Showing up and showing out
Sonja Karp
NLJ Sports Reporter
Recently, three of Newcastle High School’s finest were recognized for their achievements, doing themselves, their families and their school proud. Seniors Cade Ostenson and Kolby Pisciotti, along with sophomore Kale Corley each powered through individual challenges to rise to the top, and were rewarded for their hard work and perseverance.
Becoming part of Dogie history
Cade Ostenson etched his name into NHS track history by breaking a 29-year-old long jump record set by Ben Morris in 1990. While this achievement is impressive on its own, it is made even more so due to the fact that it happened in only the second meet of the season and after very little practice.
The week before his record-breaking leap, Ostenson literally made his first jump of the season where he qualified easily for the state meet, and landed just two and a half inches short of the record. Knowing he was close, Ostenson was determined to pick up that short distance.
“I actually set my sights on the record last year at State,” he began. “I’d been looking at the board with the record for a while, and when I was close last year, I knew I had a chance to beat it.”
Last fall, Ostenson began working to increase his vertical leap for basketball. Using a program he found on YouTube, the senior spent three days per week improving his vert and his speed — both of which are needed for long jumping as well as for basketball.
“I was lifting pretty hard last summer and was seeing some improvements in my vert,” he explained. “During the fall and winter, I was in the weight room four days a week, three of which I was doing the speed and jumping workout. Even though I was doing it for basketball, it translated really well for track as well, and I got excited to see what I could do with the long jump.”
The results speak for themselves. Ostenson was able to increase his vertical leap by four inches, going from 31-32 inches to 35-36 inches. It also enabled him to improve his previous best long jump by seven inches.
In addition to setting the school record, Ostenson has situated himself at the top of 3A in the long jump, and is second only to a Natrona High School athlete overall in the state. However, he is not satisfied to rest on his 22-07.75 distance.
“My goal this year is to hit 23 feet, and I think it’s a possibility,” he predicted. “If I get a nice day and can pop one off, I’m pretty sure I can make it happen.”
Ostenson is understandably happy and proud of his accomplishment, but he is also passionate about the NHS track program.
“I don’t know if my record will hold on as long as Ben’s did,” he smiled. “Hopefully, there will be someone coming up who can beat it or at least come close to it to keep the program growing stronger.”
Persevering through
adversity
The Wyoming Football Federation Foundation presents one Wyoming high school football player with the Perseverance Award each year. This award is given to a student/player who has gone through a life-changing event and persevered through it, emerging stronger on the other side.
This year, Kolby Pisciotti was nominated by head coach Matt Conzelman, and the foundation agreed with Conzelman, presenting Pisciotti with the award (which includes a $1,200 scholarship to any post-secondary institution) at their annual Banquet in Laramie.
“It really meant a lot to win. I hadn’t heard of the foundation and I didn’t even know about the actual award, but I thought it was pretty cool that a manager could be put up for it,” Pisciotti smiled. “It also meant a great deal that Conz put me up for that award and thought I was a good fit for it. We have a bond that certain players and managers often don’t have.”
When Pisciotti headed to Mallo Camp for the start of football season three years ago, he had no inkling of how his life was about to change. He had been to the doctor due to concern over a lump in his neck that was being aggravated by wearing his football helmet, and while he was at the annual Mallo Camp retreat, his mother, Carrie Manders, received a call where she learned the frightening results.
Kolby had stage three Pediatric Follicular Lymphoma.
“Mom thought it would be better to wait until I was home to tell me the news,” Pisciotti explained. “When she told me, I wasn’t devastated, I wasn’t scared, it was just something that happened.”
The calm that Pisciotti felt was short lived, however, when he began to learn more about his condition.
“After talking to the doctors, I was caught a little off guard because I hadn’t realized that I was already at stage three, which is pretty serious,” he admitted. “Also, my situation was very rare because usually this occurs at ages younger than 16, and given I was 16 at the time I was in some uncharted waters.”
Pisciotti was referred from Newcastle to Dr. Rob Schleiffarth, an ENT in Rapid City, S.D., who quickly realized his condition required specialized care. As such, Pisciotti’s case was sent on to the Masonic Children’s Hospital in Minneapolis, Minn.
“We packed up that weekend, went down and saw the specialist and got started on treatment,” he stated. “Conz sent me with my home and away jerseys, and while I was gone, I would wear those as I listened to the games. Before each one, he would call me and we would talk strategy. I watched film, so we would talk about what I was seeing, and that kind of pushed me to get back to actually see a game.”
Pisciotti’s three-month-long treatment regime consisted of one week of chemotherapy followed by a week off. The intensive attack served to minimize his treatment time, and get him back home as quickly as possible.
Since his treatment, Pisciotti has remained cancer free and one silver lining that has emerged from his experience is that while in Minnesota, he was set on a course for his future in that he will be attending Minnesota State Mankato.
“We drove past the campus every other week when I was out there for treatment,” he chuckled. “It caught my eye, and that’s where I’ve decided to go.”
NHS’s All-American
Kale Corley established himself as a champion early in his high school wrestling career when he won the 120 pound weight class 3A State Title as a freshman. This year, as a sophomore, he was regional champion at 132 pounds, and finished third at the state tournament.
Though the season ended in February, Corley was far from done wrestling for the year.
“At the Ron Thon Tournament in January, if you placed high enough, you had the opportunity to sign up to be a member of a team for the Wyoming Amateur Wrestling Association (WAWA),” Corley explained. “Though I didn’t realize it at the time, they had open spots afterward. Luckily, the 145 pound class was available (I got fat after the season ended) so I signed up, raised some money and earned a spot on the team.”
The team Corley made travelled to Des Moines, Iowa, the last weekend in March where they competed in the AAU National Duals — a multi-state tournament which included teams from Wyoming, South Dakota, Montana, Iowa, and Tennessee to name a few.
“The competition was really good,” Corley exclaimed. “It was a lot of fun, because throughout the day we went from one dual to the next and got to go up against some really talented kids.”
Corley was among those who ranked as tough competition in Des Moines, as the sophomore went 6-2 on the weekend, earning himself All-American status when all was said and done.
“I guess it doesn’t feel any different to be an All-American,” Corley shrugged. “I feel like I could have done better at the tournament, to be honest. In one of the matches that I lost, I definitely shouldn’t have. I was a little tired and I let that get to me.”
That Corley is humble regarding his achievement, may very well be one of the reasons he was able to earn it. Despite his many successes, he has many more goals set for himself and recognizes that he has to put in a great deal of hard work in order to make those a reality.
“I just need to keep plugging away to get where I want to be. I want to win a couple more state championships to be a three-timer, and we have a little family bet whether or not I will beat some of Wyatt’s [Corley] standings,” he grinned. “I’m hoping to beat his career record which is pretty good. But, I’m within reach of doing it, so I’m shooting to make that happen.”
For now, Corley has a few trophies to display and odds look good that he will add a few more.