A pair of 2022 Powell High School graduates will be heading to Wichita, Kansas, as part of the Casper College men’s soccer team for the NJCAA National Championships after the team won the Region IX tournament this past weekend.

Garrett Morris was featured in 17 of the 20 games and started in 12 contests for the Thunderbirds (9-6-5) this season as part of the midfield for Casper College.

He has recorded one assist on the season, and returned to the midfield in the Thunderbirds’ shootout victory over Otero in the Region IX championship after missing the semifinals against Northwest due to an injury.

This is Morris’ second season at Casper College.

The other Panther making the trip to Wichita is Hawkin Sweeney, who transferred to Casper College for his sophomore year of college.

He has played in 14 games this season and started in two, scoring one goal and adding an assist for the Thunderbirds. 

Sweeney did not feature in the semifinal or championship for the Thunderbirds.

Casper College heads to the national tournament as the No. 12 seed, and will be in a pool with the No. 1 seed Arizona Western along with No. 8 seed LSU Eunice out of Louisiana.

The Thunderbirds will face Arizona Western (15-0-3) at 9 a.m. on Sunday before taking on LSU Eunice (13-2-1) on Monday at 9 a.m.

Casper College will need to finish top of its group to advance to the semifinals which will be later in the week.