Sports

The University of Wisconsin-Whitewater football team opened the 2025 campaign with a 45-14 win over Carleton Saturday. 

It was a beautiful fall day at The Perk and the Warhawk faithful came out to cheer on UWW for their first game of 2025. The first Warhawk points of the season came on their first offensive possession with a Seth Adams 23-yard field goal that capped a 10-play, 81-yard drive. 

The offense surged in the second quarter putting up 21 points to jump out to a 24-7 at the break. Quarterback Justin Klinkner registered UWW’s first TD of the season, punching it in from a yard out to put the Warhawks up 10-0.

After the Knights put up a score to pull within 10-7, Tyler Vasey responded the way he does it best – a 91-yard kickoff return to the house to push the lead back to 10. Another three-and-out for the defense gave UWW the ball back with just under six minutes to go before the break. The Warhawks used up nearly the entire clock before Cole Berghorn blasted through the middle of the line for a three-yard touchdown run to make it 24-7. 

On the other side of the intermission, Brian Stanton ripped off a 75-yard touchdown run with less than five remaining in the third. Klinkner tacked on another TD, this time a 59-yard spurt to push the advantage to 38-7 by the end of the third quarter. 

Stanton struck again early in the fourth, breaking free for a 66-yard touchdown scamper. The final score of the game came on a goal line rush for the Knights. 

Klinkner was 7-8 for 72 yards in the passing game. He gained 107 yards on 19 attempts with his legs adding a pair of touchdowns. Stanton was the leading rusher, with 201 yards on seven attempts – an average of 28.7 per carry – and two scores. 

Vasey hauled in three catches for 28 yards and averaged 58 yards per kickoff return. Adams was perfect on the day — nailing the only field goal he attempted and drilling all six points after. 

Defensively, Karsten Libby paced UWW with 10 tackles, a sack and an interception. Carter Sessa also picked off a Carleton pass in the contest. 

The Warhawks will head out on the road the next two weeks visiting Saint Xavier University in Illinois on September 13th and Mary Hardin-Baylor in Texas on the 20th. After the bye week, UW-Whitewater will be back in Perkins Stadium to host UW-La Crosse on the team’s annual Family Fest, Alumni Day and Shriners Day. 

The Whippet Cross Country Team competed on September 5 in their largest invitational of the season to date at McCarty Park in West Allis. With another week of training, perfect weather, and a growing ability to embrace being uncomfortable, the team rose to the challenge against much larger programs.

Several athletes ran lifetime bests. Freshman Tyler Carollo led the way with his first sub-19 effort, running 18:55 for 58th place—over a minute faster than his debut race last week. Wyatt Esch stepped up as the team’s No. 2 finisher, earning a personal best of 20:09 for 85th. Marcus Roselle joined the PR party with a 20:37 (91st), followed closely by Isaiah Mendez in 21:01 (93rd). Quinton O’Toole finished 99th in 21:26, and Angel Kilar capped the varsity effort with a big breakthrough—running 22:08, over a minute better than his previous best. The team placed 15th out of 25 schools.

In the JV race, Sam Nickelsburg made a big jump from last week, clocking 24:23. Freshman Jameson Rothwell debuted with a 25:37, and Ian Agen nearly broke 30 minutes, crossing in 30:31.

On the girls’ side, Virginia Nelson led the varsity squad with a 22:48 for 56th. Delaney Hammack dropped 32 seconds for a PR of 23:46 (71st), while Ema Aranda finished 83rd in 24:34. Freshman Madelyn Taylor cut nearly three minutes from her season opener, setting a lifetime best of 27:08.

In JV action, Payton Brautigam looked outstanding, running faster than she had in the past three seasons with a 27:02 for 66th. Noelia Villegas-Korbel showed grit, cutting nearly a full minute from her opening race.

The Whippets will now take a week off from racing to focus on training (and water softener salt sales!) before returning to competition at the Dana Waddell Invite in Cottage Grove on Tuesday, September 16.

Full Results: https://www.athletic.net/CrossCountry/meet/258799/info

Article Submitted by Chad Carstens
Whitewater High School Head Cross Country Coach
ccarstens@wwusd.org
File Photo Courtesy of Heather Hammack

SI.com, the official website of Sports Illustrated, featured an article on September 5 titled Border Showdown: Is Missouri Game the Biggest of Lance Leipold’s Career?

