Wyoming
Five Things We Learned From Sitake's BYU/Wyoming Presser
PROVO, Utah – BYU football kicked off week three of the 2024 season with a virtual press conference from head coach Kalani Sitake.
The ninth-year head coach spoke for 18 minutes with the media as his team gets set for another non-conference road trip. This weekend, it’s an old WAC and Mountain West rival, the Wyoming Cowboys.
Here are five key things we learned from Sitake’s press conference.
LJ Martin and Hinckley Ropati are “doubtful” against Wyoming
BYU head coach Kalani Sitake said LJ Martin and Hinckley Ropati, BYU’s top running backs, are “doubtful” for Saturday against the Pokes.
“That’s the way it’s looking. The good news is that no one is out for the year. But it might take some time to get some of those guys back,” Sitake said. “Hopefully, we can see what happens in the next 24 hours. If they are going to be available this week or not.”
Pokaiaua Haunga is in the mix at running back
KSL Sports asked Kalani Sitake if freshman Pokaiaua Haunga would factor into the conversation at running back with Martin and Ropati as both “doubtful.”
Haunga is a true freshman returned missionary and was a high school standout at Timpview High.
Despite not being listed on the depth chart, Haunga is going to be an option in the backfield for BYU’s running back unit this week.
“With Pokai, the question is whether or not to redshirt people. I think right now, I’m not worried about that,” Sitake said. “He’s going to be full-go and he’s going to play. And we’ll just move on with that.”
“Hopeful” to get BYU CB Mory Bamba back this week against Wyoming
On a positive injury note, optimism is growing that BYU will have Mory Bamba back this week from an injury. Bamba has been out with a boot on his foot.
#BYU said he’s “hopeful” that CB Mory Bamba will return this week. Bamba has missed the first two games due to injury.#BYUFootball
— Mitch Harper (@Mitch_Harper) September 9, 2024
During fall camp, Bamba took first-team reps while Marque Collins worked his way back from an ACL injury he suffered last season.
BYU football gearing up for a hostile environment at Wyoming
This Saturday will be BYU’s first visit to War Memorial Stadium since 2009. It’s a place that does not love the Cougars.
Despite starting the season 0-2, Wyoming is expecting a sell-out this weekend against BYU. After Utah and Utah State, Wyoming is the most-played opponent in BYU’s history. Sitake isn’t worried about the history but is looking forward to the opportunity.
“These kids don’t know anything about the rivalry. I guess some of these guys have played in this game against Wyoming [two years ago], but they don’t understand the old conference and all of that stuff. A majority of these guys came here because they wanted to play in the Big 12 and this is another to play this game.
“We know that it’s going to be a hostile environment. It wasn’t a kind one last week either, but that’s college football.”
Plans for Ryner Swanson
Sitake was asked if he’s planning to redshirt Ryner Swanson this season. After this season, the former four-star prospect plans to serve a mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
#BYU freshman TE Ryner Swanson (@ryner_swanson) announced that he received his mission call.
He will leave next year to serve a mission in Kenya Nairobi Africa for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.#BYUFootball pic.twitter.com/EduLj03MpW
— Mitch Harper (@Mitch_Harper) September 4, 2024
During the win over SMU, Swanson had one catch for 10 yards.
“He’s a major weapon,” Sitake said.
The ninth-year head coach added that he’s not thinking about a redshirt for Swanson early in the season.
Mitch Harper is a BYU Insider for KSLsports.com and hosts the Cougar Tracks Podcast (SUBSCRIBE) and Cougar Sports Saturday (12–3 p.m.) on KSL Newsradio. Follow Mitch’s coverage of BYU in the Big 12 Conference on X: @Mitch_Harper.
Take us with you wherever you go.
Download the new and improved KSL Sports app from Utah’s sports leader. It allows you to stream live radio and video and stay up to date on all of your favorite teams.
CASPER, Wyo. — High school athletics in Wyoming could see some drastic changes in the coming years following legislative changes to the state’s education budget, the Wyoming High School Activities Association recently announced in a statement.
According to the WHSAA, Wyoming school districts are facing a projected $3.9 million shortfall in activities funding, forcing officials to consider significant cuts to high school sports and extracurricular programs.
The WHSAA shared details regarding a new “silo” funding model implemented by the Legislature, stating that the recalibrated block grant model reduced funding for student activities and extra-duty responsibilities from $46.3 million to $42.4 million, an approximately 8.4% decrease statewide.
WHSAA Commissioner Trevor Wilson said the restructuring also restricts district access to an additional $76.2 million in previously flexible funding.
“A significant portion of the [April 28 WHSAA Board of Directors] meeting was dedicated to discussing the projected funding shortfall,” Wilson wrote.
The WHSAA is weighing several strategies to address rising costs with fewer resources. Proposed changes include eliminating regional tournaments and reducing the number of teams qualifying for state events from eight to four; limiting wrestling to two classes and restricting track and field state participants to the top 16 marks; making cuts to soccer, indoor track and field, Nordic and Alpine skiing, swimming and diving, spring golf and tennis; and reducing in-person speech and debate events by half and centrally locating All-State Music events to minimize travel. The board also recommended increasing gate admission or implementing student participation fees to offset costs.
While the WHSAA release states that no plans have been finalized and the various changes are currently just possibilities, Natrona County School District 1 Board of Trustees member Mary Schmidt criticized the WHSAA’s handling of the news at Monday’s board meeting.
“I take some issues with this, [including] the sheer fact that we as Board of Trustees members have not talked about that at all,” Schmidt said. “It is not our intent and it has not been brought to us to cut our athletics or activities budget for the upcoming school year. … I take issue with them picking sports and getting the community upset and ginning them up to be upset that this is all going to be cut when that hasn’t been discussed.”
