Individual schools lost the ability to host state football championship games in 2009 — a fact with which some folks around the Equality State still haven’t reconciled.
However, there’s some consolation in knowing that almost every school in the state had a chance to host at least one championship game before the state’s move to a neutral championship site eight years ago.
In all, 52 Wyoming high schools (and 50 separate cities) have hosted at least one state championship game; only 13 haven’t, and of those 13, eight are at the six-man level.
The five 11-man programs who haven’t hosted a state title game in their program history are Cheyenne South, Newcastle, Saratoga, Wright and Wyoming Indian. South’s inclusion makes sense, having joined the varsity ranks in 2011 after title games had already been moved to Laramie. Of the remaining four, Wyoming Indian has yet to play in a state football title game; Newcastle’s one title-game appearance in 1981 came on the road; Wright has played in two title games, both on the road; and Saratoga has played in two title games and “hosted” the 1975 B title game, but opted to play it in Rawlins instead of Saratoga.
Of the eight six-man programs who haven’t hosted a title game, two have the entirety of their histories since 2009, when six-man came back fully (Kaycee, Rock River) and two others (Farson and Snake River) had sparse histories prior to 2009. The other four include Ten Sleep, which hasn’t yet played in a title game; St. Stephens and Normative Services, who have each played in one title game, each on the road; and Dubois, who’s played three title games on the neutral field in Laramie and a fourth on the road.
+++
In terms of host cities, Laramie, with 44 title games hosted (including all 40 since 2009), obviously leads the way. Casper also hosted neutral-site Class AA title games in the late 1960s and early 1970s, and has hosted 15 title games in all. Other towns around the state have hosted neutral-site title games for smaller-classification teams, mostly in the mid- to late 1970s. The total number of title games per town (not necessarily per school) includes:
Laramie: 44
Cokeville: 16
Casper: 15
Cheyenne: 10
Byron, Sheridan, Torrington: 8
Afton: 7
Big Piney, Evanston, Worland: 6
Big Horn, Douglas, Mountain View, Rawlins, Rock Springs, Thermopolis: 5
Buffalo, Cody, Lovell, Lusk, Midwest: 4
Burlington, Burns, Gillette, Hanna, Kemmerer, Riverton: 3
Dayton, Glenrock, Green River, Guernsey, Hulett, Jackson, Meeteetse, Powell, Sundance, Wheatland, Yoder: 2
Basin, Greybull, Lander, Lingle, Lyman, Moorcroft, Pavillion, Pine Bluffs, Pinedale, Shoshoni, Upton: 1
For more, dive into the newly rebuilt state championship game listings.
–patrick