It’s been a busy year for Dubois senior Wyatt Trembly. The all-state running back, and two-time state champion wrestler played in the Tiki Bowl in Hawaii in December and signed a National Letter of Intent to play football at Black Hills State University earlier this week.
The Dubois Honor Student with a perfect grade point average was the only 6-man player on the entire roster from the West Coast Region to play in Hawaii.
Trembly played with four other Wyoming athletes in Mountain View’s Carson Eardley, Fletcher Black, and Jayce Schultz along with Cohen Morrow of Evanston.
Joining the Wyoming players were athletes from Utah, Colorado, Nevada, and California.
The West Coast team had seven running backs and five linebackers that rotated throughout the game.
“They split it up into four teams, our team had 35 or so. I was able to get quite a bit of playing time, especially on defense. I rotated in quite a bit,” Trembly said. “We had five linebackers.”
Trembly finished the game with 11 tackles, and gained 32 yards on four carries, with a single pass reception for another 10 yards.
The players were in Hawaii for five days, a week in total including travel time.
“We drove to Salt Lake, flew to Seattle then Hawaii,” Trembly said. “On the way back we had a 20-minute flight from Oahu to the Big Island then took a straight flight to Salt Lake.”
Playing the 11-man variety of the game as opposed to the 6-man Trembly grew up with in Dubois was a change of pace for the 190-pound running back.
“It was great just to be in Hawaii and the football part was super fun. It was fun to play 11 man,” Trembly said. “I was able to hide behind the offensive linemen a little.”
The Tiki Bowl is a chance for players to meet coaches and get a little exposure, hopefully getting them to the next level, but Trembly’s path was set before the wheels of the aircraft left the Seattle tarmac.
He was recruited by the University of Wyoming, five Division II schools, and a Division III program.
“At Wyoming, the only spot that had open for me was corner, which was new to me. I went to a lot of game day visits, it just got strung out,” Trembly said. “I called them and asked what was going on, they said they didn’t have a spot for me. There were 11 guys being recruited, one had a scholarship offer and three were preferred walk-ons.”
Black Hills State, Chadron State, South Dakota School of Mines, Dakota Wesleyan, and Carlton College in Minnesota all offered Trembly football scholarships.
Dickinson State offered him football and wrestling.
“All around Dickinson, facility, and sports-wise, the facility was great,” Trembly said. “But they go through science professors like crazy, and they didn’t have a program for me.”
Trembly is planning to become a physician and was looking for a school with a solid pre-med program.
He found it in Spearfish, at Black Hills State University.
“I get in-state tuition. I have the Congressional Gold Medal Scholarship that I can use until 2032, so I could use it for medical school,” Trembly said. “I have a bunch of local scholarships in Dubois. a ton of local scholarships. I should be able to get a pretty good chunk of the tuition taken care of.”
Trembly was recruited to play running back at Black Hills.
Trembly attended the Big Horn Basin Football camp in Thermopolis where he was observed by many college coaches.
“I got all my DII RMAC offers from there,” Trembly said. “Coach (Josh) Breske came to visit me at Dubois. That was cool to see. I was the first one from this recruiting class to commit.”
Black Hills had issues at running back in the 2023 season with one breaking his leg and another leaving school. They played a true freshman for the second half of the season.
With only two returning running backs, Trembly has a chance to see the field early in his collegiate career.
No one gets to this level without help, especially in Wyoming’s small communities. Wyatt is the son of David and Adria Trembly.
“I want to thank God, that’s for sure,” Trembly said. “I couldn’t thank my parents enough. The amount of time they’ve been driving me around the country is amazing. The community of Dubois has been really good to me, all my teammates, and all the guys pushing me. I couldn’t do it without them.”