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Year in Review the year's top athletes

By
Sonja Karp, NLJ Sports Editor

 

The reviews on the year 2022 as a whole are still out, as it brought with it many ups and downs, however, Newcastle High School athletes were able to tally up some special memories throughout the year. 
The Lady Dogies played a near-perfect season in basketball, the Lady Dogies made a repeat trip to the state soccer tournament in the spring, and the Lady Dogie volleyball team also took their second consecutive trip to the state tourney after going seven years without punching their ticket.
The Dogies secured themselves a playoff berth last fall in football, after just missing out on post-season play in 2021 when they lost a heartbreaker in their final regular season contest.
Even individual Dogies made headlines during their seasons in 2022, with one bringing home a state title and another joining the 1,000-point club in basketball.
Let’s take a look back at how each team, or individual, achieved their success.
 
Womack becomes
state champ
Josh Womack finished his senior season with only three losses, a regional championship, and capped it off with a state wrestling championship in the 220-pound weight class in February. He led Newcastle/Upton to an 11th-place finish at the 3A state wrestling tournament with his 2-0 title win over Carson Tims of Mt. View, handing the senior his second loss of the season.
“My goal all year was to win the title, so that was my mindset going in,” Womack said. “I knew that I’d come this far and I had to leave everything out on the mat. I went as hard as I could, and left no regrets.”
His trip to the championship began by dominating his opponents in the first and quarter-final rounds, where he wrestled a total of 1:02 between the two matches. In his semi-final round, Christian Peterson of Worland put up more of a fight, but Womack was able to get the pin at 5:25 into the match.
“I’d wrestled him at the beginning of the season, and he’s a tough opponent and a really nice guy,” Womack said, smiling. “I had to keep my momentum going and keep moving to stay in good position. He wanted to throw a big move on me, so I had to keep my hips underneath me.”
From there, there was just one match standing between Womack and a state title. 
“Josh wrestled a perfect state tournament. He made no mistakes,” head coach Lee McCoy said at the time. “The only time he’s lost all season has been when he took a risk, so going into the championship match he was going to make Tims make the mistakes, and he did.”
In the title match, Tims was giving Womack the respect he had earned throughout the season by trying to stay away from Womack and his signature fireman’s throw. 
Womack got a point for an escape in the second period and another point from Tims’ stalling in both the first and second period, which gave him those two points overall. Tims almost got an escape in the third period, but Womack put him back on the mat and rode it out to take the win. 
“There were a couple of close calls where Tims almost got to his feet, but Josh threw him back to the mat each time holding him scoreless,” McCoy explained. “He wrestled his match and there was no way the kid was going to beat him. It was pretty special and the perfect way to end a very good high school career.” 
Womack’s win ended his senior season with a 47-3 record and his name being added to the Wall of Fame at NHS.
“It took me a second to realize it, but when the ref blew that final whistle, it hit me that I had just won a state title,” Womack said. “It was pretty awesome.” 
 
Jay drops the K
Heading into a cross-quadrant makeup game against the Burns Lady Broncs, NHS junior Jaylen Ostenson was on the cusp of achieving the milestone of having scored 1,000 points in her high school career on the hardwood, in February. 
Foremost in Ostenson’s mind as the game got under way was to get another win with her team who had lost only one game in the season, and the Lady Dogies accomplished that goal with a decisive 65-32 win. Ostenson also hit, and surpassed, 1,000 points before the first half came to a close.
“I knew I was getting there, but I didn’t realize how close I was until you [Sonja Karp] told me,” Ostenson said following the game. “My goal for the game was not to score a thousand points at all. My goal was to win the game and if it happened, it happened. It was kind of cool that it did happen at home though.”
“It was a nice milestone for her to achieve,” said Chad Ostenson, NHS ladies’ basketball head coach and Jaylen’s dad. “It came as a result of a lot of work, a lot of time in the gym, and a lot of shots put up. It also takes good teammates. Without them, she doesn’t get the ball and doesn’t get the looks, and she would give them a lot of credit too.”
Ostenson finished that night leading all scorers with 21 points and she also brought down 10 rebounds for a double-double, finishing the 2022 season with 1,214 career points. 
 
