The Powell High School tennis teams were unable to reach placement matches on Saturday at the Wyoming State Tennis Championships in Gillette, as the Powell boys took 11th and the girls were 14th to finish the season.

The furthest any Panthers reached was the top eight, as two slots on the boys’ side and one of the girls reached just before the consolation semifinals.

Calvin Opps was the top Panther, competing at No. 2 singles in the tournament, winning his opening match 6-2, 7-5.

He lost to the eventual runner-up 6-1, 6-0 and dropped down to the consolation bracket.

He won his next match 6-2, 6-0 and the following match in three sets 2-6, 6-4, 6-1 to advance to the consolation semifinals.

He fell in that match 6-2, 6-2, just missing out on reaching the third place match.

“Calvin has been a solid competitor there,” coach Joe Asay said. “He got out there and competed, battled all the way through … He had a good tournament, a good finish to his high school career. Fun to see him get out there and battle.”

At No. 1 singles on the girls’ side Naomi Whipple opened with a 6-0, 6-0 win to advance to the quarterfinals.

She fell in the quarterfinals in three sets, after she won the first set 6-3, before losing sets two and three by 6-2 scorelines.

She rebounded with a 6-2, 6-4 win in the consolation bracket, before being knocked out just before qualifying for All-State, finishing in the top eight with a 6-4, 6-1 loss.

“Great high school tennis career,” Asay said. “That was a tough loss, but otherwise a good season, good career and just a great young lady.”

The duo of Lincoln Hull and Josh Waite was the lone Powell team to win multiple matches, advancing all the way to the top eight.

They won their opening match 6-0, 6-3, before losing to the eventual third place team 6-0, 6-3.

Waite and Hull rebounded with a 7-5, 6-1 win before losing in a three set match. They lost the first set 6-1, won the second 6-4, before losing the final set 6-4.

“That was a good (final) match for them, and unfortunately just came up short after just one break there in that third set,” Asay said.

Aubrey Kelley recorded a win at No. 2 singles for the girls, as she lost the opening match in three sets, losing the first set 6-4, winning the second 6-2, before losing the final set 6-4.

She rebounded with a win in the second match in another three set match, winning the first set 7-5, losing the second 6-3, before winning the final set 6-4.

In one final three set match, she lost the first set 6-0, won the second set 7-5 before losing the final set 6-4.

“She’s been very impactful as a first year player, not just first year varsity, but first year playing high school tennis,” Asay said. “Pretty impressive, and I look forward to seeing her come back and compete next year as a senior, and hopefully continue to work on her game.”

Memphis Solberg recorded a win at No. 1 singles for the boys, losing his first match 6-3, 6-2, before rebounding with a 6-1, 6-0 win in the consolation bracket.

He then lost 6-2, 6-1 to end his weekend 1-2.

The final spot the Panthers earned a win was boys’ No. 2 doubles, as Tucker Phillips and Anton Brostrom rebounded from an opening 6-2, 6-1 loss to earn a three set win 6-3, 3-6, 6-0.

They fell in the second consolation round with a 6-3, 6-2 loss.

The Panthers were unable to pick up wins at any of the girls doubles, as Emma and Aubrey Bear went 0-2 at No. 1, Ashlee Jacobsen and Addy Kelley went 0-2 at No. 2 and Brynn Kelley and Karen Richmond went 0-2 at No. 3. Kazdyn Lee and David Stensing went 0-2 at No. 1 doubles for the boys.

“They always have great attitudes, and seem to get what I as a coach and the coaches hope for, and that is to just find something positive in the experience and take joy in the opportunity to be able to get out and compete,” Asay said. 

The Panther boys finished in 11th with six points, as the girls took 14th with three.

Following this season the Panthers have a number of spots to replace in the lineup, as they’ll need to replace the No. 1 singles, No. 1 doubles and one spot on No. 2 doubles for the girls, and the boys have all but one player, Hull at No. 3 doubles, graduating from their lineup.

“It was a good season, we’ll have a lot of changes and movements as we prepare for next season,” Asay said. “The great part about tennis is we do have that JV program, we don’t have to cut … Once the weather clears and we enter into spring and we’ve got nets on the courts, hopefully we’ll find some time to work on their game and have opportunities for them to compete at a few tournaments that we do here in the area.”

