From FIS-Ski reports and Team USA  information

Butte native Brad Wilson finished in the top 10 of the World Cup men’s moguls tour standings again with a No. 8 ranking, leading all Team USA men mogulists, for the 2020-21 season. 

The season ended last weekend when the final event at Almaty, Kazakhstan was canceled. 

Wilson and women’s moguls third-place finisher Hannah Soar led the United States to the overall team championship on the World Cup tour.  

Individual champions were Matt Graham of Australia in the men’s freestyle moguls and Perrine Laffont of France in the women’s. 

Graham was followed in the men’s top three by France’s Benjamin Cavet, second, and Sweden’s Ludvig Fjallstrom, third. Multi-time champion Mikael Kingsbury of Canada placed sixth in the standings after missing much of the early part of the tour because of an injury. 

Wilson placed eighth, just ahead of teammate and first-year tour member Nick Page, who earned the Rookie-of-the-Year designation. Another Team USA skier, Dylan Walczyk, placed 10th. 

Laffont topped the women’s final standings, just ahead of runner-up Anri Kawamura of Japan and Soar. Kai Owens of Team USA was fourth and won the World Cup moguls Rookie-of-the-Year award for women. The United States women captured the next two spots in the standings, too, with Jaelin Kauf in fifth place and Tess Johnson in sixth. 

The top five in the team standings were United States first, Japan second, France third, Canada fourth and Australia fifth. 

Wilson, 28, is a 10-year veteran of the United States World Cup team and participated in the 2014 and 2018 Winter Olympics, and is looking at a chance to vie in a third next year. He has won three World Cup events and five United States championships. He was the 2002 World Cup men’s moguls rookie of the year. This year’s eighth place in the final World Cup standings marks his fifth time finishing the tour among the Top 10 contenders. He missed one season and part of another with knee injuries. 

His older brother, Bryon, earned the Bronze Medal in the 2010 Winter Olympics men’s moguls and now coaches in the U.S. Olympic Development program. 

Bryon Wilson Jr. graduated in 2006 from Butte High and Brad Wilson graduated in 2011 from Butte Central. Their parents are Butte natives Bryon and Jeanette (Harrington) Wilson. 

 — compiled by Bruce Sayler for buttesports.com