Lady Dogies become 3A Consolation Champs
It wasn’t the trophy they had in mind as the Lady Dogies set out at the beginning of the season, but head coach Chad Ostenson’s squad brought home the first one since 2008 as they finished as the Consolation Champions at the 2022 3A State Tournament in March. 
“We won as many games at the tournament as anyone except Douglas [state champs], but losing the first put us out of the fight for the title,” Ostenson said with a sigh. “We played 11 quarters of really good basketball, but when you’re going up against the best teams in the state, even one bad quarter can hurt you — and on Thursday morning, it did.”
The Lady Dogies played the first contest of the 3A Tournament as they tipped off against the No. 2-seeded Lady Tigers of Lander. 
Other than the start of the first quarter, where the Lady Dogies played pretty tight and struggled to adjust to playing on the wide-open, big court of that venue, they played the Lady Tigers tough. Having to foul in the waning moments of the game, and good free-throw shooting by Lander inflated the score to a seven-point differential of 45-52 when the final buzzer blew.
“I’ve got to give credit where it’s due, the kids did battle back to tie it with three minutes left,” Ostenson said. “I thought we might just get over the hump, but then they hit a pretty big three down the stretch.”
The Lady Dogies had less than 24 hours to mourn the loss of winning a state title and dust themselves off before they took on the Mt. View Lady Buffalos.
“The loss to Lander was pretty heartbreaking because we knew we could have, and probably should have won,” admitted [Tiernan] Stanton. “But then we had to get the mentality that it wasn’t over yet, and we could either crawl in a hole and cry, or we could use it as a way to push through our next games.” 
The team that took the court that morning was the team that Dogie fans had watched all season. Where they had struggled a bit, comparatively, to shoot from beyond the arc in their last few contests, they exploded off the tip and were dialed in from downtown. 
“Mack the Gun” Conzelman was back in town as she went 5-7 from three, McFarland hit 2-3, Ostenson 2-4 and Tidyman 1-3 which added up to 30 of the ladies 58 points in the contest.
“Things just started to click for us,” Conzelman said after the game. “I think it was the shoes. I wore Jaylen’s shoes in the Lander game and then went back to mine for Mt. View.”
Newcastle took the lead and never looked back as they cruised to their 58-40 win over the Lady Buffs.
The win set them up to take on the Lady Trailblazers of Torrington in the consolation championship. 
“We got pretty good at playing that early game,” chuckled Ostenson. “But this was an important one because we wanted to win the last game of the year. There are only three teams who get to do that, and we wanted one of those to be us.”
Things began a little slow for both teams with Torrington striking first hitting a three-point shot. The Lady ‘Blazers finished the first frame with the 15-9 lead over the Lady Dogies. 
After having a discussion at the break, the Lady Dogies hit the court for the second quarter and ran over the ‘Blazers 24-11 to take the 33-26 lead into the locker room. Once they took the lead, they never looked back.
Torrington made a valiant effort to try to get back in the game, however, couldn’t dig out of the hole. The 64-54 win gave Newcastle the first trophy since 2008 as they were awarded the Consolation Championship and they ended the season with a 23-3 record.
 
Ladies secure
state berth
Heading into the last week of the 2022 season, the Lady Dogie Soccer team held firmly to the fourth seed in 3A East, and having recorded two decisive wins against Torrington and Rawlins earlier in the season, felt confident of racking up two more against each team by week’s end.
Strategic defensive play by the Lady ‘Blazers in Torrington the week prior, however, threw the question of making the state playoffs in question as they narrowly defeated Newcastle 2-1. Fortunately, head coach Jessie Stearns’ squad rallied to take the 1-0 victory over the Lady Outlaws of Rawlins in their last home match of the season.
Torrington’s strategy was to play a defensive game, pulling nine of
their 10 players into the backfield in order to thwart the Lady Dogies’ offensive game. 
“We talked about needing to step up our game at half time, and play like we are capable of playing,” Stearns said. “And we came out much better in the second. Angel [Perez] only touched the ball two times, and we played almost the whole 40 minutes on our offensive half of the field.”
With nine defenders guarding the Lady ‘Blazer’s goal, Stearns moved Hailey Beastrom out of the back field and into the attack position to give her squad seven offensive players. Though it took awhile, Beastrom would end up being the one to get the Lady Dogies on the board. 
The goal came with six minutes to play and was a result of a corner kick. Gabby McVay delivered the ball to Beastrom, who had forced the keeper out of position, and the freshman finished it to the back of the net. 
The Lady Dogies had a day to bounce back before hosting the Lady Outlaws.
“The loss put a lot of pressure on us,” Stearns said. “We had to win against them, or it would mean that we had to win this week against tougher opponents to secure our spot for the state tournament.”
The Lady Dogies had a lot of opportunities to score in the first half, but just couldn’t find the back of the net, so the teams went into the halftime break knotted up at zero. 
With 30 minutes to play, Newcastle got a free kick from about 25 yards out, and McVay put it on frame and over top of the Rawlins’ keeper to find the back of the net. 
“It looked almost identical to one of her goals when we played them last time,” Stearns said. “Their goalie is tall, but her timing was just a little off, and the ball went over the top of her fingers and it just slipped under the crossbar.”
From there, the Lady Dogies continued to hold Rawlins out of the goal to take the 1-0 win, and secure a spot at the state tournament. 
Newcastle ended the contest with five shots on goal, and secured their spot in post-season play at the state tournament. There they ran into tough teams from the west side and went two-and-out to end their season.
 
