2017 was successful for Wolves

The Wolves had a number of successes throughout 2017, but they’ve also had a few departures along the way.

Football

The Green River High School football team, while not making it to the state championship, still had a lot to be proud of this season. Ending the season with a 7-3 record, the Wolves, powered by offense from Chance Hofer, Devin Love, Candon Croft, Kyle Ivie and others.

A few players were named All State. Hofer, Croft, Love, Chance Anderson, Anthony Mitchell and Cole White were named in the 3A All State football list.

However, in the coming year the Wolves won’t be by their longtime coach Don Maggi. Maggi recently resigned from his head coaching position, saying coaching football is a year-round job and has required his family to make sacrifices for him to coach. Maggi’s teams have made it to the state semi-finals five times, played for a state title in 2015 and won the 3A West Conference title in 2016.

The district will seek a new head football coach in January.

Tennis

The GRHS tennis team had a great year, with the girls finishing fifth and the boys taking sixth. Head coach Phil Harder said Laura Cecilia was the first Lady Wolf to make it to the finals in No. 1 Singles competition in several years. She and her teammate Patrick Marchal were named All State for making to the finals in their respective brackets, with Marchal playing in No. 2 Singles. Six players made it to the final four in the state tournament, with Jordan Anderson and Brett McKeehan, in Doubles No. 3, working their way to the consolation bracket finals and Kelby Pope and Audrie Harrison in Doubles No. 2 winning their consolation bracket.

Wrestling

The Wolves shows they were the top dogs in 4A wrestling for a second year in a row, taking home the state title. The Wolves fell to Natrona County one week prior at Regionals, but were able to edge them out, scoring 221 points to Natrona’s 194.5 points. Former head coach Marshall Rhodes said the title was a team effort and was impressed with how hard the boys battled on the mat. The team produced two state champion wrestlers in Gage Byers and Justin Flores, with Gabe Bunderman, Cyro Montoya and Jordan Tucker taking second place. Payton Tucker, Eric Clingenpeel and Kaycee Cochrane took third.

While the wresting team is working hard on the mat, they do so under a new coach. After the team’s victory, Rhodes resigned.

He had coached the Wolves as head coach for five years and had coached for 18 years when he resigned.

“I know there is never an easy time to resign but I am at the point where I need to let someone else take the program, enjoy some other things in my life, and work towards other goals I have,” he said.

Boys Swimming

Under head coach Colleen Seiloff, the Wolves had posted some of the best times they’ve ever had in the pool. The team broke multiple records during the season and Michael Richmond became a state champion in two events, the 200 IM and the 100 butterfly. Richmond was also named Athlete of the Meet. His teammates also fared well, with Ethan Moffatt joining Richmond on the All State swimming and diving list. Brendan Bloomquist took fifth in the 50-yard freestyle at state.

Seiloff’s swimmers cut time throughout the season, even cutting time at the last chance meet prior to State.

“I’ve been pleased with how the season went,” Seiloff said at the time.

Boys Basketball

While the Wolves basketball team is currently undefeated after two tournaments, the season didn’t end well for the team during the last season.

The Wolves were unable to make it to the state tournament, with their hopes being dashed in a 63-46 loss against Natrona County in Rock Springs during Regionals. The loss was the seventh in a losing streak at the end of their season.

However, despite the losses, head coach Laurie Ivie said at the time she was happy with the improvement the boys were showing on the court and that improvement showed. For example, the Make-A-Wish game the Wolves played against the Rock Springs Tigers ended in a 61-56 loss, a much closer game than the team’s first meeting with the Tigers, which ended with a 90-53 loss.

“We believe we can compete with all the teams in our region. The important component for us will be playing with a high level of confidence and intensity,” Ivie said about the team prior to Regionals.

Boys Soccer

The boys soccer team ended their season taking fourth at the state tournament in Sheridan, losing a shootout against Kelly Walsh. Despite that loss, the third-ranked Wolves soccer team was able to defeat the Laramie Plainsmen in a 2-0 victory. The Plainsmen had at one point been the top ranked team in 3A East, but had fallen to second after a few late season losses.

After their win, they took on eventual state champions Cheyenne East, but lost 1-0 in overtime. The loss took the team to the consolation bracket, where they took on Kelly Walsh.

The team had played a number of games to overtime throughout the season, a situation head coach Chris Bieber said he didn’t like the team being in, but felt gave them an advantage all the same.

At the end of the season, Kalen Kester, Gregory Marchal and Patrick Marchal were named All State.