ROCK SPRINGS — Residents are being urged to be mindful of elevated fire conditions developing across Wyoming.

The Bureau of Land Management issued a statement Tuesday that despite cooler overnight temperatures, live fuel moisture is at seasonal lows and areas without snow cover are susceptible to ignition and rapid fire spread.  The BLM says weather forecasts suggest a combination of strong wind, higher than average temperatures and low relative humidity – which can result in wildfires. 

“Even though it may not feel like peak fire season yet, the current conditions create a real potential for wildfires to start and spread quickly,” Mark Randall, the fire management officer for the BLM’s High Desert District said. “A single spark in the wrong place can have significant impacts.”

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A Red Flag Warning took effect Wednesday at noon and will expire at 9 p.m. Saturday and impacts Sweetwater, Uinta, Lincoln and Sublette Counties.

Similar conditions resulting in a massive fire burning in western Nebraska resulted in the Sublette County Unified Fire volunteer firefighters being dispatched across state lines. The group left to help battle the Morrill Fire March 14, a fire that has burned more than 700,000 acres and is the largest in state history. The service’s Battalion 1 joined other Wyoming fire crews from Campbell, Teton and Crook Counties in assisting Nebraska with the fire. 

“We try to help our neighbors when they need it most,” Sublette County Unified Fire Chief Shad Cooper said. 

The group was assigned to a structure protection group assigned with protecting homes and property from fire. According to the SCUF, the area is experiencing significant drought, with fire fuels cured and receptive to fire.

LARAMIE — With the NCAA Championships set to begin this week, the University of Wyoming will send six wrestlers to compete on the national stage.

The tournament will be held March 19-21 at Rocket Arena in Cleveland.

Joey Novak leads the Cowboys as the No. 5 seed at 197 pounds. He will open against No. 28 Kael Wisler of Michigan State. Eddie Neitenbach is seeded No. 6 at 184 and faces No. 27 Aidan Brenot of North Dakota State in the first round.

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At heavyweight, Christian Carroll is seeded No. 18 and will meet No. 15 Brady Colbert of Army. Gabe Willochell, seeded No. 21 at 149, draws No. 12 Carter Young of Maryland.

Luke Willochell and Riley Davis round out Wyoming’s qualifiers. Luke Willochell is seeded No. 29 at 133 and will face No. 4 Aaron Siedel of Virginia Tech, while Davis is seeded No. 30 at 174 and opens against No. 3 Christopher Minto of Nebraska.

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Wyoming enters the national tournament following an eighth-place finish at the Big 12 Championships, where it scored 67.5 points and advanced two wrestlers to the finals.

“In those finals matches, those guys wrestled really hard, but we exposed our legs,” Wyoming coach Mark Branch said. “You have to have better head and hand defense to not let those guys touch your legs. Those are adjustments we have to make. Like anything else, this is a learning experience. It gives us a lot of information, and that’s the most important thing.”

Novak and Neitenbach both finished as runners-up at the conference meet, while Gabe Willochell secured an automatic NCAA berth with a fifth-place finish at 149 pounds. Davis also qualified for nationals after placing sixth at 174 despite suffering a knee injury late in the tournament.

“We had some guys that were really gritty,” Branch said. “Gabe did what he had to do, and that was an impressive win for him today. For Sloan, after coming out and not wrestling the way I wanted to see him wrestle, for him to flip that switch and get a big win was huge.”

With six wrestlers in the field and two coming off conference finals appearances, Wyoming will look to build on its postseason momentum when competition begins next week.