Bloom makes
All-Conference
Despite adverse conditions — gale-force winds and cool temperatures — the Dogies and Lady Dogies gutted it out along with the pack in for the 3A East Conference Meet in October, in Torrington, and sophomore Aspen Bloom finished fifth and ran her way to All-Conference honors. 
“We were prepared for the wind, but nothing like we experienced when we got there!” said assistant coach Jessica Troftgruben, following the meet. “It was so windy that the Torrington group didn’t even set up a table. They were driving around on golf carts locating coaches to give instructions and our supplies.”
Bloom was once again the sole runner for the Lady Dogies, and Troftgruben noted that Bloom was nervous as she prepared for the race.
“She knew she had a chance to get All-Conference, and she was feeling the pressure,” Troftgruben acknowledged. “We discussed racing strategies with the tough wind, and she knew she had to run smart when facing the wind and take advantage when the wind was at her back.”
Bloom jumped off the line and stayed with the leading runners right from the start, maintaining fourth throughout most of the race. As the runners neared the finish line, things started to heat up.
“We could see that the runner behind her was waiting to make her move and possibly using Aspen as a windbreak at times,” Troftgruben explained. “It was a battle to the finish line for fourth and fifth place, with Aspen taking that fifth-place spot.”
Not only did Bloom earn All-Conference honors with her finish, she also set a new personal record with her time of 21:18, which was impressive given the conditions.
“Aspen runs so smooth and graceful,” Troftgruben said. “There are times when it seems effortless, but I know she feels differently. It was so awesome that she finished so well.”
At the state meet, Bloom was right on her best time of the season, finishing in 21:27.27, putting her at 21st place in the race. 
 
