Sports

The Whippet Boys’ Swim Team competed against Elkhorn on Tuesday, January 3rd. The boys registered 17 best times, and many tried out new events for the first time.

Some highlights include:

• Tyler Arnett edged out his competitor to win the 200 Freestyle by .04 seconds with a time 2:02.94
• David Enns had a huge time drop in the 200 Freestyle, dropping over 16 seconds.
• Cruz Aranda & Xavier Zei both going best time in 200 IM!
• Jack Hefty had a stellar night going best times and winning both individual events. Jack continues to put up a strong performance in the 50 Freestyle going a 25.68. He improved his 100 Breaststroke time by 4 seconds!
• Miles Nickelsburg had a strong performance in the 100 Freestyle dropping 6 seconds off his previous time.
• Onyx Thompson had a great night despite having all four of his events back to back. He tried out the 400 for the first time and then immediately went into the 200 Freestyle Relay where he went a season best split, then continued right into the 100 Backstroke, and then finished off the night 1 race later in the 400 Freestyle relay where he again went a season best split!
• Myles Morse swam a great race in the 100 Backstroke where he edged out his competitor by 1.08 seconds.
• Andrew O’Toole had a great 50 Freestyle going a best time of 29.45.
• Sam Nickelsburg continues to work hard and drop time in the 400 Freestyle.

The boys are back in action on Tuesday, January 10th at home against Platteville/Lancaster and PSC starting at 5:30 p.m. Come out and cheer on the Whippet Swimmers!

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

The Whippet Wrestling Team had the opportunity to host and participate in the Mid-States Wrestling Classic held at UWW on December 28 and 29. This is a long-standing tournament that has been going on for over 40 years and has some of the top talent from WI and IL participating. This year this talent consisted of 41 teams partaking in the very talented pool. There were many highly ranked teams from Illinois and Wisconsin in the tournament with 6 of the top 8 teams from Illinois.

Although the Whitewater team did not have as high of finish as they have had in years past, the coaching staff feels this may have been one of the team’s best performances on the mat. The level of competition may have been the best in the 17 years Coach Schimming has been coaching at Whitewater, so team placement is deceiving. Coach Schimming stated that Whitewater has at times struggled in the opening round of this tournament; however, this year the team did outstanding. They won the first 6 matches contested with 5 of them coming with a pin! Of those 5 weight classes, the loss Whitewater saw was against an opponent that ended up making the semi-finals and thereby guaranteed top six placement, so we consider those some quality losses. 

Whitewater had 3 wrestlers advance to day two of the competition, placing these individuals into the top 12 of their weight class. Jarvis Porcaro had his best outing of the season on day 1 with 3 great wins, putting him into day 2. Jarvis ran into tough competition on day 2. He wrestled tough but ended up taking 12th place for the tournament.

Aaron Porras also won 3 on the first day and made day two of the tournament. Aaron opened the day with a tough loss but then came back with one of his best matches of the season as he had a strong opponent from Nicollet, and it was a tight match going into the 3rd period. Aaron turned it on and put together a couple of nice takedowns and ended up using basic techniques and pinned his opponent. Aaron ended his tournament in 10th place.

The Mid-States Classic honors the top 8 wrestlers in their weight class on the podium at the end of the night. This year Whitewater had Connor Friend make the podium with a 6th place finish. Connor lost a close quarterfinal match 8-7 that came right down to the end with Connor almost getting a turn to claim back points but just did not quite make the turn. Connor came back on day 2 with a convincing 10-0 win and then a 4-0 win to reach the top 6. He then dropped the consolation semi-final match to go into the 5th place match. Connor wrestled tough in the last match but could not quite pull it out. Connor wrestled well throughout the tournament with quality matches that allowed us to find things we will work on as we enter the back half of the season.

The team is next in action on January 5th when they travel to Jefferson for an RVC Dual. On January 7th the team will host a large JV Tournament with approximately 20 teams at Whitewater High School. 

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

The Whitewater Boys’ Swim Team competed against a tough and very fast Badger Co-op on Tuesday, December 20th.

The Whippets logged many best times on the night; those include:

• In the 200 Medley Relay, we had a few notable splits: Miles Nickelsburg – 28.81 (50 FR), Xavier Zei – 45.22 (50 BR), David Enns – 30.70 (50 FR)
• 200 Freestyle Crew all had best times: Jack Hefty – 2:13.73, Sam Nickelsburg – 2:51.77 (4 second drop), Onyx Thompson – 3:01.33 (20 second drop)
• All 50 Freestyles went best times: Cruz Aranda – 26.28, Myles Morse – 30.44, David Enns – 33.30
• Sam Nickelsburg tried out the 100 Fly for the 1st time and had a great time of 1:22.43
• Myles Morse and David Enns continued to swim fast on the night both dropping significant time in the 100 Freestyle.
• Tyler Arnett continues to have a strong performance in the 500 Freestyle, winning the event and going a season best time of 5:30.46.
• Miles Nickelsburg tried out the 500 for the 1st time in his career, swimming a great time of 6:42.77
• Tyler Arnett and Miles Nickelsburg, after a short break from the 500 Freestyle, were back in the water swimming a 100 Backstroke where both swam great times.
• Xavier Zei continues to drop more time in the 100 Breaststroke going a 1:47.20
• Miles Nickelsburg (1:05.60) and Cruz Aranda (1:00.49) both had great splits in the 100 Freestyle.

