Wyoming
Wyoming Freedom Caucus chair looks to next legislative session as the faction gains seats
The Freedom Caucus made some important gains in the primary. WPR checked in with Chair John Bear to hear what he thinks about the results. Bear was running uncontested in the primary for House Seat 31, which he has held since 2021. He is uncontested in the general election as well. Wyoming Public Radio’s state government reporter Chris Clements spoke with Bear.
Editor’s note: This story has been lightly edited for brevity and clarity.
Chris Clements: What was your reaction about the news on Tuesday?
John Bear: Well, it really blew me away because it was much more favorable than I anticipated.
CC: What did the gains made by the Freedom Caucus in this past primary tell you about Wyomingites [and] how they’re feeling right now?
JB: I was not shocked by the fact that Wyomingites really supported the type of legislators that Wyoming Freedom Caucus represents. But I am thankful that the voters really came out strongly for those types of legislators. These candidates really worked hard, so they deserve the credit for getting themselves into office. A lot of door-to-door work, a lot of communicating with the voters and letting them know who they were. We did a tremendous amount of work trying to inform the voters on voting records so they knew which legislators to support and which ones really didn’t match what we believe is the core values of the Wyoming voters.
CC: And could you tell me just a bit about those core values?
JB: I think one of the easiest ways to describe it would be that our legislators and our voters really believe in the 23 planks of the Wyoming Republican Party platform. And those are just real common sense things that have been a part of the platform for decades, really. It hasn’t changed a great deal, maybe a word here or there, but for the most part, those are timeless principles. Those principles align with our Wyoming Constitution and the U.S. Constitution.
Those things are, for instance, smaller government, pro-life, pro-family – pro-traditional family at that – and certainly pro-Second Amendment, with an understanding that our gun rights are really not about hunting, but they’re about defending ourselves against a tyrannical government.
CC: What does the Freedom Caucus hope to do in the next legislative session? Do you have any priorities you’d like to get passed in 2025?
JB: I believe it’s important that we do respond to the voters by providing them with the kind of return on investment of their votes giving us a majority. I think what you’re going to see is serious efforts to pass property tax reform and relief, things that were vetoed by the governor in this last session.
And you’re also going to see gun free zones eliminated in the House of Representatives. You’re going to see DEI funding for the university and the community colleges, the funding for that type of education, that “woke” education, if you will, is going to be limited, if not eliminated. And then I don’t think we’ll ever stop fighting for the unborn and protecting them. So you’ll see efforts in that regard. The governor did veto an effort just this last session and you’ll see us continuing to work on that area.
We want to keep porn out of our libraries and we want to simplify state funding. So that’s a real big task there. It’s not real sexy for the people, but it’ll take a lot of steps to kind of undo the complication that’s been developed over the last several decades.
I believe it’s unnecessary. It is keeping our funding and our financing for the state from being transparent, and I believe it’s important that every voter knows where the money goes, what’s happening with their tax dollars and what kind of stewards we are being with those dollars.
CC: Are you concerned at all? I heard about a few incumbent losses and [many of those were aligned with] the Wyoming Caucus. Are you concerned at all with those incumbent losses this past primary, that there might be a loss of institutional knowledge about the legislature?
JB: Let me tell you, Chris, why I’m not concerned.
Number one, the people who have put their names in to run for office in this regard, they’re devoted to this state. They’re devoted enough to really dig in and learn what they need to learn to be able to make good decision. The Wyoming Freedom Caucus has been doing that since its inception. That is doing evaluations of bills, looking at the consequences of those bills and informing legislators so that they can make a good vote, as far as an informed vote.
The top boys’ basketball players in Wyoming for Classes 1A and 2A were chosen for the 2026 high school season. The Wyoming Coaches Association has unveiled the all-state awards for this year, as voted on by the head coaches in the two classifications, respectively. The Wyoming Coaches Association only recognizes one team for all-state, and only these players receive an award certificate from the WCA. WyoPreps only lists all-state players as defined by the WCA.
WCA 1A-2A BOYS BASKETBALL ALL-STATE SELECTIONS IN 2026
Each class selected 14 players for all-state, reflecting a broad recognition of talent across Wyoming. Notably, congratulations go to Hulett’s Kyle Smith, Brady Cook from Lingle-Fort Laramie, and Carsten Freeburg from Pine Bluffs, who earned all-state honors for the third straight year. In addition, eight more players achieved all-state status for the second time in their prep careers.