Netters went
to the Dance
In October, the Lady Dogies punched their ticket to the Big Dance — otherwise known as the 3A State Volleyball Tournament — by taking third place at the 3A East Regional Tournament in Wheatland. 
From match one against Rawlins to their third place win over Buffalo, the Lady Dogies were there to play. 
“Everything really clicked for us,” said head coach Mickey Crabtree, following the game. “We were placing the ball well, we got a lot of run-throughs, we got so many touches at the net, we were getting the digs off those touches, and everything was really firing on all cylinders.” 
The Lady Dogies started their tournament pitted against the Rawlins Lady Outlaws, which was the first time the two teams had met.
“It was the first time we’d seen them this year, but the girls came ready to compete,” Crabtree explained. “We talked a lot about their legacy, and what they wanted to leave behind, so they showed up ready to play.”
The team was determined to maintain their focus on themselves, and that was just the ticket, as they pretty handily defeated the Lady Outlaws in three sets, 25-11, 25-17 and 25-19.
The win set Newcastle up to play Wheatland in the semi-final contest. Wheatland was the No. 1 team in the Southeast quadrant, they were ranked third in the state, they defeated Newcastle just a couple two weeks prior, and they were playing on their home court. 
Despite all of these challenges, the Lady Dogies gave the Lady Bulldogs everything they could handle in the five-set loss.
“I really thought we had them, and I think the whole crowd did,” said Crabtree. “But in that game, we struggled with the consistency piece of putting together a run of points, and they are a great team with a lot of talent.”
The Lady Dogies had Wheatland on their heels in the first three sets. They came out blazing, and took set one 25-21, with the Bulldogs making a late- game surge to close the gap. Newcastle then lost the second set 22-25, but turned around to take the third 25-18. 
In set four, Crabtree’s crew stumbled a bit, just long enough to give Wheatland the advantage, which they used to tie up the match, winning 25-12. Then in the fifth and deciding set, the Lady Bulldogs used their momentum to take the win 15-7.
The loss sent Newcastle into the loser-out game against Moorcroft. The Lady Wolves had taken Douglas to five sets in their opening match-up and defeated Torrington in the first loser-out contest. 
“The girls went into it feeling good,” Crabtree said. “I think we were all a little nervous, but we knew we just had to go in and play our game, and the girls showed up and got the job done.”
The squad elevated their already high level of play from Friday to Saturday and made it clear early and often that Moorcroft had no business being on the other side of the net. The front line put up a wall, and as a team scored 14 points on blocks, with Stanton racking up four solo blocks and contributing on five block assists.
The combination of great defense and a solid and
aggressive offense led to the three set victory, 25-14, 25-13, and 25-15, securing the Lady Dogies a state tourn-
ament berth.
All that was left was to decide seeding for the state tournament, which meant a third- and fourth-place contest remaining against Buffalo with whom they had split victories during the regular season. 
As the match began, it didn’t take long for everyone watching to see that Newcastle had a lot more intensity and urgency than did the Bison. as the Lady Dogies cruised to easy wins in the first two sets, 25-12 and 25-17, then came from behind to win the third set 25-23.
At the state tournament, the Lady Dogies played hard, but went two-and-out to end their season.
 Dogies go to
2A playoffs
Everything was on the line for the Dogies in their last regular season of 2022 against Torrington, in October. The winner would keep their season alive and head into the playoffs, while the loser’s season would end. 
It was tight at the end of the first half, but in the second, the Dogies took over and never looked back to cruise to a 39-14 win over the ‘Blazers, clinching a spot in the playoffs for the first time since 2017. 
“It was a pretty exciting night,” head coach Matt Conzelman said after the game. “You know we’ve just been preaching that if you make a mistake, not to let it compound into more — and I think they’ve really bought into that, and they played pretty well.”
The Dogies received the ball to start the contest and scored on their first possession with a three-yard scamper by Holden McConkey up the gut. Dylan McFarlin was good on the PAT to give the Dogies a 7-0 lead with six minutes to play in the first quarter. 
“I think that was the first time we scored on the opening drive,” Conzelman said. “We ate six minutes off the clock and drove about 75 yards down the field, so it was a great way to start the game.”
The ‘Blazers were able to answer back as time ticked off the clock in the first and tied things up 7-7 as the teams headed into the second. Torrington then took a 14-13 lead into the locker room at half time. 
“I reminded the guys that everything was going really well,” Conzelman said. “We had made some defensive adjustments that were working pretty well, so we just coached that up. I also said that the third quarter was going to tell a lot about how the game was going to end, so we needed to take over immediately when we got back out there.”
The ‘Blazers received to start the second half, but the Dogie D took Conzelman’s words to heart and forced a fumble,  which was recovered by Jacob Prell. Offense drove down the field, and on first and goal on the two-yard line, Quint Perino picked up his second touchdown of the evening on a QB keeper to recover the lead for his team. 
Dogies began the fourth quarter with a turnover on downs, however defense once again stepped up to stop the ‘Blazers on the 4th and four on Newcastle’s 49-yard line. 
On first down, McConkey broke through the middle of Torrington’s line and ran 51 yards for his second TD of the night. The pass fell incomplete on the two-point conversion attempt, so the score was 25-14 in Newcastle’s favor with 9:49 remaining in the game.
With 4:57 to play, McConkey punched the ball into the end zone once again, and this time McFarlin’s PAT was good to extend Newcastle’s lead to 32-14.
With 3:02 to play in the game, Torrington went for it on fourth and 20, but the Dogie D held them so took over only 10 yards away from the end zone. 
On second down, McConkey scored his fourth touchdown of the night on a two-yard scamper, and McFarlin was right on the money with his PAT, so the Dogies extended their lead to 39-14. 
“Us scoring 20 points in the fourth quarter was huge,” Conzelman said. “We haven’t done that for a long time.”
Senior Jacob Prell was a force on defense in the last home game of his career, racking up 23 points on defense with a fumble recovery, three solo tackles, three tackle assists and three tackles for loss. For his efforts, Prell was awarded Sportsman of the Game. 
McConkey was the workhorse for the Dogie offense as the senior racked up 261 all-purpose yards and four touchdowns on the night.
“Jacob and Holden were on fire,” Conzelman said. “It was an awesome way for them to end their career at Schoonmaker Field.”
The win was huge for the Dogies as it extended their season at least one more week. As the No. 4 seed from the East, Newcastle was pitted against the No. 1-seeded Lovell at their house. Unfortunately, Newcastle was unable to get past the Bulldogs, so their season came to an end.

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