Powell High School’s golfers took home as many individual medals as the best teams at the Class 3A State Tournament.

Three PHS seniors — Pax Mitchell (tied for third on boys side of the tourney) and Carli Brown and Mikala Fulton (fifth and sixth for the girls, respectively) — earned All State honors at Cody’s Olive Glenn Golf Course on Friday and Saturday.

“Pax put together one last great performance to cap the most decorated career in Panther golf history,” said golf coach Troy Hildebrand, noting that it was the fourth straight year Mitchell earned All-State (and All-Conference) honors. That consistent excellence is unprecedented at PHS.

Brown and Fulton, meanwhile, “wrapped up stellar careers with a great final state tournament,” Hildebrand said.

“It has been a tremendous journey to watch these two come in as freshmen totally new to tournament golf (and) put together the four years that they have,” he said.

As a team, the Panthers finished last out of 11 teams while the Lady Panthers wound up seventh of seven.

Mitchell posted his best score of the year with Friday’s 77. His Saturday appeared headed toward disaster when he picked up a 10 on his fifth hole. That would ruin a lot of golfers’ rounds, Hildebrand said, “but he hung in there and battled to the end for a great round of 83 in tough conditions.”

“I really can’t say enough about what he has done in his four years,” Hildebrand added. “I think Saturday was a great example of playing with the right mentality.”

Junior Robert Rodriguez fired a career best 94 on Friday then posted a 117.

“Robert really has tremendous potential and with a strong spring and summer of work, I expect him to be a real leader for us next fall,” Hildebrand said.

Senior Zane Henderson closed out his career with rounds of 114 and 118. While that wasn’t the ending Henderson would have liked, Hildebrand said he played some very good rounds for the team over the past two years and “I have enjoyed having him as a part of this team.”

Freshman Treven Keeler shot 126-118, performing “admirably” and gaining valuable experience, Hildebrand said.

“He has a lot of promise and hits a lot of quality shots, he just needs to continue (to learn) how to manage his game better,” the coach said.

Another state tournament rookie, junior Chase Lundberg, shot 150-138. Hildebrand praised the improvement on day two.

“With one year left, I think his best golf is ahead of him for sure,” the coach said.

Pinedale’s Jordan Costello shot 68-65 (-11) to bury the rest of the field by 23 strokes. The performance lifted Pinedale to the 3A state championship. The Wranglers’ top four scores over the two days totaled 683 strokes — two shots better than Torrington, four less than Wheatland and seven better than Jackson.

Powell scored 847.

On the girls side, Brown missed an All State finish by just one stroke a year ago and “she made sure that wasn’t going to be the case this year,” Hildebrand said.

Brown shot a 96 — her best round of the year — and then bested that with a 90 to take fifth place.

“I was very happy for her and this was a great finale to her heavily decorated career,” Hildebrand said, noting her three All-Conference finishes.

“Carli has an incredible attitude that never seems to waver and that has been an asset for her over the course of her career,” Hildebrand added.

Fellow senior Mikala Fulton opened with a 100 and found herself back in 13th place. But in the tougher Saturday conditions, Fulton shaved 10 strokes to post a 90 — her best round of the year. That vaulted her up the leaderboard and into her second straight all-state finish.

“Mikala has a ton of talent and power in her game and has shown growth in every area during her career,” Hildebrand said. “She will be a very difficult player to replace.”

Stevi Smith, a junior, rounded out the squad with rounds of 175 and 155.

“I was extremely proud of how she showed up Saturday with a smile and put her best effort forward with a 20-stroke improvement,” said Hildebrand. Noting Smith’s newness to tournament golf, the coach said Smith “could really make some quick progress with a commitment before next year.”

The Cody girls took advantage of their home course: They won the team title by 44 strokes (with their three lowest scores totaling 550) while Cody senior Sydney Gunn shot 78-78 to win the individual title by a dozen strokes.

Lander finished second and Buffalo third. Powell’s scores totaled 706.

Hildebrand said Cody High School, Olive Glenn and the community did a phenomenal job running the tournament and “making it a great weekend for the kids.”

Looking forward, “we will really be looking for some players to step up into new roles next fall and it will take a real commitment next summer for us to move back into trophy contention,” the coach said. “I think we have some players that can make great strides if they put the time into improving as individuals.”

Hildebrand thanked Powell High School, the parents and the staff at the Powell Golf Course for their continued support of the team.