CASPER – On Saturday, Oct. 16, 2023, the Wheatland High School Marching Bulldogs headed to the Ford Wyoming Center to compete in their state competition. The WHS marching band consists of 56 student athletes, including five eighth grade students. 

Their season began in August, before the start of the school year, with a 40-hour rehearsal week, followed by two-day-a-week practices for 2 ½ hours a night and the occasional Saturday morning practice. In addition, the pep band performed at every home varsity football game, with two halftime performances. They also traveled on weekends for additional competitions.
This year the band performed a show titled Fahrenheit 451, a show with outstanding music, pyrotechnics and a great message. 

“Fahrenheit 451 is a competitive, core style marching band field show inspired by Ray Bradbury’s classic novel of the same title,” WHS band director Evan Bradley said. “It uses music that shares the theme of fire. Wheatland High School students, in collaboration with their director, brainstormed music ideas to be arranged into one cohesive show. Elements of visual design, choreography, and movement were used to tell the story of the protagonist and the difficulties they experience in finding their identity and challenging society.”

Songs included in the program were The Fireman (featuring music of The Firebird Suite by Stravinsky), Montag and Clarise (featuring the music of Ed Sheeran), and Chase and Escape (featuring the music of Through the Fire and Flames by DragonForce) and were arranged by Wheatland High School Band Director, Evan Bradley.

During their first clinic of The Friendship Cup, the band traveled to Elizabeth, Colorado where they took 10th place out of 17 high school bands that competed.

The following weekend, they competed in Eaton, Colorado for The Friendship Cup Prelims where they really stepped up their game and ranked fourth out of the 15 schools who participated. They also received additional awards (captions) for their skills in percussion, general effect and music. In their final competition before heading to state, the Marching Bulldogs headed to Cheyenne where they competed against 17 other schools and received an Excellent rating and placed third overall.

This past weekend, the Wheatland Marching Bulldogs, along with 21 other high school bands, took the field at the Ford Wyoming Center for their final performance of the season. Each marching band was given the rank of 3=Good, 2=Excellent, or 1=Superior. Additional captions were awarded to the bands who showed outstanding performance and scored 85% of the total score in the following categories: music, marching, winds/percussion and color guard.
The Wheatland High School Marching Bulldogs scored a 1=Superior and received captions for winds, music and percussion. In order to receive a Superior rating, bands needed to score an 816 or higher, the WHS band scored 874. Only eight bands were ranked Superior this year and only two other schools received a percussion caption. These students really are remarkable. 

Congratulations Bulldogs on an incredible season.
Mr. Bradley and WHS Band would like to thank the administration for their support, Ben Droscher and the Lange family for use of their trailers, the Megeath, Graves and Mixson families for pulling the trailer, the WHS Art Department for the work they did on the backdrops, and Wyndi Waring and the parents who contributed so much to the goodie bags, breakfasts, etc.