Leipold is the head football coach at the University of Kansas, a position he has held since 2021. He was the head football coach at the University of Wisconsin–Whitewater from 2007 to 2014 and the University at Buffalo from 2015 to 2020.^[2] During his tenure at Wisconsin–Whitewater, the team won six NCAA Division III Football Championships: 2007, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2013, and 2014 and were runners-up in 2008. During his time at Wisconsin-Whitewater, Leipold led the Warhawks to 5 undefeated seasons. [Wikipedia]

Per the article, it sounds like the national media has overhyped the September 6 game of Kansas vs. Missouri, but those who remember Leipold may enjoy reading an update on his career.

On Thursday, September 4, the Whippets traveled to Jefferson High School to compete in the Southern Lakes Conference Relay Championship. The team finished 5th overall and showed up with incredible swims, heat wins, and huge time drops throughout the night!

 Meet Highlights:

 200 Medley Relay (Maggie Maas, Atreya Wilson, Lucy Davis, Charlotte Hajewski) – 8th overall and won their heat by nearly 17 seconds!

 4×100 IM Relay (Kendra Serrano, Grace Coleman, Charlotte Hajewski, Emma Maas) – pulled off a thrilling comeback win in the final leg to take their heat!

 1000 Crescendo Relay (Grace Smith, Atreya Wilson, Maggie Maas, Lucy Davis) – 7th overall, winning their heat by nearly 40 seconds!

 50 Freestyle “Splash & Dash”  Two teams made their mark!

• Laken DePorter, Jalayne Hanson, Paige Kollwelter, Storm DePorter – 10th overall, dropping 11 seconds from their seed time!
• Emma Maas, Maya Davis, Grace Smith, Maggie Maas – 6th place with a time of 1:01.10.

 400 Backstroke Relay (Grace Smith, Caitlin Alford, Paige Kollwelter, Georgia Esch) – dominated their heat with a win by over a minute, with all four swimmers crushing their times!

The Whippets brought the energy, teamwork, and grit—what an amazing night of racing! 

Article and Photo Submitted by Sarah Reynolds
Whitewater High School Head Swim Coach
ReynoldsSM07@uww.edu

The Whitewater Whippet Soccer Team played to a 2-2 tie with Fort Atkinson on Thursday, September 4.

Whippet goals were scored by Abdi Calvillo with an assist from Langdon Coburn (65’) and Elijah Gutierrez with an assist from Kevin Gonzalez (70’).  Fort Atkinson’s goals were scored by Connor Luebke (6’) and Tristan Dommershausen (50’).

Casey Schlicher had 7 saves for the Whippets and Ayden Schaller had 8 saves for the Blackhawks.

Comments from Coach Burns:
Your Whitewater Whippets fought hard to come back from a 2-0 deficit. After conceding a “one in a million” free kick and a slop goal from outside of the box, it appeared that your Whippets were in for a disappointing evening with only 19 minutes remaining. However, with strong second half performances from Kevin Gonzalez, Abdi Calvillo, Elijah Gunierrez, and the rest of the Whippet team, the comeback was on. The character this team displayed was really a sight to see. WHS created numerous chances to not only go even with Fort Atkinson but win it as well. In the end, the match finished 2-2, and Whippet Soccer remains undefeated. 

Article and Photos Submitted by Sam Burns
Whitewater High School Head Boys’ Soccer Coach
dburns@wwusd.org

The Whippet Soccer Team downed Brown Deer 3-1 on Tuesday, September 2.

Whippet Goals were scored by Kevin Gonzalez (21’), Kevin Gonzalez with an assist from Haniel Vilchez (30’), and Langdon Coburn (44’). The Brown Deer goal was scored by Chutiphon Ninlkang (9’).

Casey Schlicher made 5 saves in goal for the Whippets, and Robert Skebba had 7 saves for Brown Deer.

Information and Photo Submitted by Sam Burns
Whitewater High School Head Boys’ Soccer Coach
dburns@wwusd.org

The Whippets fell to Clinton 30-8 on Friday night, August 29.

Comments from Coach Bartlett:

We started this game slow, and Clinton took advantage. They came in with a strong game plan and executed it flawlessly. Credit to their offensive line for getting off the ball all night. They controlled the game by running the ball effectively, mixing in timely passes, and using time of possession to keep our offense off the field. That prevented us from establishing a rhythm and made every possession feel limited.

On our side, we simply made too many mistakes — the kind you can’t afford if you expect to win. We know we are capable of winning games, but it comes down to making the choices and taking the actions throughout the week that winning programs make. As we’ve said all season, our focus is to Pound the Stone daily — to keep improving and to become a better team each week.

There were a couple of standout performances for us. Quarterback Ty Bucholtz (#4) battled all night. Even though we didn’t protect him as well as we should have, he fought to extend plays and showed the leadership that makes him a captain. On defense, senior Casey Lyon was everywhere. He played with great effort, including a textbook strip and forced fumble after wrapping up the ball carrier. He continues to prove he’s the perfect fit for us at the Mike linebacker position.

