DES MOINES – The Iowa Barnstormers have signed wide receiver Derek Kumerow to the 2023 roster, Head Coach Dave Mogensen announced today.
Kumerow (6-3, 215, UW-Whitewater) joins the Iowa Barnstormers for his rookie Indoor Football League (IFL) season. Collegiately, Kumerow began his career at St. Cloud State University before transferring to the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater. In three seasons with the Warhawks, Kumerow appeared in 36 games tallying 92 receptions for 1,026 yards and eight touchdowns and earned honorable mention All-Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference in his junior season.
Kumerow comes from a lineage of successful football players. His brother, Jake Kumerow, is currently signed to the NFL’s Buffalo Bills. His father, uncle, and cousin also have NFL experience to their resumes.
“Derek comes from a very accomplished family of football players including his brother Jake who is a Buffalo Bills receiver,” said Head Coach Mogensen. “He carved out his own career at Division III powerhouse Wisconsin-Whitewater. Derek is an elite athlete with a great frame. We expect him to come in and push for time immediately at the receiver position.”
Kumerow will enter the Iowa Barnstormers 2023 Training Camp in the Spring.
Season Tickets for the Iowa Barnstormers 2023 season are on sale now for as low as $96 per seat. Don’t miss a minute of the indoor football action! Call the Barnstormers at 515-633-2255 to lock in your seats today.
Tuesday night’s WIAA regional soccer play-in game between the Whitewater Whippets and the Spartans of Martin Luther was an entertaining end to end battle for the full 80 minutes.
Chris Cortes
Martin Luther scored an early goal to give them the lead; however, seconds later, a beautiful ball in from Avery Janovec and a brilliant scissor kick finish from Victor Hernandez tied the game. The Spartans took the lead again shortly after, but a smart bottom corner shot from Sebastian Cuellar once again tied the game. The last 20 minutes of the first half were dominated by the Whippets. With some sustained pressure, Victor Hernandez assisted Chris Cortes’ first ever varsity goal to give the Whippets the lead at half time.
The second half continued just as the first and was heavily contested on all parts of the pitch. Martin Luther managed to tie the game at 3 and then take the lead 4-3 minutes later. They weren’t ahead for long because Victor Hernadez played another magnificent ball and assisted Chris Cortes again. With the score tied at 4 all, extra time and penalties looked imminent. However, with 86 seconds left in the game, Martin Luther delivered the final blow of the contest.
Despite the loss, the Whitewater Whippets can end their season with their heads held high because of their wonderful performance on a cold and windy night. We say goodbye and thank you to our seniors and wish them luck in all future endeavors. Improvement from the beginning of the season to the end is all we can really ask for, and our boys delivered. Thanks for the great season!
Article Submitted by Sam Burns Whitewater High School Assistant Varsity Soccer Coach dburns@wwusd.org Photo Courtesy of Bob Mischka
The Whippet Volleyball Team gets to compete another day with a win against visiting Monroe on Tuesday, October 18! The Whippets swept the Cheesemakers 25-17, 25-18, and 25-9, to move on to the second round of play-offs against Mount Horeb.
The Whippets took several points to finally get in their tempo of volleyball, but once we did, it was fun to watch! With key middle swings from Jenna Pope and Aidyn Amundson, the Whippets were able to run a faster offense. CC Alexander also gave some key swings and blocks for the Whippets.
On the outside, Kindyl Kilar and Cali Kopecky played tough! Consistently digging, passing, and dishing for the Whippets were Caleigh Yang, Cara Yang, Zoe Kohl, Calli Grosinske and Marina Linos.
“We needed to come out and not waiver on our style of play. It took us a bit to get in tempo, but once we got going, we began playing our kind of volleyball! I absolutely love coaching this team. They stay focused, disciplined and are truly coachable athletes. They strive to give 110% each day, and desire to win for each other. We are beyond grateful for another day on the court together to compete!”
Caleigh Yang
Statistical leaders on the night included; Calli Grosinske with 26 assists and 9 digs, Cali Kopecky and Caleigh Yang with 6 aces, Jenna Pope with 2 blocks, and Kindyl Kilar with 18 kills.
