T
CHRONICLE
December 11, 2014 I The Lovell Chronicle 19
Bulldogs and Grizz back at it for
2014-2015 winter season.
PATTI CARPENTER
Lady Grizz basketball players Sarah Jones and Livia Higgins practice this week
at Rocky Mountain High School in anticipation of the start of the basketball
season.
BY DAVID PECK
Experience, talent and
chemistry can take a team
a long way, and that's the
plan for the Rocky Moun-
tain Grizzlies as they be-
gin the 2014-15 season -
combined with a lot of hard
work.
The Grizz played to a
19-10 record last season
and beat Big Horn and
Pine Bluffs at State before
falling to Wyoming Indian
in the championship game.
With the state's new
practice and game sched-
ule, coaches have had
to cram three weeks of
pre-season practice into
two, so it helps to have six
seniors and eight juniors
who know the system,
Coach Michael Simmons
said.
"It's been hard, but
practice is going good,"
Simmons said. "We're hav-
ing to move a little fast-
er. It's tough but every-
one else is doing the same
thing. I like our larger se-
Bulldogs
look to meet challen
BY DAVID PECK
The Lovell Bulldogs
will most certainly be im-
proved this season after a
rebuilding year in 2013-
14 that saw them go 9-15.
;Problem is, the competition
will be tougher, too, as the
Bulldogs move into Class
3A.
"Class 3A this year is
probably the most com-
petitive and deepest clas-
sification in Wyoming,"
second-year coach Craig
Lundberg said. "To me it's
more mental than physi-
cal. We have the athletes
to compete, but do we have
the mental toughness to
compete against that lev-
el night in, night out? This
week 12 teams in 3A got
votes (in the Wyopreps.com
pre-season poll). That's a lot
of parity and a lot of talent.
"I've tried to make prac-
tice as tough as possible to
test our physical and men-
tal toughness, Some players
nior class, because it al-
lows us to move faster with
kids who know most of our
stuff."
Simmons said coaches
are making a few chang-
es this year because "every
team is a little different,"
adding, "We're trying to
give them the best system
to fit their strengths while
not changing a lot from
last year.
SEE 'GRIZZLIES STRONG
AGAIN,' page 12
of Class 3A
will rise to the occasion, and
some will need some extra
help to build them back up."
The Bulldogs lost four
seniors to graduation in
Chase Tippetts; Brandon
Wolvington, Calin McAr-
thur and Morgan May,
but they have 29 players
out for the team includ-
ing four seniors, seven ju-
niors, six sophomores and
12 freshmen.
SEE 'BULLDOGS MOVE UR',
page 10
small in
BY DAVID PECK
Small but mighty. That
might be the slogan of the
2014-15 Lovell Bulldogs
wrestling team.
Though there are only
13 wrestlers on the squad,
the team boasts seven who
placed at the regional tour-
nament last season includ-
ing five who placed at the
state tournament and one
who placed at State the
year before.
Coach Daniel Robert-
son said the team has stu-
dent athletes who love the
sport and are dedicated to
the team. And the state
success and experience
helps as the team competes
in Class 3A this season.
"We have six captains
(athletes who have placed
at State), so that's not
too bad," Robertson said.
"Practices are going really
well. The kids are really in-
tense. I almost have to slow
them down. They were re-
returnin
ally ready to get some work
done.
"It's a good group to go
to battle with."
State placers return-
ing include sophomore
Joey Mickelson (fifth at 113
pounds), senior Trey Smith
(fourth at 126), junior Mer-
rill Beck (sixth at 145), se-
nior Zeke Collins (third at
182) and senior Nash Jolley
(third at 220).
SEE 'LOVELL GRAPPLERS,'
page 10
DAVID PECK
Coach Daniel Robertson uses seniors Nash Jolley (below) and Zeke Collins to
demonstrate a move during wrestling practice Tuesday afternoon in the LHS
wrestling room. The Bulldogs open the season in Powell this weekend.
