Laramie High School Sports Round-up 12-14-22

It was a busy start to the season for winter sports at Laramie High School last weekend, but it saw plenty of success.

Laramie hosted a Nordic ski meet and two swim meets, while basketball played eight games between the two varsity teams, and wrestling opened its season with some dual competition and an invite on the road.

Nordic Skiing

The Laramie Invite was at the Happy Jack Recreation Area trails last Friday and Saturday.

The first event was a 3x3km relay that was a fun start to the season. No scores were kept and points were not awarded. The best finish for the Laramie girls' relay teams was third place at a time of 42:13. For the boys, it was also a third-place finish at a time of 33:53.

Saturday was the first official race of the season that counted for varsity points. Eliza Fay was runner-up in the girls’ 5km freestyle at 17:29.8. Laura Brande followed in 13th place. The Plainsmen placed five skiers in the top 15. Emmitt Gray was sixth, and Gideon Moore and Jack Voos were right behind in seventh and eighth, respectively.

Laramie goes to the Pinedale Invite on Friday and Saturday.

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Laramie Boys Swimming & Diving

The Plainsmen opened their season with a pair of victories at the Laramie Relays and Laramie Pentathlon.

LHS won six of the 11 relays and scored 440 team points. That was 12 better than Cheyenne Central.

Laramie took first in the pentathlon with 178 team points. Individually, Kyle Morton was the highest finisher for the combined five-event times. He took fourth place.

The Plainsmen swim at Green River on Friday and Saturday.

Laramie Wrestling

The Plainsmen took fourth place in the Black Pool at the Charlie Lake Dual Tournament last Friday in Cheyenne.

LHS lost to Fossil Ridge (CO), 24-50, but bounced back with wins against Wheatland (57-24), Torrington (45-33), and Sidney (NE), 66-15. Laramie fell to Fort Collins (CO) by a score of 41-40 in the match for third place. Junior Dakota Ledford was 5-0 on the day.

Saturday was the Charlie Lake Invitational. The Plainsmen had only five wrestlers compete in the varsity division. They place 15th with 45 team points. Ledford was runner-up at 145 pounds, while Caden Polson took fourth at 120 pounds.

The Laramie girls had one champion in the women’s division. Avianca Guzman won the 112–115-pound division with victories by fall and one by decision.

Kimmie Ledford (130-135) and Ava Zellmer (169-179) came in third place. Andee Dory (138-142), Aya Klaibou (143-152), and Vivianna Zamora (169-179) all placed fourth.

That was the first official high school-sanctioned wrestling event for LHS girls as a team. No team scores were released.

Laramie had its home-opening dual on Tuesday versus Natrona County postponed due to the weather and road closures. No word on when that dual will be rescheduled.

LHS heads to the 2022 Jimmy John’s Northern Colorado Christmas Tournament at the Island Grove Event Center in Greeley, Colorado on Friday and Saturday.

Laramie Basketball

The Laramie girls enjoyed a great start to their season with a 4-0 record at the Strannigan Classic in Riverton and Lander.

LHS beat Star Valley 43-27 last Thursday. They played twice last Friday and defeated 3A Powell, 41-26, and won at Riverton, 57-29. The Lady Plainsmen capped the weekend with a 57-13 victory against Jackson.

Senior Addison Forry averaged 24 points per game across the four wins. She set a new career-high of 25 points versus Riverton and matched that in the game against Jackson.

The Plainsmen posted a 2-2 mark. They beat Star Valley in their opener, 64-56, with four players in double figures. Last Friday morning, LHS went overtime to beat 3A No. 4 Powell, 61-57. Laramie had five players score in double figures. Friday night, the Plainsmen lost at Riverton, 75-50. They fell to Jackson last Saturday, 64-60, despite career-highs of 18 points and nine rebounds from Max Alexander.

Both varsity teams head to the Greeley Roundball Invitational on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday. They open up against Palmer Ridge from Monument, CO, on Thursday at Greeley West High School. The girls’ game is at 3 p.m., and the boys’ game is at 4:30 p.m.

KOWB radio (AM 1290) will have live coverage of Thursday and Friday’s games only.