Monroe only provided one statistic in Brenna Aebly with 4 kills.
The Whippets will host Mount Horeb on Thursday, October 20th at 7:00 p.m. in the Whitewater High School Gym. We hope you will consider coming out to cheer us on as we compete on Thursday against Mount Horeb. Hope to see you in the gym!
Article, Video, and Photos Submitted by Mary Kilar Whitewater High School Head Volleyball Coach mkilar@wwusd.org Photo of Caleigh Yang Courtesy of Bob Mischka
An online article by Alex Goff in the Goff Rugby Report begins with this introduction:
“With their 40-10 defeat of Wisconsin-Platteville, the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater is now tied with Marquette at 3-0 in the Great Midwest North Division.
For Whitewater, this is a return to the lofty heights the Warhawks occupied for six years when they were 1st or 2nd in the nation from 2014 to 2019. But COVID coming just as a pretty special group of players graduated was a bit of a double-whammy and Whitewater entered last year short on players and have to work overtime to rebuild.
Now, after beating UW-Milwaukee, Northern Michigan, and UW-Platteville, all by comfortable margins, the Warhawks just might be back.
They have some strong leadership with club president Myles Schumaker, who was on the team in 2021 before going on deployment with the US Marine Corps. He returned in the spring to rejoin the school and the rugby team, but remains in the US Marine Corps Reserve while also pursuing his degree.”
Please click on the link above to read the remainder of the article, which includes photos.
Editor’s note: The image on the sports homepage is a file photo from 2020.
The Whippet Volleyball Team finished 4th at the RVC Conference tournament to place 3rd overall to finish the season behind McFarland and Brodhead. The Whippets saw East Troy first in the tournament and beat them in a 2 set sweep 25-17, 25-17.
Next up the Whippets saw Brodhead and fell in 2 sets 20-25 and 11-25. To finish the playoff round, the Whippets battled Evansville for third place. In a hard-fought match, they fell in three sets 25-21, 23-25, 10-15.
Points from finishing the conference play 8-1 and then tournament play in 4th, has the Whippets placing 3rd in the RVC behind McFarland and Brodhead.
Statistical leaders included Caleigh Yang with 24 digs, Aidyn Amundson with 5 blocks, Cali Kopecky with 4 aces, Calli Grosinske with 40 assists, and Kindyl Kilar with 41 kills and 5 blocks.
“With the conference play and tournament behind us, we look to extend our season against Monroe on Tuesday. This team has battled all season, and we want nothing more than to extend our time on the court together. We hope many will join us in the gym on Tuesday!”
The Whippets will now host Monroe to begin playoffs on Tuesday, October 18th at 7:00 p.m. Hope to see you there!
Article Submitted by Mary Kilar Whitewater High School Head Volleyball Coach mkilar@wwusd.org Photo Courtesy of Bob Mischka
Emilia Houwers finished her season in the WIAA State Tennis Tournament at the Nielsen Tennis Stadium in Madison on Thursday, October 13. Emilia, unfortunately, lost in the first round to Sophie Vande Slunt of Saint Mary’s Spring Academy 4-6, 1-6.
What is not lost is that Emilia became one of the few WHS tennis players to qualify for the State Tennis Tournament in singles two times and is only a Junior! Congratulations, Emilia, on a great season!
On Thursday afternoon, before the team left for Madison, Whitewater High School began the tradition of the “Whippet Walk” which will be repeated for any individual or group that advances to a state-level competition in academics, athletics, the arts, or activities. The tennis team was followed through the student-lined hallways by the Whitewater High School Marching Band playing the school song.
Article and Photos Submitted by Greg Stewart Whitewater High School gstewart@wwusd.org Additional Photos Courtesy of Justin Crandall
By Angela Kelm Assistant Athletic Director for Sports Information University of Wisconsin-Whitewater
The No. 3 University of Wisconsin-Whitewater football team topped No. 19 UW-Oshkosh 17-3 in front of a record crowd of 18,951 fans. The audience broke the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference record and breaks the old Perkins Stadium mark previously set in a game against Oshkosh during Family Fest.
