The Whippet Swim Team finished out the season on some incredible swims at the State Meet on Friday, February 21st. Cruz Aranda started us off with a strong performance in the 200 Freestyle, finishing 14th with a time of 1:51.18. Cruz was then up in the 100 Freestyle where he swam a best time of 50.10! Myles Morse rocked his 500 Freestyle going right on his best time with a time 5:21.15. It was fun to watch his season and his high school swim career close out at the state meet!
Boys’ Swim Team Members
The relays really put on a show! In the 200 Freestyle Relay (Jack Hefty, Langdon Coburn, Mateo Bazeley, Cruz Aranda), those boys were chasing a school record and they got that school record and absolutely crushed it. The previous school record was set in 2019 with a time of 1:33.24. Each of them went out and went season best splits and broke the record by nearly 3 seconds. The school record now sits at 1:30.89! Jack Hefty led the way with a lifetime best 23.24; that time puts him 5th all-time on the Whippet Top 10 List. Langdon Coburn got under 23 seconds with a time of 22.97, Mateo Bazeley put up the fastest split with 22.19, and Cruz Aranda rounded us out with a time of 22.49.
Mateo Bazeley, Cruz Aranda, Langdon Coburn, and Jack Hefty
Cruz Aranda, Jack Hefty, Langdon Coburn, and Mateo Bazeley closed out the night with an 8th place finish in the 400 Freestyle Relay, dropping 7.28 seconds from last week’s sectional time with a 3:22.77. Cruz Aranda led the way with a time of 50.68, Jack Hefty posted a 50.71, Langdon Coburn went a 51.19, and Mateo brought it home with a 50.19. The boys won their heat and moved up 7 spots from their original 15th seed coming into the meet.
Congratulations to the Whippet Swim Team on a phenomenal season!
Article and Photos Courtesy of Sarah Reynolds Whitewater High School Head Swim Coach ReynoldsSM07@uww.edu
On Friday night, February 14, the Girls’ Wrestling Team traveled to Mukwonago High School to participate in the Girls’ Regional Wrestling Tournament. This tournament consisted of 22 teams with girls wrestling to place in the top four of their weight class to advance to the Girls’ Sectional to be hosted by Whitewater High School on Friday, February 21. The girls are all in one division so participants range from Badger High School to a small division school like Catholic Central. Based on our location in the state this posed as a huge challenge for the girls.
All of our Whippet Girls wrestled very well on Friday night. Yes, there were disappointed ladies at the end of the day as unless you do not qualify in the top four you realize your season has come to an end. The coaches truly believe our girls are not ready to be finished with their season.
Leading the way for the Whippets was Marianna Kubicz who went 3-0 on the day securing a pin in the semi-finals and then a strong double leg takedown to start the championship match, unfortunately hurting the young lady she was wrestling who had to injury default.
Coming in 3rd place with an outstanding last match of the night for her was Payton Taylor who was in a very close match throughout, however continued to hold good positions. She was able to use her power in the end to get the opponent out of position scoring the decisive takedown near the end of the 3rd period. Payton is in her first year of wrestling but does a great job listening and adjusting during matches.
Rounding out our qualifiers was A’Lani Ross. A’Lani started her night off in great fashion with a 2nd period technical fall 17-0. She unfortunately dropped her semi-final match. In the 3rd place match she found herself in a tough battle with her opponent and was unable to finish with the victory but still secured her position on Friday night with a 4th place finish.
Taking 5th place and just missing out on the opportunity to advance was Atreya Wilson. Atreya won her 5th place match doing extremely well coming back from a tough loss early in the tournament and picking up a couple of wins to stay in contention. Unfortunately, the girl that Atreya needed to win the 3rd place match lost, so that girl took fourth. Had the other girl won, Atreya would have had the opportunity to wrestle for true 4th. She is an alternate so if something were to happen over the course of the week, she could be given the call up, so she will still keep her nose to the grind.
