The long holiday is over, and coaches and players in north Big Horn County are no doubt chomping at the bit to get back to action on the basketball court and wrestling mat. Indoor track will also soon be under way as the new year unfolds.

The Lovell Bulldogs and Lady Bulldogs will find themselves tested as they open the new year by hosting a pair of conference games each. Class 3A West foes Pinedale and Jackson will make the long trip to Big Horn County.
Meanwhile, the Rocky Mountain Grizzlies and Lady Grizz will play three games this weekend including home contests against Burlington Friday night.

Friday, the Lovell cagers host Pinedale at 4 (JV), 5:30 (girls) and 7 p.m. They then play host to Jackson Saturday at 11 a.m. (JV), 12:45 p.m. (girls) and 2:30 p.m.

The Pinedale Lady Wranglers are 3-5 on the season and 0-2 in the 3A West. The Lady Wranglers have defeated Newcastle once and Rawlins twice at early-season tournaments. They also have lost to Buffalo, Douglas and Wheatland, as well as conference opponents Powell and Cody.

While the Pinedale squad will be a challenge for the Lady Bulldogs, Jackson will be a monumental obstacle. The two-time defending state champion Lady Broncs are 8-1 and are unanimously ranked number one in the Wyopreps.com coaches and media poll, falling only to Class 4A Cheyenne East on the season and easily handling Wheatland,  Buffalo, Newcastle, Cody, Powell, Rich County, Utah, Cheyenne Central and Star Valley.

The Lovell Lady Bulldogs are 4-1 on the season and 1-0 in conference play after beating Class 2A number three Mountain View, 2A number two Tongue River, conference opponent Lyman and Rocky Mountain. Lovell’s only loss came at the hands of Thermopolis, and the Lady Bulldogs are knocking at the door of the top five (sixth in number of votes) in the Wyopreps.com poll.

It’s a tough stretch for the Lady Bulldogs. After the Pinedale/Jackson weekend, the Lovell girls host second-ranked Powell on Saturday, Jan. 17.

The Lovell boys, meanwhile, also face a tough pair of opponents this weekend. Pinedale is number six in the Wyopreps poll with a 4-4 record, 2-0 in the 3A West. The Wranglers started the season 4-1 with wins over Buffalo, Rawlins Powell and Cody and a loss to Newcastle, then fell to Rawlins, Lander and Wheatland during a tournament in Lander.

Jackson is 3-6 and 2-0 in the conference with wins over Rawlins, Cody and Powell and losses to Buffalo,  Wheatland, Evanston, Cheyenne East, Green River and Star Valley.

The Bulldogs are 5-0 and ranked fifth, so far, with wins over Tongue River, Mountain  View, Thermopolis (ranked second in 2A), Lyman and Rocky Mountain. Like the Lady Bulldogs, the Bulldogs will host Powell the following weekend, on Saturday, Jan. 17. A tough road conference game at Worland follows on Friday, Jan. 23.

The Rocky Mountain Grizzlies and Lady Grizz will be very busy coming out of the chute this weekend, with games Thursday, Friday and Saturday. Rocky will travel to Wind River Thursday, host Burlington Friday and travel to Shoshoni Saturday for their conference openers.

The Lady Grizz will take on Wind River at 4:15 (JV) and 5:45 p.m. in Pavillion tonight, having edged the Lady Cougars 29-24 in their season-opener back on Dec. 5 to start the Big Horn Basin Shootout. The Grizz also defeated Dubois and Big Piney at the Shootout before falling to Wyoming Indian, Tongue River, Lovell and Burlington, a string that saw them competitive in nearly every game.

After falling to the Lady Huskies in Burlington on Dec. 20, the Rocky girls will have a chance at redemption Friday at 5:30 p.m. in Byron (JV at 2:30).

Ranked number one in Class 1A, the 5-1 Lady Huskies have lost only to Riverside, but the Lady Grizz gave them a battle in December.

Rounding out the weekend will be a conference contest at Shoshoni Saturday at 3 p.m. (JVs at noon). Shoshoni is 5-3 on the season after defeating Ten Sleep 38-31 Tuesday night with wins also coming over Hanna (twice), Encampment, Wind River and losses to Cokeville, Upton and Farson.

The Rocky Mountain boys, meanwhile, will face two highly-ranked opponents before starting the conference slate. Wind River is ranked third in Class 2A and clobbered the Grizz 83-59 in the season-opener on Dec. 5. The Cougars placed second at the Fremont County Shootout over the weekend.

Tip-off in Pavillion tonight is set for 7:15 p.m. (JVs at 4 p.m.).

Friday, the Grizz host the top-ranked (1A) Burlington Huskies at 7 p.m. in Byron (JVs at 4 p.m.), looking to even the season series after falling to the Huskies 44-32 in Burlington on Dec. 20. Burlington is 6-1 on the season, falling only to the Worland JVs at the Big Horn Basin Shootout.

The Grizz will open conference play at Shoshoni on Saturday with tip-off times at 1:30 (JV) and 4:30 p.m. The Wranglers have played to a 2-6 record so far, with wins over Cokeville and Hanna and losses to Little Snake River, Hanna, Wind River, Upton, Farson and Ten Sleep Tuesday night, 68-38.
After the three-game weekend, the Grizz and Lady Grizz only have single games the following weekend, but the games are tough ones at Wyoming Indian on Saturday, Jan. 17.

The Lovell and Rocky Mountain wrestling squads will open the new year by traveling to Greybull Friday for a quadrangular meet that includes host Greybull/Riverside and Thermopolis. Action begins at 5 p.m.

The Grizzlies will host Powell Tuesday at 7 p.m. for a dual meet, then travel to Pavillion for the Don Runner Invitational Jan. 16-17. Lovell travels to the Douglas Tournament Jan. 16-17.

A busy indoor track season will begin next week when the Lovell Bulldogs travel to the Shine Indoor Invitational at the University of Wyoming on Friday, Jan. 16. The rest of the January schedule includes the Pope and Talbot Invitational on Jan. 24 in Spearfish, S.D., and the Chadron State College Winter Classic in Chadron, Neb., on Jan. 31.

Also under way this month is middle school wrestling and girls basketball as buses will be zooming all over the Big Horn Basin and the region for school activities.

The LHS Speech Team will travel to the Northwest College meet this Friday and Saturday in Powell, one of the biggest meets of the year, then travel to Worland on Jan. 23 and 24. Coach Patti Hutchinson said the public is welcome and invited to attend the meet and watch the speech competitors in Powell.

Top musicians from around Wyoming will gather in Casper Jan. 18-21 for the Wyoming All-State Music event.