Two All-Star Events are Happening This Weekend
The annual Wyoming Shrine Bowl All-Star football game and Wyoming-Montana All-Star basketball games will be held on Friday and Saturday.
A year ago, both events were canceled over concerns with the coronavirus. The 2021 editions are ready to go.
Football
The 48th annual Shrine Bowl will pit the North versus the South on Saturday in Casper with a 2 p.m. kickoff. The game is at Cheney Alumni Field at Natrona County High School.
The North leads the all-time series with 25 wins compared to 18 for the South. There have been three ties, which includes a weather-shortened game in 2009.
The North Team enters this weekend with a seven-game win streak. That’s the longest for either side in series history. The last South Team victory was in 2012, 56-33, which happens to be the most points scored by one team in any Shrine Bowl game. The most recent game played in 2019 saw the North defeat the South, 29-19.
The North Team’s head coach is Matt McFadden from Cody. The South Team’s head coach is Mountain View’s Brent Walk.
WyoPreps believes there are two changes from the original rosters that were released on Feb. 3, 2021. Worland’s Rudy Sanford has opted to play in this weekend’s all-star basketball series, and Brady Storebo is the replacement for Andrew Johnson. Both played at Cheyenne Central.
This game is for graduated seniors only. Following Saturday’s game, the Offensive and Defensive Players of the Game will be announced. There will also be two winners of the Mike Priest Award revealed at Friday’s banquet, one from the North Team and one from the South Team.
Tickets for Saturday's game are $10 and available at the gate.
Basketball
The 46th annual Wyoming versus Montana All-Star basketball series will be in Sheridan on Friday and Lockwood, MT on Saturday.
Friday’s games will be played at the Bruce Hoffman Dome on the Sheridan College Campus, while Saturday’s games will be held at Lockwood High School in Lockwood, MT for the first time. Game times are the same on both days, 5:30 p.m. for the girls and 7:30 p.m. for the boys. There are no covid-19 restrictions at either site.
Montana swept the games in 2019. The Montana girls won 84-66 in Billings and 89-46 in Sheridan, while the Montana boys won 103-100 in Billings and 95-94 in Sheridan.
Montana leads both all-time series, 61-27 in the boys and 33-13 in the girls. The boys' series dates back to 1976, while the girls joined in 1997.
The Wyoming rosters are the same ones that were released last month. This game is also for graduated seniors only. Sheridan High coaches Jeff Martini (boys) and Ryan Sullivan (girls) will serve as the head coaches for Team Wyoming. They start practices on Wednesday.
Tickets to Friday’s games in Sheridan are $10 and will be sold at the door.
Mr. and Ms. Basketball in Wyoming are normally announced at these games, but that will not happen this year.