Other girls who competed with all their hearts included Isabelle Cantu who took 6th losing a very tough match for 5th. She was so close to pinning the girl but just couldn’t get the 2nd shoulder blade down. Ema Aranda was in the same boat, riding tough, but could not turn a girl with very flexible shoulders. Silvia Harris participated in the largest bracket in the tournament and wrestled well throughout, securing a very nice win by pin in her second match but was unable to get into the placement match. Aubrey Fuoco had a great last match, but inexperience showed, and she came up short. Vivian Harris drew a young lady who is someone you would want to come and watch on Friday night as she is so technically and physically strong. Vivian then came back, losing her final match and ending her first season in high school wrestling. To close out our girls was Alexa Arredondo who showed heart wanting to compete, battling through being not 100%.
Friday night Whitewater High School hosts the Girls’ Sectional starting at 5:00. The top two girls from each weight class will advance to the state tournament held at the Kohl Center. If you want to see some really good girls’ wrestling it is recommended you come to Whitewater on Friday night as many will argue this will be the toughest sectional in the state with many highly ranked girls participating.
Article Submitted by John Schimming Whitewater High School Head Wrestling Coach jschimming@wwusd.org
The Whippet Boys’ Swim Team had a very fun and exciting day at the WIAA Sectional in Milton on Saturday, February 15. The swimmers all posted great times and even had a few STATE QUALIFIERS!
Sectional Swimmers
Qualifying for the State Meet on Friday, February 21st are:
Come watch the boys compete one last time at the WIAA State Meet on Friday, February 21st. Swimming starts at 5:30 pm!
THE CHAMPIONSHIPS: The 101st Annual Wisconsin Interscholastic Athletic Association Boys Swimming and Diving Championships will be held Friday and Saturday, Feb. 21-22, at Waukesha South High School in Waukesha, Wis.
TICKET INFORMATION: Ticket prices for each tournament session are $9 plus online fees, and they are only available to be purchased on-line on the WIAA website through GoFan, the WIAA ticketing partner, at: https://www.wiaawi.org/Tickets#42691538-boys-swimming.
MEET INFORMATION: The Division 2 championships will be held Friday, with the Division 1 championships to follow on Saturday. The Division 2 diving competition begins Friday at 1:30 p.m., and the swimming finals will follow at 5:30 p.m.
CHAMPIONSHIPS LIVE ON WIAA.TV: Every event of the WIAA State Boys Swimming and Diving Championships will be streamed live on the WIAA.TV portal of the NFHS Network on a subscription basis. To purchase a subscription to the live programming for only $11.99 per month, log-on to www.wiaa.tv or www.nfhsnetwork.com and click on the “Subscribe Now” link located at the top right area of the page. Archived streams of the meets will be available on demand on the NFHS Network 72 hours after the tournament with a subscription.
On Saturday, February 15, the Boys’ Wrestling Team traveled to Delavan to participate in the Regional Wrestling Tournament. This tournament consisted of 14 teams with wrestlers competing to put themselves in the top four with the opportunity to compete in the Boys’ Sectional next Saturday at Waupun.
When the dust settled after lots of great wrestling throughout the day, the Whippets found themselves with five in the top four to advance to sectionals.
Leading the way were three champions: Jarvis Porcaro, Connor Friend, and Traysen Thomason. All three of these young men wrestled outstanding through the day. Jarvis started his day off with a first period pin and in the process earned his 100th career win, which is quite an accomplishment. Jarvis also pinned his semi-final opponent in the first period and wrestled an outstanding championship match securing a technical fall and winning his first regional title.
Connor Friend was our second champion. Connor wrestled with a purpose all day as he came out strong in his first two matches getting pins to work his way into the championship match. We knew that he had a tough competitor from St. John’s Military Academy and would need to weather the storm as the young man comes out showing his strength. Connor found himself in a hole after a big time throw from his opponent, but he kept his composure and just kept plugging away. As a coach I am not sure I have been in the corner of such an intense match. The crowd was really getting into the match, which was exciting, as it was so cool to see Rock Valley Teams getting involved in the cheering. By the 3rd period it showed why we stay after practice and do the extra things. Connor continued to plug away and was able to secure takedowns and back points to overcome his deficit, finally securing a pin. This match is what wrestling is about, a great battle between outstanding competitors and the crowd getting into it no matter what school they are from!