Later in the meeting, Superintendent Angela Hensley clarified that Natrona County School District 1’s athletics and activities budget saw a reduction of roughly $550,000 in the coming year’s budget, but said the local school district does not plan to cut any sports.
“Thank you, Trustee Schmidt, for saying this, because I think people are wondering — we are not planning to cut athletics and activities for next year,” Hensley said. “We do have to take a look at our entire budget as we have talked about, as we learn more about these new rules that come in.”
Related
Republished with permission from Wyoming News Now, a TV news outlet covering the Cheyenne and Casper areas.
Cheyenne City Council has introduced a temporary moratorium, or pause, on new data center construction.
“The end goal is to actually have regulations in place, to have really heavy public involvement with this with data centers,” said Councilman Mark Moody.
The proposed ordinance is not a permanent ban on data centers and would not affect data centers currently under construction.
Councilman Moody says this is a bipartisan issue.
“I just want to make this clear, I’m not against data centers. We do need them from a national security perspective,” he said.
He said there needs to be more public input and regulations regarding data centers in Cheyenne.
The ordinance would require city staff to study data center impacts such as electricity usage, electricity tariffs, closed-loop cooling systems, groundwater impacts, agricultural impacts, and land value.
Cheyenne LEADS, the economic development corporation for Cheyenne and Laramie County, reported in November 2025 that there are 12 operational data centers in Wyoming, five under construction and plans for 43 data centers announced across the state.
“There needs to be more public input with this, and also to see how many we can sustain here in this community, cause there are talks of 43, and then another day 70. How many can we sustain here?” said Councilman Moody.
The proposed moratorium will now go to the Public Services Committee on Monday, May 18 at noon in the Municipal Building.
Sheridan will play in the North Regional Tournament at Gillette, while the South Regional Tournament will be played at Rock Springs.
North Regional Tournament at Gillette:
Checking record vs. highest team in the quadrant not involved in the tie, Thunder Basin gets the #1 Northeast seed over Campbell County, because the Lady Bolts went 3-1 vs. Sheridan, whereas the Lady Camels went 2-2.
Friday, May 15th:
(#1 NE) Thunder Basin vs. (#4 NW) Jackson – 11am
(#2 NW) Natrona County vs. (#3 NE) Sheridan – 11am
(#2 NE) Campbell County vs. (#3 NW) Kelly Walsh – 1pm
(#1 NW) Cody vs. (#4 NE) Worland – 1pm
Semi-Finals:
Thunder Basin/Jackson winner vs. Natrona County/Sheridan winner – 3pm Winner qualifies for the state tournament.
Campbell County/Kelly Walsh winner vs. Cody/Worland winner – 5pm Winner qualifies for the state tournament.
Consolation Round:
Thunder Basin/Jackson loser vs. Natrona County/Sheridan loser – 3pm LOSER OUT!
Campbell County/Kelly Walsh loser vs. Cody/Worland loser – 5pm LOSER OUT!
Saturday, May 16th:
TBA vs. TBA – 10am LOSER OUT! Winner qualifies for the state tournament.
TBA vs. TBA – 10am LOSER OUT! Winner qualifies for the state tournament.
2 10am winners vs. each other – 1pm 3rd Place
TBA vs. TBA – 1pm 1st Place
South Regional Tournament at Rock Springs:
Friday, May 15th:
(#1 SW) Laramie vs. (#4 SE) Torrington – 11am
(#2 SE) Cheyenne East vs. (#3 SW) Green River – 11am
(#2 SW) Rock Springs vs. (#3 SE) Wheatland – 1pm
(#1 SE) Cheyenne Central vs. (#4 SW) Cheyenne South – 1pm
Semi-Finals:
Laramie/Torrington winner vs. Cheyenne East/Green River winner – 3pm Winner qualifies for the state tournament.
Rock Springs/Wheatland winner vs. Cheyenne Central/Cheyenne South winner – 5pm Winner qualifies for the state tournament.
Consolation Round:
Laramie/Torrington loser vs. Cheyenne East/Green River loser – 3pm LOSER OUT!
Rock Springs/Wheatland loser vs. Cheyenne Central/Cheyenne South loser – 5pm LOSER OUT!
Saturday, May 16th:
TBA vs. TBA – 10am LOSER OUT! Winner qualifies for the state tournament.
TBA vs. TBA – 10am LOSER OUT! Winner qualifies for the state tournament.
2 10am winners vs. each other – 1pm 3rd Place
TBA vs. TBA – 1pm 1st Place
-
Alabama1 minute agoGov. Ivey announces America 250 Alabama Celebration
-
Alaska7 minutes agoThis Alaska cruise port lets you experience the wild, untouched state
-
Arizona13 minutes agoDozens of repossessed Spirit Airlines jets now parked in Arizona desert
-
Arkansas19 minutes agoDave Van Horn press conference: Arkansas baseball coach, players recap Game 1 loss at Kentucky | Whole Hog Sports
-
California25 minutes agoJD Vance accuses California of letting Medicaid fraudsters cash in at taxpayer expense | Fox Business Video
-
Colorado31 minutes ago
Families, care providers navigate cuts to Colorado’s Community Connector program | Rocky Mountain PBS
-
Connecticut37 minutes agoARREST WARRANT: Georgia man accused of laundering nearly $63K from dead person’s account in Connecticut
-
Delaware43 minutes agoKent, Sussex Counties see rising share of Delaware roadway deaths in 2026
