The Powell Panther tennis teams saved their best for last, as the Panther boys finished sixth at the state tournament in Gillette, led by Nathan Preator’s second place finish at No. 1 singles, and the Panther girls finished eighth, led by Naomi Whipple’s fourth place finish at No. 1 singles.

Preator started as an unseeded player out of the north, taking down the south’s No. 4 seed in Laramie’s Heidan Cho in straight sets 6-1, 6-4.

He followed that with an upset of the north No. 1 seed Emelyn Baev from Jackson, 6-2, 6-4.

Preator then pulled off another upset of Cody’s Nick Stewart. Preator hadn’t won a set against Stewart in the regular season.

Stewart took the first set 6-3, before Preator rallied in the second and won 6-0.

In the third, Stewart held a 4-2 lead, until Preator rallied to win four straight games and take the win 6-4 to advance to the title match.

“For Nate to be able to beat Nick, it was bittersweet because of the relationship we have with Cody. But just a great win for him to get out there and go lights out,” coach Joe Asay said. “Nick came out of a pretty crushing second set loss, getting up 4-2 on Nate, and then (Preator) just kind of chipped away one game at a time until all of a sudden he’s sitting there with match point.”

In the state championship match, Preator was looking to become the first individual state champion at a singles slot since his older brother Dylan Preator won at No. 2 singles in 2018 and 2019, and the third No. 1 singles champion in school history joining Cody Akin in 2015 and Toby Laird in 1997.

He came up short to Cheyenne East’s Colin Crecelius, 6-2, 6-2, but earned a hard fought second place finish.

“We were hoping that that little 10 year run meant that it would have been Nate’s day Saturday,” Asay said. “We knew he was going to be tested against that Colin kid. He was playing well.”

On the girls’ side, Whipple defeated Aizlee Jenkins of Rawlins 6-0, 6-1, before losing to eventual state runner-up Hailey Mathis-Breitkopf of Cheyenne Central 6-2, 6-0.

Whipple then defeated Kelly Walsh’s Whitney Bradfield in straight 6-2 sets, Cody’s Brenna Foote 6-1, 6-4, and Thunder Basin’s Ellie Garcia in straight 6-3 sets to reach the third place match.

There she fell to Sheridan’s Ella Bilyeu 7-5, 6-0 to finish fourth.

“It was just fantastic. What we were seeing is certainly a ton of ability and a tremendous improvement in her game,” Asay said. “Ultimately a great tournament. Pretty excited to see how she’ll step in and compete next year as a senior.”

At No. 2 singles, Ryan Barrus advanced all the way to the semifinals following two wins in straight sets, before falling in straight sets 6-2, 6-2 to the eventual state champion in Thunder Basin’s Parkar Gulley.

In the consolation semifinals Barrus fell to the eventual third place winner Sammy Smedley from Cheyenne Central 6-4, 6-2 to finish the weekend 2-2.

“Great results for him. Ended up playing some really good tennis to finish out the season with some critical wins,” Asay said.

Bailee Allred earned a first round win over Cheyenne East’s Maleea Cruz 6-2, 6-2, before falling to eventual state champion Cailyn Smedley, of Cheyenne Central, 6-0, 6-0.

Allred earned one more win in consolation before falling in a difficult three set match to finish in the top eight.

“She improved tremendously (this year), just came out and played some great tennis,” Asay said. “It was great to see her have a good, strong, regional showing. Then playing great through state as well. A good season for her.”

At No. 1 doubles, Memphis Solberg and Calvin Opps upset No. 2 seed Reed/Jones of Cheyenne Central in a comeback win 0-6, 6-4, 6-2, before falling in the quarterfinals and consolation rounds to go 1-2.

“They ended up losing to the eventual runners up in that second round. But they competed well, it was a good, strong three set match,” Asay said.

Isabelle Urbach and Kyra Morrow lost their first match before getting a forfeit win in the first consolation round, but were unable to find another win as they fell to Cody’s duo of Buckles and Paddock in a three set loss 2-6, 6-2, 6-1.

“Unfortunately Cody just got the better of it this go around,” Asay said.

At No. 2 doubles, Isaac Dunsey and Kazdyn Lee lost to the eventual state champions in Collins and Spillman from Cheyenne Central in straight states 6-0, 6-0, but battled to earn two wins on Friday before falling again to go 2-2 on the weekend.

“They played some good tennis. A spot there where we’re going to have a senior going away, but Kazdyn got some varsity match experience. Going to be fun to see him come back and see where he falls,” Asay said.

Elaina Kousoulos and Emily Jensen earned a first round win for the girls over Cheyenne East’s duo of Micheli/Woods 6-3, 1-6, 6-3, before losing in the quarterfinals. The duo rebounded for a win over Grubbs and Hernandez of Torrington before falling in a difficult three set match to Jackson’s Somers/Anderson 6-3, 0-6, 6-3.

“Emily joined us for the first time as a senior coming over from Lovell, and they matched up really well,” Asay said. “It was a really fun doubles team to watch and they had a good season playing together.”

At No. 3 doubles for the girls, Noelle Leighton and Anna David lost to the eventual champions from Cheyenne Central in Saunders/Reed 6-1, 6-4, but earned two consolation round wins before losing and finishing 2-2.

“They had great chemistry … It’s good to have chemistry with a partner and be able to cover the court well,” Asay said. “They really did finish out the season well.”

Josh Waite and Jonathan Clark went 0-2 at No. 3 doubles for the boys.

“They always play all the way through and never let up. Excited to see them come back out for their senior year with that opportunity for some experience,” Asay said.

Overall the boys’ team finished sixth accumulating 21 points, while the girls finished eighth with 14 points.