The boys are back in action on Tuesday, January 3rd at 5:30 p.m. in Elkhorn.

Article and Team Photo Submitted by Sarah Reynolds
Whitewater High School Co-Head Boys’ Swim Coach
sreynolds@wwusd.org
Action Photo Courtesy of Bob Mischka

Whitewater’s girls’ basketball team traveled to Brodhead for a conference game Tuesday night, December 20.

The Whippets got a spark on offense early in the game when Kindyl Kilar hit a jump shot within the first two seconds, forced a turnover in transition, and then Danielle DePorter hit a 3-point shot. That gave us confidence and momentum. We battled on defense throughout the game keeping the score within 9 with 9 minutes left in the second half. 

Foul trouble changed that momentum, and Brodhead went on a 19-point scoring run to win 66-32.

Mayte Navejas led the team with 10 points, 6 rebounds, and 2 steals. Kindyl Kilar followed with 8 points and DePorter added 5.

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

Saturday, December 17, the Whitewater JV Wrestling Team traveled to The Elkhorn Invitational taking on 25 tough teams, most from division one schools. Many of the teams the Whippets competed against were from well-known wrestling programs throughout the state. The 13 competing Whippet Wrestlers found themselves in really tough brackets.

As a team, the Whippets had eleven wrestlers place in the top three. Taking third were Max Babcock, Quinton O’Toole, and Rylan Oldenberg.

Richie Kalra, Michael Obregon, and Keven Gonzalez pushed on to take second place.

Four wrestlers brought home first place medals for the Whippets. Jake Luebker allowed only one point during the tournament, finishing first. Marcus Seaver finished first by pinning all four of his opponents. Curtis Rossmiller followed suit by pinning two of his three opponents and winning by a decision to take first. The fourth Whippet taking first was Christian Minett, pinning two of his opponents and winning in overtime.

Overall it was a great day for the Whitewater JV Team. As a team, they keep showing improvements on the wrestling mat, which is exactly what the coaches are looking for as the season progresses.

Article and Photos Submitted by Juan Gomez
Whitewater High School JV Wrestling Coach
jgomez@wwusd.org

From wiacsports.com

Official D3football.com Release

Five Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WIAC) individuals have been selected to the 2022 D3football.com All-America Team.

University of Wisconsin-River Falls’ Michael Brown and UW-Whitewater’s Ryan Liszka were first team selections, while UW-La Crosse’s Mike Bertoia and UW-Whitewater’s Seth Roberts collected second team honors. UW-Platteville’s Justin Blazek was a third team pick.

Brown is the first individual in program archives to receive first team honors from D3football.com. He led the WIAC with eight interceptions and recorded multiple interceptions in three games, including a 40-yard interception return for a touchdown against UW-Stevens Point on Oct. 1. Brown added 42 tackles and broke up five passes.

Liszka led a UW-Whitewater defense that allowed the fewest yards per game in the conference at 287.0 per outing. The Warhawks also topped the WIAC with 66.7 rushing yards allowed per game – a mark that ranks No. 11 in NCAA Division III. Liszka added 9.5 tackles for loss and 3.5 sacks. He registered double figures in tackles five times, including a season-high 12 against Aurora University (Ill.) on Nov. 19.

Bertoia’s selection marks the fourth time in the last five seasons that UW-La Crosse has been represented on the D3football.com All-America squad. He guided an offensive line that helped UW-La Crosse average 34.4 points per game and 418.3 yards of offense per contest. The Eagles had a season-high 632 yards of total offense and 386 rushing yards against UW-Eau Claire on Oct. 15.

Roberts helped UW-Whitewater register 2,171 rushing yards on 433 attempts, an average of 5.0 yards per rush. In the WIAC, the Warhawks gained 1,689 yards on the ground, averaging 5.8 per carry – the most yards and highest average in conference play for UW-Whitewater in over a decade. Roberts allowed one sack in 408 pass and quarterback run attempts this season.

The selections of Liszka and Roberts mark the ninth straight season that UW-Whitewater has had multiple D3football.com All-Americans.

Blazek is the program’s first D3football.com All-America honoree since the 2016 campaign when Dan Arnold was a first team honoree. Blazek, the WIAC Kwik Trip Defensive Player of the Year, finished second in the conference with nine sacks and 12 tackles for loss. He was third on the team with 58 tackles, including a season-high 10 against UW-River Falls on Oct. 15. Blazek recorded a pair of multi-sack contests, including three for 29 yards lost at UW-Stout on Oct. 29. He forced turnovers in back-to-back games, collecting an interception against Hardin-Simmons University (Texas) on Sept. 17, before recovering a fumble in the end zone for a touchdown at UW-Oshkosh on Oct. 1.