Sports

Two Wrestlers Advance to State

On Saturday, February 19, seven Whitewater Wrestlers traveled to Richland Center to participate in the WIAA Sectional Wrestling Tournament. This is a very competitive tournament with eight wrestlers per weight class, all with the plan to place in the top three to advance to the state tournament.

Carter Friend

Whitewater wrestled well on the day, with them all wrestling their hearts out and leaving it on the mat. In the end, the Whippets will have two young men participating at the Kohl Center on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday.

Carter Friend wrestled very well all day, with three wins on his way to the Sectional Championship. He started the day with a 13-4 major decision, followed by a pin, and then a very competitive match in the finals, coming out on top 5-3. This will be Carter’s third trip to the state tournament.

Mason DePorter continued to have a great senior season by reaching the championship match by defeating his first two opponents by pin. Mason then had a tough match in the finals and then had to wrestle again 45 minutes later, and wrestled very well, coming out aggressive, but ended up on the short end, therefore taking 3rd place. This will be Mason’s first trip to the state tournament.

Jarvis Porcaro started the day off in a very positive way by pinning his first opponent. He then dropped his next two matches against two young men who will be in the state tournament. 

Traysen Thomason started his day against the number one ranked wrestler in the state and almost got the first takedown. He ended up losing both of his matches.

Leo Ortiz had tough draw as he dropped both of his matches against two guys that placed first and second in his weight class.

Rounding out the Whippet Wrestlers were Aaron Porras and Marcus DePorter who had tough first round losses and unfortunately did not get another match as their guy then lost their next match. 

The coaches are very happy with the performance of the seven guys on Saturday. There was disappointment in the results, as of course we wanted all seven to advance, but we are not disappointed in their effort. They wrestled hard, left it on the mat, and can look themselves in the mirror and be proud of their season’s accomplishments.

Article Submitted by John Schimming
Whitewater High School Head Wrestling Coach
jschimming@wwusd.org
Photo Courtesy of Bob Mischka

Girls Wrap Up Conference Season

The Whitewater Girls’ Basketball Team travelled to Clinton for their last regular season conference game Thursday, February 17. 

Kindyl Kilar

It was a fast paced, high scoring first half. We were down by 14 at halftime, with the score at 28-41.

Clinton built their lead up to 18 points, but we battled back to get within 9 at the beginning of the second half. Clinton made some clutch shots, extending the lead again, and we just couldn’t connect on our shots. The Whippets came up short 45-66.

Kindyl Kilar led the Whippets with 17 points and 5 rebounds. Mayte Navejas added 11 points and 4 rebounds. Cali Kopecky contributed 7 points and 3 rebounds. Danielle Deporter scored 5, and Josie Treder ripped down 10 rebounds and scored 2.

Article Submitted by Kristen Lippens
Whitewater High School Head Girls’ Basketball Coach
klippens@wwusd.org
File Photo Courtesy of Bob Mischka

Whippet Boys Defeat Clinton on Parent/Senior Night

The Whitewater Boys’ Basketball Team celebrated Parents/Senior night on Tuesday, February 15th, by soundly defeating the Clinton Cougars, 74-49. Shaking off a tough loss at Jefferson last Thursday, the Whippets came out with a vengeance in the first half. Combining their relentless zone defense with an aggressive offense, Whitewater raced out to a 37-19 lead behind ten points each from seniors Jon Aron and Wyatt Nickels. The second half started differently, though, as the Cougars went on a 21-7 run to close the gap to four points, 44-40, with 11 minutes left. But that was as close as Clinton would come, as Whitewater scored the next nine points to build the lead back and controlled the rest of the game. 

Jon Aron

The Whippets were led in scoring by Jon Aron’s 22 points. Wyatt Nickels played one of his best all-around games with 18 points, 7 rebounds, and 6 steals. Arno Crowley contributed 13 points, and Sam Brown had 8 steals and 6 assists. 

Whitewater’s next game will finish the home part of their schedule on Friday, February 18th, as they host the McFarland Spartans.

Article Submitted by Dwayne Lange
Photo Courtesy of Bob and Peter Mischka

Whippet Wrestling Drops Hard Fought Semi-Final Dual at Team Sectionals

On Tuesday night, February 15, the Whippet Wrestling Team traveled to River Valley to compete in the Team Sectional Wrestling Tournament with the hopes of getting two dual meet wins and the right to advance to Team State. The Whippet Community should be proud to call the Whippet Wrestlers their own as they fought hard against a very good Evansville team, but ended up losing the dual, hence ending the team portion of the season. Whitewater finished the season 9-2 with both losses coming to Evansville. I feel as though we wrestled much better last night than we did earlier in the season, so the coaching staff is proud of the team for that.