Traysen Thomason had the opportunity to be the next match on the mat and he fed off of the crowd energy. The coaches had never seen him wrestle with the intensity and drive that he did. He had a game plan for his opponent and followed it to a T. He secured three takedowns and then the pin to win his 2nd regional title. Traysen was extremely excited after the match as he had never shown the emotion he did with his excitement. It was a very exciting two matches in a row for the team.
Coming in runner up was Jasen Porras. Jasen started the day off with a nice pin and then had a very tough competitor in the semifinals from Shoreland. Jasen has become very good at watching his opponents and is good at analyzing what his opponents will do. He followed his plan and weathered an early storm but chipped away and ended up getting a technical fall 22-7 victory. This match also showed what the extra things outside of normal practice will do for a competitor. Jasen faced a tough foe in the finals as his opponent is ranked number 1, but Jasen did not back down and worked his tail off but came up short on the title.
Closing out the qualifiers was Richi Kalra who had a very exciting quarterfinal match that was exciting to the very end. It might be the best overall match Richi has wrestled all year as he kept himself in good position to secure the victory. He then ended up dropping his next two, but did secure his ticket to sectionals with his 4th place finish.
Coming in 5th was Adalynn Frye who stepped in and competed at 106 for the boys’ team. She had a couple tough opponents on the day but by being willing to step in, scored some points and is an alternate for sectionals if one of the top four are unable to go.
In the coaches’ opinion on the day we had everyone wrestle well as we had many nice wins along the way but then also some tough losses. Ruben Puc Chi stepped in and had a tough first round draw against a top 3 ranked student. He followed up with a very nicely wrestled match but ended up losing. The lack of varsity experience proved to be the difference in that last match. Keenan Sheffield started his day off with a nice first round win but then was unable to advance further and lost in the consolation bracket. Max Babcock started the day off with a very nice win against an extremely strong opponent, but in this case, Max used his technique against a guy who was strong but not technical. He then dropped his quarterfinal match and came back with another nice win for himself before dropping the consolation semi-final match ending his day.
Avi Kalra had a good day for himself as well. Like Max, he started his day with a nice win and then lost to the number 1 seed but came back with another win on the backside. In the consolation semifinal he wrestled a familiar foe from Lake Mills but dropped the match. He was very disappointed after, but he wrestled his heart out in that match.
Trevor Piper has continued to show progress although sometimes he may not see it. All year he has given up 10 pounds at the 190-pound weight class which can often be a difference in muscle mass. Trevor again wrestled his heart out, showing he is picking up the technique but at times just isn’t quite able to finish. As a sophomore he is showing progress technically and will get stronger, so the coaches are happy with his performance not only on Saturday but all season.
Making their way into the 5th place match but coming up short were Austin Retzlaff and Junior Soto. Austin started the day off with a nice win, then dropped his quarterfinal match, but came back with a couple of wins on the backside before falling in the placement match to a physical student from Martin Luther. Junior Soto lost a tough match in the quarter finals as he just got out of position. He came back through the backside with a couple of wins to put himself in the 5th place match. He was right in the match securing an early takedown, but in the end, he was overcome and finished in 6th place.
The 5 qualifiers will next be in action on Saturday, February 22, when they travel to Waupun High School. Wrestling starts at 10:00. The top three wrestlers from each weight will advance to the state tournament at the Kohl Center.
Article and Photos Submitted by John Schimming Whitewater High School Head Wrestling Coach jschimming@wwusd.org
University of Wisconsin-Whitewater will host the 2025 WIAC Wrestling Championship (presented by Culver’s) at Kachel Gymnasium on Feb. 15. UW-Eau Claire and UW-La Crosse are the defending champions. Six individual weight class winners from last season return. (Championship Preview) (Championship Webpage)
Whitewater beat Monroe 55-26 on Senior Night for girls’ basketball.
