The tough competition throughout the regular season paid off for the Powell tennis team at the State Championships in Gillette last week.

And it paid off for no one more than freshman phenom Jesse Brown. He only lost one match all season and continued his winning ways by taking four straight matches to claim the No. 2 singles state crown.

Brown cruised past Rawlins Jacob Pacheco in his first match, 6-1, 6-1, and faced just a little more resistance in topping Kelby Kramer of Rock Springs, 6-4, 6-2.

Things got a little dicey in his semifinal match against Ethan Creagar of Torrington when Creagar was dominant in a 6-0, opening-set win.

Brown joined the battle in the second set as the two went at it hard; the Panther prevailed in a tie-breaker with a 7-5 win.

With the positive momentum on his side, Brown took control in the final set and took a 6-3 win to put him into the title match against Garrett Seagmans of Campbell County.

The first set was a barn-burner with the two matching each other swing for swing. Neither gave an inch, with a tie-breaker needed to settle it. Brown came out with the slightest of edges in the 7-6 (7-5) win. He made it hold up — and breathed just a bit easier — in taking the second set 6-4 to win the state title.

“He was a little disappointed at the start of the season as he had his sights set on playing No. 1 singles,” Powell High School head coach Joe Asay said of Brown. “But things worked out well and he got to enjoy it and have fun. It’s quite a way to end a freshman season, going against the No. 1 seed, who is a senior, and beat him for the state title.”

All but two of the other Powell positions won at least one set during their time in the state competition. The No. 1 singles players for the boys and girls, Rhett and Hattie Pimentel, each lost their first match but got a consolation bracket win before being knocked out.

That same format held true for each No. 1 doubles teams: James Sheets and Aaron Jacobsen and Jennifer Bonander and Kaylee Meyer.

No. 3 doubles boys Nathan Brown and Dylan Preator, both freshmen, also went loss, win, loss in their first time on the state level of competition.

At the girls No. 2 doubles, cousins Nicole and Sierra Sanders reached the consolation semifinals, having won their first match, losing the second, but winning two more before bowing out.

Also reaching the consolation semis were sophomore Shayla Shoopman and freshman Sloane Asay at No. 3 girls doubles.

The duo picked up an opening-round win, dropped into the consolation bracket with a second-round loss, but won two matches in a row before taking a tournament-ending loss to Laramie.

With Brown’s big finish, the Powell boys wound up fifth out of 16 schools in the team standings, while the Lady Panthers placed 11th.

“That’s how you always hope to finish a season,” coach Asay said. “I always emphasize that success isn’t always measured in wins, but in how you compete. The kids all competed well here and it was a lot of fun to see, especially those No. 2 and 3 girls doubles teams going so far and getting some points for us. It was a good season overall and the kids had a lot of fun.”