The Warhawks opened the scoring in their second drive of the game. Preston Strasburg capped the 11-play, 59-yard run, punching it in from two-yards out. Jeffery Isotalo-McGuire added the extra point for a 7-0 UW-W lead with 5:41 on the clock.
UW-Whitewater added three more on their next drive that extended into the second quarter. Jaylon Edmonson opened the drive weaving through traffic for a 35-yard scamper up the middle. Isotalo-McGuire made it 10-0 capping the drive on the second play of the second quarter with a 27-yard field goal.
The defenses came up with some big plays the rest of the quarter. Kyle Koelblinger registered the highlight. The Warhawk defense chased the Titan quarterback out of the pocket. He heaved the ball deep with Koelblinger and the UW-O receiver both going up for the jump ball. It was Koelblinger coming down with it for the interception.
Following a three-and-out in their offensive possession, the Warhawks got the ball right back, jumping on a muffed punt with Zach Sherman on the recovery at the Oshkosh 45. The Titan offense responded with a pick off in the end zone later in the drive to take over at their 20 with 40 seconds remaining. The UW-W defense held to go into the intermission with the 10-0 advantage.
UW-W forced a punt on Oshkosh’s first drive of the second half and Tyler Holte gave the Warhawks great field position with a 31-yard return to the UW-O 43. Strasburg registered his second touchdown run of the night bouncing it up the middle from nine yards out. The kick made it 17-0 Whitewater with 8:08 left in the third.
The Titans got on the board with a field goal with 8:25 in the fourth capping an 11-play, 41-yard drive.
Holte came up big in the fourth with his longest reception of the season, 59-yard grab that gave the Warhawks first down at the UW-O 14. The play setup the Warhawks for a scoring opportunity but they were unable to capitalize.
The defense held the rest of the way for the 17-3 final.
Edmonson bolstered the run game with 107 of the team’s 165 yards on the ground. Defensively, linebackers Ryan Liszka and Egon Hein combined for 19 tackles including 2.5 tackles for a loss, two pass breakups and a quarterback hurry.
The Whitewater Volleyball Program hosted Johnson Creek at our Dig Pink home finish on Thursday, October 13. It was an incredibly emotional night as Cali Kopecky and Kindyl Kilar began, “During our Dig Pink event last year, we had the honor of celebrating three of our moms who were breast cancer survivors. One of our moms, Angelica Verduzco, had JUST finished her final chemotherapy treatment and rang the celebratory bell in front of our Whippet Volleyball community. Little did we know that her battle wasn’t over yet. Over the last year, Angelica continued to fight the cancer with radiation, chemotherapy, and multiple surgeries. Her grit, tenacity, and positivity never dwindled as she battled day in and day out. Sadly, Angelica lost her battle to cancer in September of this year. Her beaming smile and love will be greatly missed, but never forgotten.” Peyton Clark gave a tribute to her grandmother who is a breast cancer survivor, and Aidyn Amundson and Calli Grosinske gave a heartfelt tribute to their moms, also breast cancer survivors.
The Whippets concluded with highlighting all in the stands who have been impacted by breast cancer and presented them a pink carnation and hugs.
This team, this program, understands that there is more to volleyball than the win-loss column. We are supporting each other through the toughest of times; we are playing for causes and people whom we hold dear to our hearts. Athletics brings people together, and this team understands the impact we have. They are a true team!
The Whippet Varsity squad (8-1 conference, and 20-6 overall) then took to the court and continued their win streak against the visiting Johnson Creek Blue Jays and swept them 25-14, 25-11, 25-16.
The Whippets controlled their side of the net and were able to stay in system most of the night. “Controlling the ball to stay in system is key to running a fast offense. I felt we ran the middle well tonight, with Jenna Pope and Aidyn Amundson getting some nice swings. CC Alexander also had a solid night on the right side and had some key blocks for us. Kindyl Kilar and Cali Kopecky had great nights on the outside, and both Calli Grosinske and Marina Linos set consistently for us. Caleigh Yang continued to be a force defensively in the libero position. Everyone got some playing time, and it was great to see Caroline Skindingsrude get some key serves and digs, and Cara Yang, our lone freshman, came in hot and played some great defense!”
