The 1926 all-state team, one of two missing all-state teams from Wyoming’s football history, has been located.
But the echoes of controversy still ring out on the picks, almost 100 years later.
Finding the team was a challenge in and of itself. Most all-state teams are published at the end of the season. Well, the 1926 all-state team was published significantly later than that, making its appearance in the Wyoming State Tribune and Cheyenne State Leader on Jan. 10, 1927 (hence my delay in finding it; I wasn’t looking in the right time frame).
The team — chosen by “five coaches and two sport writers of Wyoming who have seen all of the teams in action excepting Sheridan and Buffalo” — was heavy on players from Cheyenne and Worland, the two teams who played for the state championship that season, as well as on players from the southeastern corner of the state.
The selections quickly drew criticism from up north, including Sheridan coach Web Wright and Buffalo coach J.R. Strother, who both advocated for Gillette’s Ross, Sheridan’s Wilson and Redhair and Buffalo’s Stevenson, Watt and Burger.
“I have felt ever since coming to Buffalo that there has been a tendency to ignore this part of the state and, as I see it, this section of the state merits consideration with the best schools all over the state — not only in athletics but in other activities as well,” Strother said.
See? Regional rivalries aren’t new. Your favorite team has always been overlooked and under-rated.
The full team is below. It’s also been added to the 1920s all-state teams page and to the all-state database. I’m still trying to find first names for four players from the 1926 team — Midwest’s Curley, Green River’s Davis, Lovell’s Craft and Torrington’s Havenly. Any help on finding those gentlemen’s first names is appreciated!
The only remaining missing all-state team is that from 1932, if it was even chosen.
+++
1926 all-class, all-state football team
As chosen by the staff of the Wyoming State Tribune and Cheyenne State Leader
First team
CHEYENNE CENTRAL: Wayne Colvin, RH; Herbert Gage, QB; William Lane, LG; Holland Lyons, LT.
DOUGLAS: Orland Blackburn, FB; Howard Dickson, LE.
MIDWEST: Curley, RE.
WORLAND: Carl Dir, LH; Walt McDonald, C; Sam McPike, RT; Wilbur Wortham, RG.
Second team
CHEYENNE CENTRAL: Walter Kingham, RT; Arthur Morgan, LH.
DOUGLAS: Thurlow Peake, C.
LARAMIE: Blake Fanning, RH.
NATRONA: Verle Harlow, RG.
THERMOPOLIS: Clarence Poindexter, LE.
WHEATLAND: (Clayton?) Russell, LT.
WORLAND: Harry Barnes, FB; Alva Hamilton, RE; Jinks Hillberry, LG; Fred Werner, QB.
Honorable mention
CHEYENNE CENTRAL: Tom Bradley, FB; Alfred Erickson, E; Herbert Harris, E; John Nimmo, QB.
DOUGLAS: Clarence Slonaker, T.
GREEN RIVER: Davis, QB.
LARAMIE: Don Nolan, HB.
LOVELL: Craft, FB.
NATRONA: Taft Harris, E.
RAWLINS: Bill Engstrom, FB; Michael Pappas, HB.
TORRINGTON: Havenly, HB.
WORLAND: John Werner, HB.
–patrick