National Signing Day Sees 2 Athletes From the Area Sign Their Letters of Intent

CASPER, Wyo. (Wyoming News Now) - National Signing Day took place and athletes all around Wyoming signed their letters of intent to continue their athletic careers at the next level.

A couple of athletes from the Casper viewing area signed their letters of intent, and they are both for football.

At Natrona, Cody Crawford officially signed to play defensive line at the University of Wyoming, making him the first Natrona graduate since Jordan Bertagnole to play for the Pokes.

Crawford always wanted to play at the next level, saying, “I was pretty sure I was going to play football outside of high school, but not at the Division 1 level necessarily. So it was... its good to be where we are now.”

This past year at Natrona, Cody earned 4A All-State honors for both his defensive and offensive line play. More recently, he was named to the Wyoming Super 25 First team.

Defensively, he put up 54 tackles, had 3.5 sacks as well as 2 pass breakups this past season. He was also third on his team in defensive points, ending up with 96.

He wasn’t the only signee, as Jackson Hughes from Douglas signed his letter of intent to play for Black Hills State University on their football team.

Hughes, who was recently named to the Wyoming Super 25 first team, was a 3A all-conference and all-state selection. He led the conference in scoring last fall, scoring 15 total touchdowns, and in interceptions with 6.

He was a 3 sport athlete at Douglas, as he also played basketball and soccer. In soccer, he earned All-State honors twice as well as earning All-Conference in both soccer and basketball.

Jackson said he chose Black Hills State over other offers because of the quality of the football program being built, the beauty of the Spearfish area, and the family ties to the university. Hughes’ grandfather, is a Hall of Fame former coach for the Yellowjackets, and his father and uncles attended and competed for the Yellow Jackets.

He will be playing defensive back for Black Hills State once his high school career ends.

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