DAVID PECK
Rocky Mountain junior point guard Cole Wambeke drives to the basket
against sophomore Cole Simmons during the Rocky Mountain Brown and
Gold scrimmage on Saturday night in Cowley. The Grizz open the season at
Burlington Friday night, then host Lovell Saturday.
Rocky fields good-sized team
BY PATI'I CARPENTER
With 27 boys out for the
team and three coaches to
support them, Rocky Moun-
tain High School head
wrestling coach Josh Col-
lins said he feels optimistic
about the upcoming season.
Nine freshmen, seven
sophomores, eight juniors
and three seniors will make
up the team. Returning
to the team and appoint-
ed as this year's captains
are Tyler Lindquist, who
placed third at State last
year, Brian Crawford, who
placed second, and heavy-
weight Wes Homewood,
who placed fourth at State.
Collins said he is
pleased to have George
Laughlin of Powell join the
coaching staff this year,
bringing with him the
unique experience of four
years as an official. Stac-
ey Hiser is also returning
to assist this year. Collins
said having three coaches
allows the staff to provide
more individualized in-
struction to the wrestlers,
many of whom are wres-
tling at the high school lev-
el for the first time.
Team managers this
year are Jennifer Parker,
Sunshyne Tryon and Kaitie
Doughty. Collins said the
managers are of great help
to the team, providing sup-
port on many levels.
Absent from the team
this year is Ian Davidson
of Burlington, who wilt not
SEE 'ROCKY WRESTLERS,'
page 10
Lady Bulldogs bring depth, experience to Class 3A
BY DAVID PECK
After back-to-back
championships in 2011 and
2012 and a consolation ti-
tle in 2014, the LoveU Lady
Bulldogs are used to com-
peting at the highest level.
NOW they have a new chal-
lenge - Class 3A.
Fortunately for Coach
Chris Edwards and his
staff, the Lady Bulldogs re-
turn lots of experience from
a team that went 24-4 a
year ago in Class 2A. Gone
are graduating seniors Kim
Shumway (all-state cen-
ter), Mercedes Haney and
Kassi Renner, but there
are four starters returning
in seniors Lauren Hinck-
ley, Chayli McArthur and
Emilee Reasch and junior
Mykelle Nichols.
Also returning are ju-
niors Madison Harper,
Charri McArthur and Sa-
vanna Savage, who saw a
lot of varsity action a year
ago.
"We have seven or eight
girls who played a lot of
minutes last year and got
some good experience at
the varsity level," Edwards
said.
With a long history of
playing the likes of Powell
and Cody, plus other region-
al 3A teams, Edwards said
the challenge of returning
to a 3A schedule should not
be intimidating to his team.
"We've seen 3A teams
year in and year out between
regular season games and
tournament play, plus we
play middle school, fresh-
man and JV games against
Powell, Cody and Worland,
so the girls will be familiar
with who they're playing,"
Edwards said.
SEE '3A GIRLS,' page 12
Rocky girls basketball young
BY PATTI CARPENTER
With only three se-
niors and two juniors join-
ing the Rocky Mountain
High School girls basketball
team this year, Coach Eric
Honeyman said he's been
"thrown a curve" but he is
hopeful that the enthusi-
asm of his young team will
carry them to success this
season. So far, he said he's
quite impressed with nine
of the underclassmen, ex-
pecting at least three to end
up starting on the varsity
and enthusiastic
squad and the rest to play
frequently off the bench.
Though the size of the
team has actually increased
from 19 to 21, it is for the
most part very green, Hon-
eyman said, and in spite of
that, he is actually more
impressed with what he is
seeing in practice than last
year.
"I can see already that
these girls really hustle and
want to do well," he said.
Taking the lead this
year are returning seniors
Mikaela Hocker, who av-
eraged an 11 points game
last year, with an average of
five rebounds, and Maddie
"Smiles" Crawford, with her
contagious enthusiasm, and
sophomore Marissa Arnold.
Honeyman said he is
'happy to see senior Sar-
ah Jones returning, as
well, who he referred to as
a "hidden gem," and Liv-
ia Higgins, who got in a lot
of hours of varsity play last
year.
SEE LADY GRIZZ' page 10