Rushing:

• #4 Ty Bucholtz: 7 carries, 20 yards (2.9 avg)
• #21 Corbin Vaughn: 2 carries, -2 yards (-1.0 avg)
• #6 Brady Friend: 6 carries, 6 yards (1.0 avg)
• Team Total: 15 carries, 24 yards (1.6 avg), 0 TD

Passing:

• #4 Ty Bucholtz: 11 completions on 22 attempts, 133 yards (12.1 avg), 1 TD, 2 INT
• Team Total: 11/22, 133 yards, 1 TD, 2 INT

Receiving:

• #2 Casey Lyon: 3 catches, 47 yards (15.7 avg), 1 TD
• #3 Emmett Spear: 5 catches, 63 yards (12.6 avg)
• #15 Connor Brummeyer: 2 catches, 10 yards (5.0 avg)
• #10 Hayden Armstrong: 1 catch, 13 yards (13.0 avg)
• Team Total: 11 catches, 133 yards (12.1 avg), 1 TD

Notable Defensive Stats:

• #4 Ty Bucholtz: 4 Solo, 8 Assists, 1 FR
• #2 Casey Lyon: 3 Solo, 8 Assists, 1 FF
• #3 Emmett Spear: 3 Solo, 11 Assists, 2 TFLs

Article Submitted by Sam Bartlett
Whitewater High School Head Football Coach
barsa01@wwusd.org
File photos courtesy of Olivia Kowlaski.

The University of Wisconsin-Whitewater women’s tennis team opened their 2025-26 campaign with a conference sweep over UW-Oshkosh. The win marks the first win for Head Coach Byron Balkin.

The doubles teams got rolling, quickly taking over the first three flights to give the Warhawks the team point. 

Molly Asfeld (Waukesha, Wis./West) and Crystina Lee (Downers Grove, Ill./Timothy Christian) took the first match of the season with a 6-2 victory at the second doubles flight. Abigail Weaver (Wakarusa, Ind./Mishawaka Marian) and Gracie Ha (Palatine, Ill./Fremd) grabbed the second necessary flight for the point with a 6-3 victory.

The freshman pair of Josie Wojcikiewicz and Kaitlyn Remke (Johnsburg, Ill./Marian Central) secured the third doubles flight with a 6-4 win.

Heading into the singles flights, the Warhawks and Titans had to play through the elements after a light misting of rain started at the Whitewater tennis courts. 

Remke would be the first singles flight to pick up a team point, taking the fifth singles flight with a straight set victory only dropping one game between the two sets.

Single flights #3 and #4 weren’t too far behind. Asfeld clinched her match in straight sets with a 6-0 victory in the second set. Lee took the fourth singles flight with a 6-3, 6-1 victory to put the Warhawks just one match away from Balkin’s first victory.

Gracie Ha (Palatine, Ill./Fremd) and Abigail Weaver (Wakarusa, Ind./Mishawaka Marian) clinched the match at the first and second flights. Weaver took her first set 6-0 and staved off a late push by UW-Oshkosh to win her second 6-3. Ha played a clean game as well, only dropping one game in the first set on her way to a 6-1, 6-0 victory. 

Abigail McIssac finished the sweep with a third set tiebreaker victory. McIsaac dropped the first set 3-6, but bounced back with a 6-3 second set. In the tiebreaker, McIsaac kept up the pressure and momentum and grabbed the tiebreaker 10-5.

Full Results
Doubles
#1 – Weaver/Ha def. Usui/Gibbs: 6-3
#2 – Asfeld/Lee def Gregory/Owens: 6-2
#3 – Wojcikiewicz/Remke def Pethan/Schaefer: 6-4

Singles
#1 – Ha def. Pethan: 6-1, 6-0
#2 – Weaver def. Usui: 6-0, 6-3
#3 – Asfeld def. Gibbs: 6-2, 6-0
#4 – Lee def. Owens: 6-3, 6-1
#5 – Remke def. Schaefer: 6-0, 6-1
#6 – McIsaac def. Gerl: 3-6, 6-3, (10-5)

Exhibition
Singles – Chloe Knutson (Deforest, Wis./Deforest) def. Dao: 6-0, 6-1
Singles – Julia Nill (Thiensville, Wis./Homestead) def. Longdin: 6-3, 6-2
Doubles – Ashley Adkisson (Licolnshire, Ill./Stevenson)/Megan Griswold (Oconomowoc, Wis./Oconomowoc) def. Dao/Longdin: 5-1