Whitewater jumped out to an early lead but Monroe made a push to cut the Whippets’ lead to 24-20 at halftime. Whitewater’s defense took over as the Whippets outscored the Cheesemakers 31-6 in the second half.
Whippet Seniors
All four seniors combined for 42 of Whitewater’s 55 points.
Whitewater closes the regular season at East Troy (on Monday) and at Jefferson (next Thursday). Seeding information for the WIAA tournament will be posted Sunday afternoon.
Article Submitted by Mike Dowden Whitewater High School Head Girls’ Basketball Coach dowmi01@wwusd.org
The Whippet Boys’ Swim Team finished out conference in 3rd Place overall at the conference meet! So many had best times and there were a few conference medal finishes. The top 6 individuals in each event and the top 3 relays medal.
Cruz Aranda – Conference Champion 200 Freestyle
Top 16 finishes and best times include:
200 Medley Relay:
8th (2:04.98)-Miles Nickelsburg, David Enns, Myles Morse, Andrew O’Toole
Cruz Aranda is the SLC CONFERENCE CHAMPION of the 200 Freestyle, winning with a time of 1:54.26!
Miles Nickelsburg finished 6th with a time of 2:07.65!
200 IM:
Jack Hefty finished 5th with a time of 2:19.84. Jack dropped nearly 5 seconds. He now sits 9th on the Whippet Top 10 List.
Wyatt Esch finished 16th with a time of 2:47.81. Wyatt dropped 7 seconds off his previous time.
Andrew O’Toole swam a great race and finished with a best time of 2:47.98
50 Free:
Mateo Bazeley finished 3rd with a time of 23.84. Mateo now sits 8th on the Whippet Top Ten List.
Caleb Kluck continues to drop more time going a time of 26.82
Angel Kilar dropped nearly a second off of his time to go a time of 33.79.
100 Butterfly:
Langdon Coburn finished 7th with a time of 1:00.35.
Myles Morse finished 9th with a time of 1:05.98.
Sam Nickelsburg finished 11th with a time of 1:09.09
100 Freestyle:
Cruz Aranda finished 4th going a season best time of 51.35.
Mateo Bazeley finished 5th going a time of 53.26.
Caleb Kluck dropped over a second going a time of 1:00.28
Andrew O’Toole dropped nearly 2 seconds going a time 1:00.52
David Enns also dropped some time going a best time of 1:03.05
500 Freestyle:
Myles Morse finished 3rd with a time of 5:32.27. Dropping 6 seconds puts Myles 8th on the Whippet Top 10 List.
Miles Nickelsburg finished 4th with a time of 5:47.12. Miles dropped nearly 4 seconds off his previous time.
200 Freestyle Relay:
3rd (1:36.02) – Jack Hefty, Langdon Coburn, Mateo Bazeley, and Cruz Aranda. All the of them posted their best relay splits this season. In the leadoff, Jack went a time of 24.15, which puts him 10th all-time on the Whippet Top 10 List.
12th (1:51.12) – Xavier Ortiz, David Enns, Sam Nickelsburg, Andrew O’Toole
100 Backstroke:
Langdon Coburn finished 6th with a time of 1:01.85. Langdon now sits 8th on the Whippet Top 10 List.
Wyatt Esch finished 16th with a time of 1:13.91.
Xavier Ortiz had a big drop of 6 seconds to go a time of 1:24.88
100 Breaststroke:
Jack Hefty finished 9th with a time of 1:12.87.
Isaac Straight dropped 3 seconds to go a best time of 1:26.93
400 Freestyle Relay:
3rd (3:37.78) – Cruz Aranda, Mateo Bazeley, Langdon Coburn, and Jack Hefty. They dropped over 6 seconds off their seed time. Langdon (54.53) and Jack (53.84) both had season best splits.
