South's Caleb Brewer broke through in 200 IM, repeated in 100 fly

Feb. 21—Caleb Brewer was disappointed when he finished third during the 200-yard individual medley preliminaries at the Class 4A boys state swimming and diving meet.

That feeling didn't last long once the Cheyenne South senior talked to his coaches and looked at his time splits. Brewer was reminded that many of his competitors had worn caps, competition suits with less drag and shaved. He hadn't planned on doing any of those things until the finals.

Brewer also knew he needed to get faster on the breaststroke leg of the race. That stroke has long been his weakest, and that leg accounted for 40.69 seconds of his preliminary time of 2 minutes, 5.87 seconds.

"I still believed in myself and thought I would do well, but I was nervous (about the finals)," Brewer said. "After getting second place in (the 200 IM) the past two years, it was kind of something I had been working on really hard because I really wanted to win it."

Brewer did just that by finishing in 1:58.30, which was 2.05 seconds faster than the runner-up. He also captured his second consecutive state title in the 100 butterfly. Coaches from across 4A voted him both athlete of the meet and athlete of the year.

Those efforts also earned Brewer Prep Athlete of the Year honors from WyoSports' Cheyenne staff.

"Prelims is just about seeding and who is coming back in what position, while the second day of state is about placing," South coach Jason Garman said. "It's really hard to get up emotionally for both days. We knew he was going to make it back, but those other guys had already done anything mentally and physically they could do to get there."

The 200 IM features 50 yards of butterfly, followed by 50 of backstroke, 50 breaststroke and 50 freestyle. Brewer had the fastest times in every leg except breast during the prelims. Only five of the 17 entrants in the 200 IM swam the breaststroke slower than Brewer's 40.69-second split.

"I didn't push my breaststroke the way I needed to," Brewer said. "I wasn't super upset about it, but I knew I needed to improve there."

Brewer did just that, knocking more than five seconds off his breaststroke split in the finals. He remained fastest in fly, back and free, while swimming the fourth-fastest breaststroke split (35.65 seconds).

The competitor in Brewer wanted to have the fastest time coming out of both of his prelims. However, his third-place time still put him in a lane next to the leader for the final. Brewer was in position to directly race against the fastest qualifiers while not having to worry about the waves created by other racers hammering him like those in the outside lanes.

Brewer had been state runner-up in the 200 IM to Cheyenne Central's Ethan Merrill during the previous two seasons. Going 5.2 seconds faster in the finals than the prelims helped Brewer get over the hump and cross another goal off his list.

"I'm proud I broke 2 minutes," Brewer said. "That was my goal last year, and I missed it by one-tenth of a second. It felt good to finally win that after two years of getting second."

Brewer was a heavy favorite to repeat as the 100 fly state champion. He describes people thinking everyone else was swimming for second place as a double-edged sword.

"It's very nerve-wracking, which I know would surprise a lot of people," he said. "It's super cool, but it's also a lot of pressure, and it puts a target on your back.

"Winning an event is awesome, but I mostly wanted to push myself and get the times I've been working for."

The time Brewer was chasing was something faster than the 50.85 Garman posted when he won the 100 butterfly for Laramie High in 1996.

"He's still got bragging rights," Brewer said with a laugh. "He's really proud of what I did, but I know he wanted to see me get there."

Others recognized for their efforts include:

n Trona Bates, Kaiana Garlough, Meadow King and Carolina Rodriguez, girls wrestling, Cheyenne Central: Bates, a senior, went 3-0 with three pins to win the 105-pound weight class at the East Regional tournament in Torrington.

Garlough, a senior, was 3-1 with three pins on her way to a second-place finish at 115 pounds.

King, a senior, went 3-0 with three pins to win the 145-pound bracket.

Rodgriguez, a freshman, was 2-1 with two pins to take second at 130 pounds.

n Brady Benne, boys diving, Central: The freshman capped a dominant season by winning 1-meter diving at the Class 4A state meet by 83.15 points.

n Trace Eldridge, Liam Fox, Charlie Green, Colby Olson, Sammy Sanchez, Hayden Van Dell and Ben Whitright, boys wrestling, Cheyenne East: Eldridge, a freshman, went 3-1 with two pins and a technical fall to place second in the 106-pound weight class at the Class 4A East Regional.

Fox, a junior, was 4-0 with three pins to win the 150-pound bracket.

Green, a senior, was 3-0 with three first-period pins to win the 285-pound division.

Olson, a senior, was 2-1 with a pin to place second at 190 pounds.

Sanchez, a sophomore, went 2-1 with a major decision to take second at 113 pounds.

Van Dell, a senior, was 3-0 with a pin to win the 215-pound bracket.

Whitright, a senior, went 3-1 with a pin and major decision to take second at 120 pounds.

n Gracin Goff, Ryauna Nepomuceno and Kaelyn Ronnau, girls wrestling, East: Goff, a senior, went 2-1 with two pins to place second in the 190-pound bracket at the East Regional tournament in Torrington.

Nepomuceno, a sophomore, was 2-1 with two pins to take second at 120 pounds.

Ronnau, a sophomore, was 2-1 with two pins and finished second in the 155-pound weight class.

n Andrew Gonzalez, Samuel Lucas Smith and Campbell Smith, boys wrestling, Central: Gonzalez, a junior, was 3-0 with a technical fall to win the 132-pound bracket at the Class 4A East Regional in Gillette.

Samuel Lucas Smith, a senior, was 4-0 with three pins to win at 106 pounds.

Campbell Smith, a sophomore, went 4-0 with a pin and a major decision to win the 126-pound weight class.

n Carsten Freeburg and Justin Lerwick, boys basketball, Pine Bluffs: Freeburg, a sophomore, averaged 20.5 points to help the Hornets go 1-1 on the weekend.

Lerwick, a junior, averaged 15 points across those games.

n Tagr Holmes, boys wrestling, Burns-Pine Bluffs: The senior was 3-0 with two pins to win the 215-pound bracket at the Class 3A East Regional in Torrington.

n Izzy Kelly, girls basketball, Central: The junior averaged 17.5 points to help the Lady Indians beat Cheyenne South and Laramie.

n Maggie Madsen and Taliah Morris, girls indoor track and field, East: Madsen, a freshman, placed third in the 3,200 at the Simplot Games in Pocatello, Idaho. Her time of 10 minutes, 59.34 seconds broke an East record.

Morris, a senior, placed second in long jump with a leap of 19 feet.

n Race Morrell and Trevor Schmidt, boys indoor track, Central: Morrell, a sophomore, set a school record in the 1,600-meter run during the Simplot Games with a time of 4 minutes, 20.31 seconds. He placed 11th in the finals.

Schmidt, a senior, broke Central's 3,200 record with a time of 9:32.06, but was unable to qualify for the finals.

n Joe Sawyer, boys basketball, Central: The senior averaged 17 points to help the No. 1-ranked Indians go 1-1 on the week.

Jeremiah Johnke is the WyoSports editor. He can be reached at jjohnke@wyosports.net or 307-633-3137. Follow him on X at @jjohnke.