Individually in the dual, Marcus DePorter got the team on the scoreboard with a well wrestled match against his opponent, winning by a major decision. Aaron Porras followed with another win for the team by getting a second period pin to help spark some excitement for the team. Sebastian Cuellar followed with an exciting takedown to start the match against a young man who has 40 wins on the season and was wrestling well but unfortunately dropped the match. Carter Friend showed he will not back down to anyone as he went up a weight class to get another shot at an opponent he lost to earlier in the season and who was a state runner-up last year. Carter wanted to show he can do better, and indeed did, securing a couple of takedowns in the match and wrestling better overall. However, he was unable to get a victory. The team ended the dual meet by winning the last two matches, so they ended on a couple of positive notes. Mason DePorter got a first period pin, his 27th of the season, which has now broken the single season record held since 2010. Jarvis Porcaro ended the evening for the Whippets when he avenged his Conference Championship loss by defeating his opponent 13-10 in a very exciting match to end the dual meet.

The coaching staff is very proud of the team this season. They showed they are a true team as they are always there in each other’s corner, no matter what, supporting and picking each other up when needed. Although this is the end of the dual meet season, seven individuals will be traveling to Richland Center to participate in the Individual Sectional with the hopes of punching a ticket to State. Wrestling begins at 10:00.

Article Submitted by John Schimming
Whitewater High School Head Wrestling Coach
jschimming@wwusd.org

Whippet Girls Honor Seniors, Fall to Evansville

The Whitewater Girls’ Basketball team hosted Evansville for a conference game Monday, February 14th. 

  • Kindyl Kilar
  • Gwen Truesdale and Lexi Juoni

The Whippets struggled to gain momentum offensively throughout the game, falling 45-28. 

Kindyl Kilar led the Whippets with 10 points, followed by Gwen Truesdale and Calli Grosinske each with 5. 

The Whippets also honored seniors Lexi Juoni and Gwen Truesdale for their last home game of their high school careers. These two are extremely dedicated athletes that demonstrate tremendous grit and leadership. 

Article and Senior Photo Submitted by Kristen Lippens
Whitewater High School Head Girls’ Basketball Coach
klippens@wwusd.org
Action Photo Courtesy of Peter Mischka

Whippet Gymnasts Score New Team High

The Whippet Varsity Gymnastics Team competed at the Platteville Invitational with 12 other teams on Saturday, February 12th. The girls had such an amazing meet, scoring their highest team score of 110.425, improving their old team score by almost 2 points! Breaking that 110-barrier is a big deal! We had our highest team Beam score of the season which was really awesome to see.

Halee Peters made the podium with her no-fall Beam routine – earning herself a medal.  She also was right on her best scores for Vault, Floor, and All-Around.

Makayla Bazeley scored a personal best on Beam with a no-fall routine and also improved her All-Around score to 29.5. She tied her personal best on her Bars routine and was right on her best score for Vault.

Myia Cobbs had season bests on Vault and Beam and tied her best score on Bars. She also scored her highest in All-Around. Miyu competed varsity for Vault for the first time and scored a season best.

Our next meet is our Conference meet in Elkhorn on Friday, February 18th.

Article and Photos Submitted by Shawnda Peters
Whitewater High School Head Gymnastics Coach
speters@wwusd.org

WHS Wrestlers Bring Home Regional Title

On Saturday, February 12, the Whitewater Wrestling Team achieved one of their goals that they set out to accomplish after last season, win a Regional Wrestling Championship. After the dust settled in a great tournament held at Jefferson High School, the Whippets brought home their first Regional Championship since 2017 by outdistancing Delavan-Darien. As a team, the Whippets wrestled very well and proved it was a team effort, as everyone did their part. If a teammate had a hiccup, others were there to step up and make up for it. Of the 14 competitors, 13 finished in the top four, with our sole 5th place finisher, Sebastian Cuellar, wrestling his heart out to finish his day with a pin in the 5th place match. He had a tough first round loss to the young man who ended up coming in 2nd place for the weight class.

Jarvis Porcaro

Individually, the Whippets had 3 champions in Jarvis Porcaro, Marcus DePorter, and Mason DePorter. Each of these champs had big wins on the day to help push the points more into Whitewater’s favor.

Coming in runner up and also earning a trip to Individual Sectionals on Saturday were Traysen Thomason, Aaron Porras, Carter Friend, and Leo Ortiz. Each of these gentlemen lost tough ones in the championship round, but were able to hold onto their position as a qualifier.     

Just missing out on qualifying and finishing in 3rd place were CJ Tomomitsu, Connor Friend, Cooper Hammond, and Hector Arnodo. CJ, Connor, and Cooper each had an opportunity to wrestle for true second but came up just short, so they are alternates for Saturday in case of injury to a wrestler that finished ahead of them.

Last but definitely not least, as they brought in great team points, were Jason Villegas and Jesus Barajas. Jason wrestled outstanding all day and continued to show the great improvement he has all season long, dropping a good match to his opponent for 3rd. Barajas also wrestled well on the day, knowing he had an uphill battle, as he was bumped up a weight to help the team win a title. He did not back down in the 3rd place match, but came up short.

The coaching staff is extremely proud of the accomplishments of this team. As an underclassman said afterward, “Yes, we get to spend another week competing with these seniors. I love this team!” 

The team is in action on Tuesday night, February 15, when they travel to participate in the Team Sectional at River Valley High School in Spring Green. Their first dual is at 6:00, and then the championship dual will be at 8:00. The winner on Tuesday night in the two duals qualifies for Team State.