Class 1A
Paul McNiven – Burlington
Bitner Philpott – Burlington
Ammon Hatch – Cokeville (All-State in 2025)
Hudson Himmerich – Cokeville
Kyle Smith – Hulett (All-State 2024 & 2025)
Anthony Arnusch – Lingle-Ft. Laramie
Brady Cook – Lingle-Ft. Laramie (All-State 2024 & 2025)
Tymber Cozzens – Little Snake River (All-State in 2025)
Corbin Matthews – Lusk
Max Potas – Meeteetse (All-State in 2024)
Jace Westring – Saratoga
Hazen Williams – Saratoga
TJ Moats – Southeast (All-State in 2024)
Nic Schiller – Upton
Read More Boys Basketball News from WyoPreps
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WyoPreps Coaches and Media Basketball Polls 2-25-26
WyoPreps Boys Basketball Week 10 Scores 2026
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WyoPreps Boys Basketball Week 8 Scores 2026
WyoPreps Coaches and Media Basketball Polls 2-4-26
Class 2A
Caleb Adsit – Big Horn
Chase Garber – Big Horn
Carsten Freeburg – Pine Bluffs (All-State 2024 & 2025)
Mason Moss – Rocky Mountain
Oakley Hicks – Shoshoni
Kade Mills – Sundance
Cody Bomengen – Thermopolis (All-State in 2025)
Zak Hastie – Thermopolis
Ellis Webber – Thermopolis (All-State in 2025)
Joseph Kimbrell – Wright
Mitchell Strohschein – Wright (All-State in 2025)
Adriano Brown – Wyoming Indian
Heeyei’Niitou Monroe-Black – Wyoming Indian (All-State in 2025)
Cordell Spoonhunter – Wyoming Indian
The 2026 state champions were the Saratoga Panthers in Class 1A. They beat Lingle-Fort Laramie, 50-45, in the championship game. The 2A winners were the Thermopolis Bobcats, who repeated as champions, after a 45-38 victory over Wyoming Indian in the title game.
Lusk versus Rock River high school basketball 2026
Game action between the Tigers and Longhorns
Gallery Credit: Courtesy: Lisa Shaw
A pair of bills signed into law last week aim to build out a more comprehensive system of literacy education across Wyoming’s public schools.
One mandates evidence-based practices and requires regular screenings for dyslexia, while the other enables the Wyoming Department of Education (WDE) to hire a dedicated literacy professional to oversee statewide compliance.
Gov. Mark Gordon’s signing of both bills on Friday was the latest accomplishment of an ongoing push for improved literacy standards. That push has been spearheaded by State Superintendent of Public Instruction Megan Degenfelder.
“Wyoming is not going to let a single child fall through the cracks,” Degenfelder said during a public bill signing last week. “We are not going to fall behind when it comes to ensuring that our children can read at grade level.”
The primary bill, Senate File 59, establishes a statewide K-12 program for teaching students to read that is built on “evidence based language and literacy instruction, assessment, intervention and professional development that supports educators, engages families and promotes literacy proficiency for all Wyoming students.”
The bill defines evidence-based strategies as those that conform to the science of reading, a term that will be defined and updated by Degenfelder’s office. Nationwide, it generally means putting academic research into practice in classrooms. SF 59 specifically prohibits the exclusive use of “three-cueing” — a strategy once widely employed to teach reading but which education experts now say is outdated and less effective than other strategies.
It also requires annual dyslexia screeners for students below the third grade, and testing for reading difficulties for all students.
The screeners are used to identify the severity of reading difficulties in order to direct “tiered” support that offers the most intensive interventions to the students most in need, while still providing “evidence based” language instruction to all students.
Each school district must formulate an individualized reading plan “for each student identified as having reading difficulties or at risk for poor reading outcomes.”
Districts must now report to the state annually regarding their literacy-related work. Any district where 60% or more of the students are struggling will be required to implement “summer literacy camps or extended supports, including after school support and tutoring.”
The bill also requires literacy related professional development for teachers and specialists “appropriate to their role and level of responsibility” related to literacy education.
SF 59 was backed by dyslexia advocates and literacy specialists.
Senate File 14, the other literacy bill signed into law Friday, appropriates $120,000 annually for the next two years for a full-time position at WDE “to assist school districts in implementing a reading assessment and intervention program and language and literacy programs.”
Both bills go into effect July 1.
LARAMIE — The University of Wyoming and the Mountain West Conference announced the Cowboys’ 2026 football schedule Monday, a slate that opens with the Border War and concludes with back-to-back home games in Laramie.
Wyoming opens the season Sept. 5 on the road against Colorado State in the 118th edition of the Border War. The Cowboys then host Northern Colorado on Sept. 12 in the home opener before traveling to Central Michigan on Sept. 19.
The Cowboys begin Mountain West play Sept. 26 at home against Hawaii in a matchup for the Paniolo Trophy. Wyoming then faces back-to-back road games at North Dakota State on Oct. 3 and San Jose State on Oct. 10.
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Wyoming returns to War Memorial Stadium on Oct. 17 to host conference newcomer Northern Illinois before facing Air Force at home on Oct. 24. The Cowboys will have an open week on Oct. 31.
The Cowboys open November with road games at UNLV on Nov. 7 and at UTEP on Nov. 14, marking Wyoming’s first meeting with the Miners as members of the Mountain West. Wyoming closes conference play by hosting New Mexico on Nov. 21 and wraps up the regular season with a nonconference game against UConn on Nov. 28 in Laramie.
Each Mountain West team will play four home and four road conference games during the 13-week season, which will conclude with the Mountain West Football Championship Game featuring the two teams with the highest conference winning percentages. The championship game date will be announced later.
With the conference schedule set, Mountain West television partners CBS Sports, FOX Sports, and The CW will begin selecting broadcast games, which could include moving some contests to non-Saturday dates. Network assignments and kickoff times will be announced at a later date.
Season ticket renewals for the 2026 Wyoming football season are now available. Fans can renew their tickets online by visiting gowyo.com/tickets and logging into their account.
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