Sheridan took the boys’ title with 48 points and Cheyenne Central won the girls’ title for the third consecutive year, as the north conference had at least seven of the top 10 teams in both the boys’ and girls’ divisions.

“It’s great that our kids when they’re going through the season we’ve got the opportunity to see the strength of the north and get that big competitive experience out there,” Asay said.

The Panther girls will only return two players next year in Whipple and Leighton, with Asay hoping they can recruit some more athletes as the girls will lose more than half their team this year.

On the boys’ side, the Panthers return the full teams at No. 1 and No. 3 doubles along with Lee. Asay remains excited about several other juniors as well as some younger athletes coming from the Powell Middle School program.

STATE CHAMPIONSHIP RESULTS

GIRLS

Team scores — 1. Cheyenne Central 63, 2. Kelly Walsh 33, 3. Thunder Basin 31, 4. Jackson 27, 5. Sheridan 22, 6. Laramie 20, 7. Cody 16, 8. Powell 14, 9. Natrona County 10, 10. Campbell County 6.5, 11. Green River 6, 12. Cheyenne South 5, 13. Cheyenne East 2.5, T14. Rock Springs and Torrington 1.5, 16. Rawlins 0

No. 1 singles Naomi Whipple (4th) — Whipple def. Aizlee Jenkins (Rawlins) 6-0, 6-1; Hailey Mathis-Breitkopf (Cheyenne Central) def. Whipple 6-2, 6-0; Whipple def. Whitney Bradfield (Kelly Walsh) 6-2, 6-2; Whipple def. Brenna Foote (Cody) 6-1, 6-4; Whipple def. Ellie Garcia (Thunder Basin) 6-3, 6-3; Ella Bilyeu (Sheridan) def. Whipple 7-5, 6-0

No. 2 singles Bailee Allred — Allred def. Maleea Cruz (Cheyenne East) 6-2, 6-2; Cailyn Smedley (Cheyenne Central) def. Allred 6-0, 6-0; Allred def. Amanda Davis (Green River) 6-2, 6-0; Harper Jay (Natrona County) def. Allred 6-4, 1-6, 7-5

No. 1 doubles Isabelle Urbach/Kyra Morrow — Smith/Krueger (Laramie) def. Urbach/Morrow 7-6 (7-5), 6-2; Urbach/Morrow def. Pivik/Davis via forfeit; Buckles/Paddock (Cody) def. Urbach/Morrow 2-6, 6-2, 6-1

No. 2 doubles Elaina Kousoulos/Emily Jensen — Kousoulos/Jensen def. Micheli/Woods (Cheyenne East) 6-3, 1-6, 6-3; Kendrick/Bureo Latorre (Thunder Basin) def. Kousoulos/Jensen 6-3, 6-4; Kousoulos/Jensen def. Grubbs/Hernandez (Torrington) 5-7, 7-6 (7-0), 6-3; Somers/Anderson (Jackson) def. Kousoulos/Jensen 6-3, 0-6, 6-3

No. 3 doubles Noelle Leighton/Anna David — Saunders/Reed (Cheyenne Central) def. David/Leighton 6-1, 6-4; Leighton/David def. McMullen/Milam (Laramie) 6-2, 7-6 (7-5); Leighton/David def. Hager/Matlock (Torrington) 4-6, 7-5, 6-4; Maez/Kendall (Green River) def. Leighton/David 6-3, 6-3

BOYS

Team scores — 1. Sheridan 48, 2. Jackson 33, 3. Kelly Walsh 26.5, 4. Cheyenne Central 25, 5. Cheyenne East 24.5, 6. Powell 21, 7. Thunder Basin 20, 8. Green River 15, 9. Campbell County 14, 10. Cody 10.5, 11. Natrona County 10, 12. Laramie 5, 13. Rock Springs 3.5, 14. Torrington 3, T15. Cheyenne South and Rawlins 0

No. 1 singles Nathan Preator (2nd) — Preator def. Heidan Cho (Laramie) 6-1, 6-4; Preator def. Emelyn Baev (Jackson) 6-2, 6-4; Preator def. Nick Stewart (Cody) 3-6, 6-0, 6-4; Colin Crecelius (Cheyenne East) def. Preator 6-2, 6-2

No. 2 singles Ryan Barrus — Barrus def. Matthew Wren (Rock Springs) 6-0, 6-1; Barrus def. Kale Peterson (Cheyenne East) 6-0, 6-3; Parkar Gulley (Thunder Basin) def. Barrus 6-2, 6-2; Sammy Smedley (Cheyenne Central) def. Barrus 6-4, 6-2

No. 1 doubles Calvin Opps/Memphis Solberg — Solberg/Opps def. Reed/Jones (Cheyenne Central) 0-6, 6-4, 6-2; D’Amours/Freymann (Jackson) def. Solberg/Opps 3-6, 6-1, 6-1; Reishus/Ramsey (Kelly Walsh) def. Solberg/Opps 6-4, 6-1

No. 2 doubles Isaac Dunsey/Kazdyn Lee — Collins/Spillman (Cheyenne Central) def. Dunsey/Lee 6-1, 6-0; Dunsey/Lee def. Meyer/Robinson (Rawlins) 7-5, 6-2; Dunsey/Lee def. Alexander/Bergstraesser (Laramie) 6-2, 4-6, 6-4; Bingham/Gentile (Jackson) def. Dunsey/Lee 6-2, 6-0

No. 3 doubles Josh Waite/Jonathan Clark — Bundy/Taylor (Green River) def. Waite/Clark 6-2, 6-3; McLeod/Stewart (Cody) def. Waite/Clark 6-3, 6-3