Article Submitted by John Schimming
Whitewater High School Head Wrestling Coach
jschimming@wwusd.org
Photo Courtesy of Bob Mischka

Swimmers Wrap Up Season at Sectionals

The Whippet Boys’ Swim Team traveled to Baraboo on Saturday, February 12, to compete in the WIAA Sectional Meet. They came to swim fast and did just that; they went 8 for 10 in individual best times! 

Miles Nickelsburg, Tyler Arnett, Andrew O’Toole, Zach Tomomitsu, Jack Hefty

Senior Zach Tomomitsu finished off his swim career with some spectacular swims in the 100 Freestyle and 100 Backstroke! In the 100 Free, Zach nailed down some perfect flip turns. In the 100 Back, he went a best time by 4 seconds! 

Tyler Arnett continues to flourish in the 200 and 500 Freestyle. Tyler started off the day going a best time in the 200 Free by dropping 4 seconds and earned himself a spot on the Whippet Top 10 List! Tyler also had a lifetime best swim in the 500 Free where he had a 6 second drop going 5:24.97 and placing 5th overall at the meet! Tyler also had a season best split in the 400 Freestyle Relay going 56.04!

Jack Hefty improved his time in the 200 IM, dropping 2 seconds. He also continues to improve his time in the 100 Freestyle, going a 57.91. Later in the meet, during the 400 Freestyle Relay, Jack dropped his time even more from the leadoff spot, going a 57.31! 

Miles Nickelsburg had a wonderful swim in the 100 Backstroke, where he had a 4 second drop. He also had a season best relay split in the 400 Freestyle Relay, going a 1:09.39.

Andre O’Toole improved his overall 50 Freestyle time, going a 30.67! He also had a season best time in the 100 Breaststroke, where he had a 2 second drop! 

Congratulations to the boys’ swim team on an amazing season. We can’t wait to see what they can accomplish next year!

Article and Photo Submitted by Sarah Reynolds
Whitewater High School Co-Head Boys’ Swim Coach
sreynolds@wwusd.org

No. 7 UW-Whitewater Women’s Hoops Clinches WIAC Title Outright

By Chris Lindeke, Assistant Athletic Director, Strategic Communications and Branding, UW-W

Box Score

The No. 7 ranked University of Wisconsin-Whitewater women’s basketball team secured the program’s 10th Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference championship outright on Saturday with an 87-56 win against UW-Stout at Kachel Gymnasium.

The Warhawks (22-2 overall, 12-1 WIAC), who have now won three conference regular season titles in the last five years, also honored Courtney Oomens, Rebekah Schumacher and Johanna Taylor on Senior Day presented by Educators Credit Union in a halftime ceremony.

Aleah Grundahl registered a game-high 18 points to go with three rebounds and three steals to pace a group of seven UW-W scorers with eight or more points in the contest. Veronica Kieres collected 13 points and five rebounds, and Abby Belschner posted 12 points and five rebounds.

Taylor recorded a double-double with 10 points and 10 rebounds to go with four blocks and two steals. Schumacher and Kacie Carollo totaled nine points apiece and Yssa Sto. Domingo added eight points.

UW-W turned 28 turnovers into 36 points on the other end and added 20 second-chance points on 20 offensive rebounds.

The Blue Devils (13-9, 8-4) scored the first four points of the game and held an 8-3 lead three minutes into the opening quarter. UW-Whitewater rallied for 11 straight points and never trailed again in the contest.

The Warhawks’ lead increased to double digits in the final minute of the period, and Taylor’s put-back layup made the score 24-13 through 10 minutes of play.

UW-Stout scored the first basket of the second before UW-Whitewater’s 8-0 run made it 32-15 just past the midway point of the quarter. The Warhawks maintained a double-digit advantage and led 47-32 by halftime.

UW-Whitewater scored six consecutive points to start the third quarter, including buckets by Schumacher, Kieres and Grundahl, for a 21-point advantage with 8:42 on the clock. UW-W led by as many as 27 points in the period and held a 69-46 advantage heading to the fourth.

All 19 players saw action in the fourth quarter for the Warhawks and eight of them found their way into the scoring column.

UW-Whitewater closes the regular season Wednesday at UW-Oshkosh. Tipoff is slated for 7 p.m.

Whippet Girls Fall at Brodhead

The Whippet Girls’ Basketball Team came out strong in the beginning of the first half in a very physical, faced-paced game at Brodhead on Friday, February 11. We were tied within the first 9 minutes of the first half, playing a tight defense. Brodhead went on an 11-point scoring run, stretching their lead. Going in to halftime, we were down 14-37.

We got into foul trouble, and struggled to stop Brodhead’s offense, coming up short, 37-67.

Josie Treder led the Whippets with 10 points, 3 rebounds, and 1 assist. Gwen Truesdale contributed 6 points (4 for 4 from the free throw line), 3 blocks, and 2 rebounds. Cali Kopecky also added 6 points, 2 rebounds, and 2 steals.

The Whippets will host Evansville at home Monday, February 14th. It is our last regular season home game and Senior Night.

Article Submitted by Kristen Lippens
Whitewater High School Head Girls’ Basketball Coach
klippens@wwusd.org