6th (5:57.07) – Myles Morse, Caleb Kluck, Wyatt Esch, and Miles Nickelsburg. They dropped nearly 7 seconds off their seeded time! Each of them posted best times. Myles in the leadoff went a 58.26, Caleb went a 59.00, Wyatt went a 1:01.46, and Miles went a 58.35
The boys are having a great start to Championship season, and we can’t wait to see them compete at the WIAA Sectional Meet at Milton High School on Saturday, February 15th. Swimming starts at 1 pm; we hope to see you there!
Article and Photos Submitted by Sarah Reynolds Whitewater High School Head Swim Coach ReynoldsSM07@uww.edu
It was a great weekend of wrestling for the Whippets! The girls won the team conference championship, and the varsity boys finished only one point behind 2nd place Monroe. The JV team also wrestled well on Friday night.
Girls Team – Conference Champions
Girls’ Conference Tournament:
On Saturday, February 8, the Lady Whippets had an opportunity to compete in the first ever Girls’ Rock Valley Conference Wrestling Tournament held at East Troy High School. The girls wrestled extremely well throughout the day, filling 10 of the 12 weight classes, bringing home 4 championships, 4 runner-up finishers, and the team title!
Girls’ Conference Champions – Adalynn Frye, A’lani Ross, Atreya Wilson, and Marianna Kubicz
Isabelle Cantu started things off reaching the championship securing a pin in the semi-finals to advance to the finals. In the finals she had a very strong girl, dropping the match and bringing home the silver medal.
Due the tournament being new, teams were allowed to enter more than one girl per weight class. The 107-pound weight class found an all Whitewater Final with both girls securing pins in the semifinals. In the finals, Senior Adalynn Frye was able to take Ema Aranda down to her back and secure the first period pin, bringing home Whitewater’s first Girls’ Conference Champion.
Winning the title at 126 pounds was A’Lani Ross, who had a strong girl from Turner. She was able to build a big lead and then secured a second period pin to bring home the 2nd title for Whitewater.
Following A’Lani was Atreya Wilson at 132. She had a girl from Jefferson who had defeated her a week and a half ago. Atreya came out with a game plan for herself, getting the first takedown, and controlled the match from there forward. She was able to secure a pin in the second period after leading 9-2 and claimed the 3rd conference title of the day.
Coming in runner up at 138 pounds was Vivian Harris who found herself against a returning state place winner from Monroe. She is a very strong girl who has excellent technique, pinning Harris in the first period.
With a move to help the team battle for the team title, Payton Taylor wrestled up a weight class and did a great job against a strong girl from East Troy. Payton had great movement when she was on the bottom and was able to get the reversal and did a great job putting in a half nelson to the girls’ back. Payton was slow close to the pin but got just a little high on the girl and got rolled to her back in a tight hold. It was great work by Payton making adjustments. This is Payton’s first year, so just a little more mat time experience would have put her into a better position in the attempt for the pin.
Closing out the finals was Marianna Kubicz who also moved up a weight to help the team contend for the team title. Marianna was able to bring home a championship for the Whippets.
Also doing a great job after a tough semifinal loss was Silvia Harris. She came back strong in her Bronze Medal match, building a lead and then securing a 16-4 major decision to earn herself a conference medal.
Also wrestling well and helping the team in the team race was Alexa Arredondo who had a tough weight class but secured a 4th place finish. Aubrey Fuoco also wrestled tough in both the semifinals and in her 3rd place match but fell short in each of them coming home with a 4th place finish.
When the final tally came in for the team scores, the Whippet Girls found themselves on top of the conference and brought home the first ever Rock Valley Conference Team Championship. This was truly a team effort with all girls contributing to the title.
The girls are next in action when they move on to the individual portion of the season as they travel to Mukwonago for the Individual Regional Tournament on Friday, February 14, starting at 3:30. The top four wrestlers in each weight class from Friday advance to the individual sectional to be held at Whitewater High School.
