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WORLAND -Now that the 3A boys and girls soccer seasons are finished and champions crowned, the individual accolades will bring a close to the 2018 season.

Both the Warriors and Lady Warriors are well represented on the All-Conference and All-State teams. The Warriors had four named to the 3A All-State team (Matt Gesch, Konnor Macy, Rylan Mocko and Wyatt Wyman) and six to the 3A West All-Conference team (Gesch, JT Klinghagen, Macy, Devon Mercado, Mocko and Wyman).

The Lady Warriors also had four named to the All-State team (Karla Gaytan, Jaycee Page, Casey Wassum and Kendall Wright) and five to the 3A West All-Conference team (Gaytan, Page, Juli Warren, Wassum and Wright).

Senior Casey Wassum ends her Worland soccer career as one of the most decorated players in program history having earned All-State honors all four years, scored 82 goals and to top it off was named 2018's 3A upperclassman of the year.

LADY WARRIORS

WHS girls soccer coach Danielle Warren spoke about each of her All-State and All-Conference players.

"I always think of the Michael Jordan adage of Michael you're not good enough right. Every athlete faces that, some give up and throw in the towel or others say well I'm going to show you. They go out and work hard and find ways to be a better player to prove those doubters wrong. These girls were all like the latter, they had tremendous work ethic and went and showed everyone why they're the best in the state," said Warren.

Casey Wassum

"Casey is one of the best players I've coached. Each player brings something different and what Casey brought was an unrelenting drive

"One of my favorite Casey stories was from her freshman year. We were playing Buffalo, and she got knocked down hard by senior Buffalo player. She didn't complain, she picked herself back up, got the ball, dribbled around five different players and put it in the back of the net.

"That's what she brought to our team all four years just a never give up, get out of my way attitude. She's an athlete and the charisma she brought was great. She led more by example and taught the girls this year to play hard all the time. After the Buffalo game, she told the girls they need to play with intensity from start to finish because that's what it was going to take come time for state."

Jaycee Page

"I love the calm confidence she brought and work ethic she had. She's an athlete and she's going to be good at what she does. Soccer wasn't her favorite sport, but she always knew what needed to be done.

"One of my favorite moments was during her freshman year, she never touched a soccer ball and wasn't confident, but we taught her some ball skills. Then over the weekend she came back to practice on Monday and had improved so much that I asked if she worked on those drills. She told me, no, and that just showed me what kind of athlete she is."

Kendall Wright

"She was my all-around player and no matter where I put her she could get it done. She's fearless but just worked hard and dug hard. She was so versatile, she could shut down the other team's best player or when we put her up in the attack, she'd take some shots for us. Kendall stood out and the other coaches recognized that too."

Karla Gaytan

"You only get two keepers out of the conference and three in the state. People have seen her make amazing plays all season. The agility and ability she showed was incredible. In one of our Cody games, she dove to block a shot, and the rebound went right to another Cody girl on the other side of the goal. She hustled and dove and blocked what was going to be an easy goal for Cody. After the game, the Cody coach was just amazed by her. Her ability and worth ethic that she brought this year was huge for us."

Juli Warren

"She's working hard every day and went above and beyond. She has that drive and love to get better. She stayed after practice to get in extra shots or sprints in.

"She was our vocal leader and a second coach on the field. She was everywhere on the field. We've played her in the midfield and at center back this year, and anywhere we put her she was excellent. When I moved her to the center back, there was a game I was about to give out instructions to her but before I could she was already calling them out to the other girls. It was like having another coach out there."

WARRIORS

Having only one loss on the season and bringing home the program's first championship, the Warriors were bound to rack up the individual awards.

And having a such a deep and talented team gave WHS boys soccer coach Ron Overcast the opportunity to nominate quite a few of his players for the other 3A coaches to vote. (During All-Conference voting players are nominated by their coaches and voted on by the other conference coaches. A coach is not allowed to vote for their player.)

"Obviously, we had a great season. Going into the meetings I was waffling on whether or not to nominate the two freshmen," said Overcast. "Most of the time freshman aren't going to get anything, but I thought based on the season we had and they had, they at least deserved to be nominated.

"All eight guys I nominated I felt deserved to be All-Conference based on the way our team played and how they played individually."

Added Overcast, "I'm pretty happy with how everything went. It's always a bittersweet moment. Every coach wants their guys to be recognized and getting six for All-Conference says a lot about our team."

While the individual accolades were certainly welcomed, Overcast said that his team's unselfish attitude is what made this season so special, and why it ended by adding hardware to the WHS trophy case.

"Kyle Lamb (two-time All-State defender for Worland in 2016 and '17) spoke to the team before we left for State and he told the guys then that he'd trade both of those in for one state championship. All of my guys have that same mindset and that state championship is way more important than that individual stuff.

"It's still almost surreal that we did this and a lot of people had a hand in developing these kids throughout the years. The other high school coaches helped develop that competitive nature because most out guys play two to three sports a year. The football team had a great year and basketball was right there at the very end."

Overcast continued, "Then look at what we did at the state tournament, the way we competed as a team. It wasn't just six individuals or four guys that won those three games for us. It was the team, all together. I'm sure every single one of them knows that and appreciate that."