• Kemmerer and Cokeville high schools open the 2025 athletic seasons

With golf starting this week and the remainder of the fall sports starting next Monday, here’s a look at what is coming back for Cokeville and Kemmerer athletics.

KEMMERER – 

Football

Things are improving for the Rangers who went (3-5) overall and (2-5) in the gauntlet of the 2A West. In order to get back to the post-season, a place they haven’t been since 2018, The Rangers likely need to win four times in the conference which was the threshold last year with both Worland and Thermopolis going (4-3) with the Bobcats missing out with the tiebreakers. Improvement has been modest for KHS who are looking to win four games in a season for the first time since 2012.

Volleyball

The Lady Rangers struggled in games outside of the 2A Southwest by going (12-24) overall, but they won when it counted the most with a (5-1) record in their quadrant. Kemmerer survived a five-set outing to open the 2A West against Shoshoni, but fell in four sets to eventual regional champion Rocky Mountain. From there, the team they bested in the 2A Southwest, Big Piney, got their revenge with a five-set elimination contest to end Kemmerer’s season. The Punchers went on to be swept in two straight matches by eventual champion Big Horn and then by Thermopolis in the consolation bracket.

Golf

One of the best girls golfers in Wyoming wore the Red and Black for KHS last season as Taazlyn Wagner won the 2A title in her freshman campaign by a ridiculous 41 strokes. Wagner showed out during the summer as well as a representative for Wyoming in the 2025 PGA High School golf National Invitational  in North Carolina where she finished 31st out of 202 players. However, Wagner will not be eligible to play for KHS this fall as of this writing due to living elsewhere to play over the last calendar year. She would need a special exemption from the WHSAA in order to satisfy transfer rules. The freshman class was a big story for Kemmerer golf last year as Trevan Benson nearly made it a double individual championship for KHS as he finished just one stroke back of Thermopolis senior Hayden Overfield. Benson is back but the Rangers lose two all-state performers in Austin Christen and Ethyn Perkins. Samuel Swann is eligible to return for his senior year as is Bowman Sandal who both finished in the top 25 of last years state tournament. Jennifer Benson takes over for Jonathon Willoughby as head coach for the program which starts their season in Afton this week.

COKEVILLE – 

Football
It was a very good year for the Cokeville Panthers who continue to prove that they can compete for the 2A title after making the move from the 1A 11-man ranks three years ago. Last year the Panthers finished (7-4) overall and (5-2) within the 2A West. Cokeville made the long trek to Newcastle and knocked off the Dogies 28-20 and then routed Mountain View with yet another road win, 40-14 to earn a trip to the 2A state title game. They ran into a buzzsaw in the Big Horn Rams who prevailed 42-12 in the championship, but winning two road games to finish as the state runner-up is a year nearly all teams would like to have. This year the usual suspects continue to make the league one of the more interesting schedules in the state with Mountain View and Lovell as perennial contenders and teams like Lyman who hoisted the trophy recently an improved squads from Thermopolis as well as Worland who is back for their second run after transitioning from the 3A class.

Volleyball

There’s probably not a more consistent winner in Wyoming than the Lady Panthers who went (23-11) overall and (9-1) in the 1A Southwest in 2024. If not for the Little Snake River Rattlers, Cokeville may very well have won another championship last November but LSR was the cream of the crop last season. They proved it in back to back weekends, knocking off the Panthers 3-1 in the 1A West Regionals before surviving a five-set classic against Cokeville in Casper. CHS annually punches up as they construct their schedule and to find them the final team standing in 2025 would not be a surprise.