Boys’ Conference Tournament:
On Saturday, February 8, the Boys’ Wrestling Team traveled to East Troy to compete in the Rock Valley Conference Wrestling Tournament. Overall, the team did very well, wrestling potentially the best they have as a team during the season to this point. When the dust settled after lots of great wrestling, the Whippets found themselves in 3rd place in the team standings behind Evansville and Monroe. The coaching staff was happy with this placement as they really competed well overall as each student competed their heart out and found themselves just outside of the top two losing to Monroe by 1 point!
Boys’ Conference Champions – Jarvis Porcaro and Connor FriendBoys’ Medalists – Jasen Porras, Traysen Thomason, Jarvis Porcaro, Connor Friend, and Junior Soto
Jarvis Porcaro and Connor Friend each closed out their Conference Tournament careers improving on last year’s Runner-Up finish by bringing home the championship for themselves. Jarvis had a very strong day defeating three opponents. In the finals he had great positioning over a strong student from Evansville.
Connor had found himself in the finals the last three seasons but each year just missed out on his title. He changed that today with three dominating performances, securing a 2nd period Technical Fall 18-3 in the championship.
Dropping matches early in the tournament but showing grit and true character were Jasen Porras, Traysen Thomason. and Junior Soto, each bringing home the Bronze Medal. All three of these seniors improved on their placement from last season to bring home the medal this year. Jasen had a tough semifinal loss and showed grit by coming back, getting a technical fall. Then, in the 3rd place match, he wrestled a great match against a tough competitor from Evansville winning the match in overtime, causing the Whippet crowd to erupt.
Traysen Thomason had a tough loss in the semifinals against a young man from Monroe that he has often had battles with the last two years. Traysen came back to secure a technical fall in the wrestle back and then brought home the bronze medal with a 9-3 victory.
Closing out our medalists was Junior Soto. Junior lost a tough first round match but kept his head up and battled back. He pinned his opponent from Turner and then followed that with a great match against a young man from Edgerton who had defeated him earlier in the season. He built a big lead and was able to battle through a scramble to end up pinning his opponent to reach the bronze match. In this match Junior wrestled extremely well, winning the match 6-4.
Bringing home 5th place for the Whippets were Richi Kalra and Austin Retzlaff. Richi went 4-2 on the day, getting some nice wins along the way. Austin defeated a student from Edgerton two times at the tournament, avenging an earlier season loss.
The Whippets are next in action next Saturday, February 15 when they travel to Delavan-Darien to participate in the Regional Wrestling tournament. The top four place winners at that event will advance to the Sectional Tournament the following weekend.
The Whippet Swim Team had four compete at JV Conference on Tuesday, February 4th. Angel Kilar, Sam Nickelsburg, Xavier Ortiz and Isaac Straight all showed up and swam some really strong and impressive races.
Whippet JV Swim Team
The four of them teamed up to compete in the 200 Medley Relay. Each of them put up impressive splits, Xavier 37.41 in the 50 Back, Isaac 40.44 in the 50 Breaststroke, Sam 32.71 in the 50 Fly, and Angel 36.43 in the 50 FR. Their times were good enough for a 3rd place finish!
Sam crushed his 200 Freestyle dropping 7 seconds and securing a 5th place medal finish!
Isaac and Angel both swam some pretty fast 50 Freestyles finishing 10 & 12 respectively.
Angel had an 8th place finish in the 100 Freestyle going right on his best time!
The four of them worked together to secure another 3rd place finish, this time in the 200 Freestyle Relay!
Isaac and Xavier took on the 100 Breaststroke. Isaac dropped 3 seconds to go a time of 1:26.61 and take home a 4th place medal. Xavier also dropped over 4 seconds to go a best time of 1:36.54 and finished 7th overall.
Up next, the boys will be competing at the Southern Lakes Conference Meet at Beloit Memorial on Saturday, February 8. Swimming starts at 11 am; we hope to see you there!
