow and Annaliese Petersen went 1-2 at No. 1 doubles and Elaina Kousoulos and Isabelle Urbach went 1-2 at No. 2 doubles.

In a difficult singles field Sophie Czirr earned a win to go 1-2 at No. 2 singles while Naomi Whipple went 0-2 at No. 1 singles.

STRONG CORE RETURNS

On both sides of the net the Panthers will be returning half their lineup to the court next year, with the girls returning Whipple, Morrow, Urbach, Kousoulos and Allred, while the boys return Preator, Schultz, Barrus, Watts, Memphis Solberg and Opps.

“It’s a pretty great opportunity,” Asay said. “It looks pretty good, and there’s also still some pretty good kids coming up … Really on both sides, the number of kids, we’re hopefully looking forward to having them back and continuing their Powell High School Panther tennis careers.”

BOYS

Team scores — 1. Cheyenne Central 41, 2. Sheridan 29, 3. Cody 26, 4. Cheyenne East 25, T5. Kelly Walsh and Thunder Basin 23, 7. Laramie 20.5, 8. Campbell County 17, 9. Powell 15, 10. Natrona County 13.5, 11. Jackson 9, 12. Green River 5.5, 13. Torrington 5, 14. Rock Springs 4.5, T15. Cheyenne South and Rawlins 1

Nathan Preator (No. 1 singles) — Preator def. Dylan Archibald (Green River) 3-6, 6-4, 6-4; Colin Crecelius (Cheyenne East) def. Preator 0-6, 0-6; Preator def. Zach Chenevert (Natrona County) 6-1, 6-3; Preator def. Skyler Thomas (Torrington) 6-0, 6-4; Preator def. Thomas Smedley (Cheyenne Central) 6-4, 7-5; Nick Stewart (Cody) def. Preator 1-6, 1-6

Trevion Solberg (No. 2 singles) — Elijah Hatch (Torrington) def. Solberg 5-7, 4-6; Solberg def. Lee Maestas (Rawlins) 6-2, 6-1; Tate Moore (Thunder Basin) def. Solberg 3-6, 0-6

Taeson Schultz/Ryan Barrus (No. 1 doubles) — Schultz/Barrus def. Galloway/Peterson (Laramie) 6-2, 6-2; Romer/Christensen (Kelly Walsh) def. Schultz/Barrus (3-6, 2-6); Schultz/Barrus def. Bechtel/Waters (Cheyenne South) 6-2, 6-0; Gulley/Moore (Thunder Basin) def. Schultz/Barrus 5-7, 0-6

Isaac Stensing/Alex Watts (No. 2 doubles) — Dodson/Neher (Green River) def. Stensing/Watts 4-6, 6-3, 5-7; Stensing/Watts def. Nitschke/Chavez (Rawlins) 7-5, 6-0; Stensing/Watts def. Swafford/Powell (Rock Springs) 6-3, 5-7, 7-6 (8-6); Boyles/Larsen (Kelly Walsh) def. Stensing/Watts 4-6, 4-6

Memphis Solberg/Calvin Opps (No. 3 doubles) — Jenkins/Powell (Rock Springs) def. Solberg/Opps 6-4, 6-7 (5-7), 6-7 (6-8); Solberg/Opps def. Melinkovich/Kindsvogel (Campbell County) 6-3, 6-4; Solberg/Opps def. Allen/Gosar (Laramie) 6-0, 6-4; Solberg/Opps def. Wood/Laing (Cody) 6-4, 6-4; Schutz/Gorman (Cheyenne East) def. Solberg/Opps 4-6, 4-6

GIRLS

Team scores — 1. Cheyenne Central 61, 2. Jackson 36, 3. Kelly Walsh 35, 4. Cody 33, 5. Campbell County 24, 6. Thunder Basin 14.5, 7. Natrona County 13.5, 8. Sheridan 12, 9. Laramie 8, 10. Green River 6.5, 11. Powell 4, 12. Rawlins 3.5, 13. Cheyenne East 3, T14. Cheyenne South and Rock Springs 2, 16. Torrington 1

Naomi Whipple (No. 1 singles) — Rylin Arnell (Green River) def. Whipple 7-5, 2-6, 0-6; Ella Bilyeu (Sheridan) def. Whipple 1-6, 3-6

Sophie Czirr (No. 2 singles) — Grace Gomez (Green River) def. Czirr 2-6, 4-6; Czirr def. Ashley Smith (Cheyenne East) 6-2, 6-3; Brooke Alexander (Sheridan) def. Czirr 0-6, 7-5, 1-6

Kyra Morrow/Anneliese Petersen (No. 1 doubles) — Peterson/Proctor (Laramie) def. Petersen/Morrow 7-6 (7-2), 5-7, 2-6; Courtney/Artery (Cheyenne East) def. Morrow/Petersen 3-6, 4-6

Isabelle Urbach/Elaina Kousoulos (No. 2 doubles) — Wahl/English def. Urbach/Kousoulos 3-6, 3-6; Urbach/Kousoulos def. DeFoe/Connelly (Torrington) 6-1, 6-1; Krueger/Smith def. Urbach/Kousoulos 4-6, 3-6

Bailee Allred/Ava Stearns (No. 3 doubles) — Allred/Stearns def. Martin/Proctor (Laramie) 6-1, 6-3; Ramsey/Bradfield (Kelly Walsh) def. Allred/Stearns 6-3, 4-6, 5-7; Allred/Stearns def. Davis/Britton (Green River) 6-3, 6-3; Allred/Stearns def. McGonagle/Paddock (Cody) 7-6 (7-5), 7-6 (7-4); Ligocki/Akers (Sheridan) def. Allred/Stearns 6-2, 5-7, 0-6