Mother Nature 4 - Dogies 2

Winter sports got their start last weekend, and of course, in
this drought-ridden state, Newcastle got dumped on with
a foot of snow. 
I was looking at the forecast on Thursday, and it was calling for three to five inches of accumulation overnight, then another inch on Friday. 
No big deal. 
But then it was like Mother Nature saw that forecast and said, “Hold my beer,” because she just really let the skies rip! 
So as Newcastle’s swimming, wrestling and girls’ and boys’ basketball were set to head out to their first weekend competitions, they got the word that those were not going to happen. 
A snow day means no athletic events and it was a good call because the roads were terrible! 
But how disappointing! These pre-season meets and games are so important for the teams so they can get some game experience without the high stakes of conference records. 
They get to find out if and what their weaknesses are and what they are doing right so they can refine and hone in before it really starts to count after Christmas. 
So, when Friday dawned as a winter wonderland, I’m sure the beauty of that storm was lost on swimmers, wrestlers and hoops players who were watching their anxiously awaited season openers begin to fade away. 
The snow let up on Friday afternoon and school officials and coaches were hard at work to find a way for teams to salvage what they could from the first weekend. 
The wrestling event in Lusk was moved to Saturday and the girls’ basketball team worked their way into two games in Glenrock as a replacement for their regular scheduled tourney in Burns. 
The boys’ team got an opportunity to play two games in Wright in lieu of the Burns tourney as well. 
The good ol’ Wyoming wind had more nefarious plans however. The girls started out for Glenrock and had made it all the way to Douglas, but then had to turn back because of a closed interstate due to treacherous roads. Unfortunately, this left the girls with nothing but bus time as preparation for the season.
The boys made it to Wright so got to get some court time, which this relatively inexperienced team desperately needed. Without a great deal of depth, the squad needed real game competition to let them know what they need to work on as they prepare for conference play after Christmas.
Wrestlers, too, were afforded the opportunity to get on the mat on Saturday. Though the tournament they were supposed to attend on Friday had continued without them, Lusk graciously agreed to a dual on Saturday so that the guys could get at least some competition on the opening weekend. It wasn’t the five-match event the squad had hoped for, but one match is better than nothing.
As for swimming, there was no way that the boys would be trekking all the way to Cody on Saturday for a meet so they remained dry-docked in their opening weekend.
Here’s to hoping that this last weekend before winter break remains snow-free so that our teams can compete in their regularly scheduled events. I know we need snow, but I hope Mother Nature feels placated enough to take it a little more easy on the Dogies.