WHSAA STATE TENNIS TOURNAMENT

BOYS

Team scores — 1. Cheyenne Central 53, 2. Jackson 45, 3. Sheridan 41, 4. Kelly Walsh 28, 5. Campbell County 16.5, 6. Laramie 15, 7. Natrona County 13, 8. Thunder Basin 12, 9. Cheyenne East 9.5, 10. Green River 8.5, 11. Powell 6, 12. Cody 5, 13. Rock Springs 4.5, T14. Rawlins and Torrington 1, 16. Cheyenne South 0

Memphis Solberg (No. 1 singles) — Cody Litynski (Laramie) def. Solberg 6-3, 6-2; Solberg def. Matthew Wren (Rock Springs) 6-1, 6-0; Landon Ramsey (Kelly Walsh) def. Solberg 6-2, 6-1

Calvin Opps (No. 2 singles) — Opps def. Henry Shuman (Laramie) 6-2, 7-5; Luke Gentile (Jackson) def. Opps 6-1, 6-0; Opps def. Kaden Salas (Natrona County) 6-2, 6-0; Opps def. Bridger Woods (Cheyenne East) 2-6, 6-4, 6-1; Bode Strand (Kelly Walsh) def. Opps 6-2, 6-2

Kazdyn Lee/David Stensing (No. 1 doubles) — Landon Jones/Michael Smedley (Cheyenne Central) def. Lee/Stensing 6-0, 6-3; Quintin Bundy/Jacob Britton (Green River) def. Lee/Stensing 6-1, 6-2

Tucker Phillips/Anton Brostrom (No. 2 doubles) — Kaden Kean/Keegan Schmidt (Cheyenne Central) def. Phillips/Brostrom 6-2, 6-1; Phillips/Brostrom def. Brody Ringrose/Luke Hansen (Torrington) 6-3, 3-6, 6-0; Niels/Wiederholt/Jayden Zhu (Laramie) def. Phillips/Brostrom 6-3, 6-2

Lincoln Hull/Josh Waite (No. 3 doubles) — Hull/Waite def. Ashton Winters/Blake Love (Cheyenne East) 6-0, 6-3; Andre Wei/Michael Hodnett (Sheridan) def. Hull/Waite 6-0, 6-3; Hull/Waite def. Kyler Steiss/Joe Lovato (Green River) 7-5, 6-1; Austin Day/Gabe Gentile (Jackson) def. Hull/Waite 6-1, 4-6, 6-4

GIRLS

Team scores — 1. Cheyenne Central 51, 2. Kelly Walsh 49, 3. Jackson 29.5, 4. Laramie 23, 5. Natrona County 22, 6. Green River 19, 7. Cheyenne South 15, 8. Thunder Basin 14, 9. Sheridan 8, 10. Rock Springs 7, 11. Cody 6.5, 12. Campbell County 5.5, 13. Torrington 4, 14. Powell 3, 15. Cheyenne East 1.5, 16. Rawlins 1

Naomi Whipple (No. 1 singles) — Whipple def. Addie Aanerud (Rock Springs) 6-0, 6-0; Claire Arens (Laramie) def. Whipple 3-6, 6-2, 6-2; Whipple def. Larissa Hoffman 6-2, 6-4; Cailyn Smedley (Cheyenne Central) def. Whipple 6-4, 6-1

Aubrey Kelley (No. 2 singles) — Addyson Miller (Cheyenne East) def. Kelley 6-4, 2-6, 6-4; Kelley def. Elizabeth Lansing (Sheridan) 7-5, 3-6, 6-4; Jovee Stender def. Kelley 6-0, 5-7, 6-4

Emma Bear/Aubrey Bear (No. 1 doubles) — Lia Schaffer/Zuri Saunders (Cheyenne Central) def. Bear/Bear 6-0, 6-0; Keelin Connelly/Madison Hatch (Torrington) def. Bear/Bear 6-2, 6-0

Ashlee Jacobsen/Addy Kelley (No. 2 doubles) — Kamaile Reed/Taylor Trautwein (Cheyenne Central) def. Jacobsen/Kelley 6-1, 6-0; Liesel Maher/Nell MacGregor def. Jacobsen/Kelley 6-2, 6-3

Brynn Kelley/Karen Richmond (No. 3 doubles) — Sakura Joelson/Harley McRady (Cheyenne Central) def. Kelley/Richmond 6-1, 6-0; Greta Ramsey/Caroline Chace (Jackson) def. Kelley/Richmond 7-6 (7-4), 6-2