We are now heading into our conference tournament on Saturday. Following, we begin the playoff run seeded fourth in our regional. We will host Monroe on Tuesday, October 18th at 7:00 p.m. We hope we can pack the gym with fan support!
We have been so thankful to our fans this season. They have come and supported us and created an awesome playing atmosphere!
Statistical leaders on the night included Ella Spear with 6 digs, Cali Kopecky with 6 digs and 5 aces, Calli Grosinske dished out 20 assists, and Kindyl Kilar had 21 kills and hit an outstanding .875 on the night.
Hope to see you Tuesday in the gym!
Article and Photos Submitted by Mary Kilar Whitewater High School Head Volleyball Coach mkilar@wwusd.org
The Whippet CC teams absolutely crushed their races on Thursday, October 13, in cold, windy, and sometimes rainy conditions at the Rock Valley Conference Meet at UW-Whitewater. It was certainly memorable as so many athletes showed such poise and grit throughout their 5000m races to achieve incredible results. All levels and genders finished 3rd or higher across the board.
Athena Soto, Nola Coburn, Mady Hefty, Nate Holden, Jack Hefty, Miles Nickelsburg
To kick things off, the girls’ varsity was first and set the tone for what would amount to be a thunderous day. Mady Hefty went for it and put herself into position early with the front runners and showed no fear. It was inspirational to see Mady do her thing as soon Sophomore Athena Soto ran the race of her life and caught her teammate in the last moment to finish 9th and 10th overall and earn 2nd team all-conference honors. This was Athena’s first time assuming the number one spot, and she did so with a new lifetime best of 22:05. Mady finished a few ticks behind in 22:08. Nola Coburn had an incredible day herself and was seconds behind the top two girls placing 13th to also earn second-team all-conference honors. Nola’s time was 22:19. Senior Caelyn Caputo battled a cold throughout the week and poured her heart into the race to come home in 34th with a time of 24:37. Great pack running from junior Lauren Buehler, Sophomore Jackie Franco and Senior Emma Weigel proved to be very helpful all throughout the course as they finished 37th, 38th, and 39th with times of 24:51, 24:52, and 24:54. It was with this group of runners’ collective efforts that they catapulted themselves to 3rd place overall as a team, a significant improvement from the program’s 6th place finish one year ago.
The boys were on the docket next, and they created some fireworks of their own. Sophomore Jack Hefty rubbed elbows with the leaders for half the race before the eventual winner gapped him a bit. McFarland’s Spencer Alf set a new course and conference record with a time of 16:23. Hefty cruised to a solid runner-up finish with a time of 17:11. Meanwhile Junior Nate Holden was writing his own history as he absolutely slaughtered what he thought was possible and finished 5th overall with a time of 17:50. Both of these guys earned 1st team all-conference honors for finishing in the top 8 overall. Sophomore Miles Nickelsburg wasn’t going to let his two teammates gather all the honors as he flourished in his own right to take 20th and earn honorable mention all-conference honors with a time of 19:22. Senior CJ Tomomitsu missed some school early this week due to a tough cold but he didn’t let it hold him back from reppin’ the W one last time and giving it his all to finish as the team’s 4th runner position in 40th with a time of 21:01. Sophomore Andrew O’Toole nearly ran his lifetime best on this grueling course to be the team’s 5th runner and place 43rd with a time of 21:39. Sophomores Onyx Thompson and Xavier Zei gutted their way around the course to finish in 47th and 59th with times of 21:53 and 22:51. It was with their collective efforts that the varsity team claimed 3rd overall, also a significant improvement from last year when the team finished 7th overall.