Article and Photo Submitted by Sarah Reynolds Whitewater High School Head Swim Coach ReynoldsSM07@uww.edu
Late Saturday morning, February 1, leading into early afternoon provided fans of wrestling with some great action to take in as the Whitewater Boys’ and Girls’ Wrestling teams closed out their home season with dual meets against the Panthers of Oregon.
The day started off with 20 great match ups between the two teams as weights aligned very well and all students from both teams had the opportunity to compete in front of their parents and family on parent/senior night. At the end of the JV competition the Whippets found to be on the positive side of approximately ⅔ of the matches so it was a great showing and very positive way to close out the home season.
Girls’ Wrestling Hosts First Ever Dual Meet Under the Light
Following the Boys’ JV the Girls’ Team had the opportunity to wrestle under the spotlight for the first time ever at Whitewater High School. This was a very nice experience as it had the exact same feel that fans are used to seeing when the boys compete, with the spotlight and their famous 30 seconds of walkout music that pumps them up. The girls wrestled very well with Isabelle Cantu, Aubrey Fuoco, Payton Taylor, and Marianna Kubicz all coming away with wins on the night. Aubrey had the match of the night as she was losing 3-0 in the 3rd period. She chose to go on top when it was her choice and she used lots of grit to turn her opponent to take a lead 4-3 and then turned her again this time to seal the pin. It was a very nice moment for a young lady who had just joined wrestling for the first time this year. Marianna Kubicz closed things out for the girls with a 2nd period reversal and then turned the girl to her back to secure the pin for the Whippets. Unfortunately, Oregon Girls were too much to handle and the Whippets dropped the dual meet 24-42, but it was definitely a step in the right direction for the growth of girls’ wrestling in the area having a dual meet with the same atmosphere as we are used to seeing the boys have at home.
Boys Fall to Oregon in Close Dual Meet
The boys’ team closed out the day’s events with a very good dual meet that saw them fall just short to a very strong Panther team. Oregon is a favorite to win their regional in two weeks, and the Whippets held their own. Unfortunately, in the end a couple of tough losses were too much for the Whippets to overcome, falling 36-38. Junior Soto got the team on the board first with what may have been his best wrestling match of his career as he wrestled extremely smart vs an opponent that was significantly bigger than he was. Junior was able to stay in great position on top and used perfect technique to turn his opponent over for the pin. The Whippets followed with a couple of forfeits at 106 and 113 by Cooper Housel and Juan Garrafa. This brought us to one of the featured matches of the day where Jarvis Porcaro had a very talented opponent from Oregon. Jarvis just missed out on a takedown on the edge of the mat in the first period as his foot just came off the mat; as they say sports are inches from success or failure sometimes. This really could have been a swing in the match. Jarvis ended up wrestling to the bitter end but dropped a tough decision. After a couple more tough loses for the Whippets, Connor Friend came out and went to work securing a pin to bring the Whippets back where they needed to be, needing one win to secure a victory. Another pivotal match occurred at 150 pounds where Traysen Thomason had a great opponent whom he had narrowly beaten at the mid-states 7-6. This was a match that came right to the end with Traysen falling 7-8. Avi Kalra closed out the scoring for the Whippets with a pin at 165 to bring the score to the final of 36-38.
A big thank you goes out to all parents and family members who make wrestling possible for their sons and daughters. Also, a congratulations goes out to the seniors as they competed on the Whippet home wrestling mat for the final time on Saturday. It was a nice career for all of them, and we look forward to seeing what the future holds in the tournaments series as well as their future selves.
The Lady Whippets are next in action on Tuesday night, February 4, when they travel to Beloit Turner for a quad starting at 5:30. Both teams then close out the regular season on Wednesday night at Janesville Craig. Friday night sees the JV team traveling to East Troy to compete in the JV Conference Tournament followed by the boys’ and girls’ teams traveling to East Troy on Saturday morning for the RVC Conference Tournament. Wrestling begins on Saturday at 9:15.
Article Submitted by John Schimming Whitewater High School Head Wrestling Coach jschimming@wwusd.org