In the JV girls’ race, the girls repeated as JV Conference champs as they bested Jefferson by 5 points, even with Sami Van Daele, finishing as the team’s 2nd runner, not counting in the results due to a timing bib issue. Isabella Aranda was the top finisher in 3rd place overall, Sami in 4th, Danielle DePorter in 7th, Silvia Harris 12th, Lucy Troxel in 13th, Adalynn Frye in 15th, Elisa Albertini in 17th, Stephanie Wence in 20th, Payton Brautigam in 22nd, Evie Troxel in 24th, and Taiya Kolb in 26th. This is the second straight RVC JV title for the girls’ program!
The boys’ JV team also did very well with this group taking 3rd overall, just like their varsity teammates. Ben McCulloch took the top spot for the Whippets in 12th overall, Yovanni Rojas-Reyes finished in 14th, Gavin LaFlash ran in 16th with a near full minute personal best, Sterling Truesdale placed 20th, Quinton O’Toole finished 35th, Payton Lyon, who also ran his personal best, placed in 37th, Keith Cameron came in 40th, Alex Clarksen with a huge personal best took 44th, and Sam Nickelsburg placed 47th.
Overall the teams all finished in 3rd place or higher on all levels, and earned 6 all-conference awards and memories that will last a lifetime. It was a great day!
The team will now look toward the WIAA Sectional CC meet next Saturday, October 22nd at UW-Parkside where the top two teams will earn a trip to the state meet, and the top five individuals not on those qualifying teams will earn a spot as well.
The University of Wisconsin-Whitewater football team returns home for a game under the lights at Perkins Stadium against UW-Oshkosh Friday, October 14. Kickoff is slated for 7 p.m. Immediately following the game, a fireworks show is scheduled at Perkins Stadium powered by Generac.
The Warhawks improved to 2-0 in Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference play with a 45-24 win at UW-Eau Claire last week. After a back-and-forth first half, the Warhawks outscored the Blugolds 21-7 in the second half to cruise to the win. UW-W posted nearly 300 yards on the ground while holding their counterpart to just 65. Quarterback Evan Lewandowski has hit his stride with his second consecutive game tossing three or more touchdown passes. He was 21-35 for 190 yards in the game. Three Warhawks registered touchdown runs while three others caught scoring passes from Lewandowski. Defensively, Roy Panthier had a fantastic outing with four tackles including a pair of sacks, a forced fumble and a fumble recovery in the contest.
UW-Oshkosh dropped a top-25 matchup at River Falls last week 27-24. The Titans claimed the lead in the third quarter before the Falcons tied the game with a touchdown late in the third. A 23-yard UW-RF field goal with just under eight minutes left was the final score of the game. UW-O registered just 90 yards on the ground while giving up 220 to the Falcons. Kobe Berghammer was 17-34 for 216 yards, three touchdowns, and a pair of interceptions. Tory Jandrin bolstered the defense with 13 tackles including 11 solo and a tackle for a loss of two yards.
UW-Whitewater is ranked third in both the d3football.com and American Football Coaches Association national polls this week. The Titans fell from 16th to 19th in the latest d3football.com poll and are ranked 21st by the AFCA. UW-W and UW-O are two of five WIAC schools ranked among the top 25 or receiving votes in the pair of national polls.
Key to the game continues to be time of possession for the Warhawks. UW-W leads the league and is ranked 18th in Division III in time of possession with an average of 33:39 per game. UW-Whitewater will need to capitalize offensively going up against the best scoring defense in the WIAC as Oshkosh allows just 14.8 points per outing.
TICKETS/PARKING Tickets can be purchased online in advance or at Perkins Stadium on Friday. For complete information regarding parking on gameday including purchasing spots in advance, at a discount, visit the parking webpage.
ON THE AIR Friday’s game will air live on UWWTV in the Whitewater area and also on TVW in the Madison and La Crosse areas. Fans can stream the game on the WIAC Network. Live stats can be followed on the UW-Whitewater athletics’ website. The contest can also be heard on 105.9 FM The Hog in the Whitewater/Janesville area, or online at www.1059thehog.com.
SERIES The Warhawks lead the all-time series against UW-Oshkosh 78-30-3. UW-W topped the Titans 32-13 in last year’s meeting at Oshkosh. The Warhawks have won eight of the last nine games played at Perkins Stadium between the two teams.
