Sports

By Angela Kelm
Asst. Athletic Director for Sports Information

The No. 10 University of Wisconsin-Whitewater women’s basketball team picked up a huge 73-67 comeback win over UW-La Crosse Saturday afternoon. The Warhawks outscored the Eagles 23-10 in the final quarter of the instant classic in Kachel Gymnasium. Senior Aleah Grundahl set the UW-Whitewater single game scoring record with 39 points to lead UWW to the win on senior day. 

Box Score

UWW seniors (L-R: Aleah Grundahl, Lunden Alexander, Kendall Roquet) pose with their families at the halftime recognition Saturday (Olivia Zinanni)

The Warhawks jumped out to a 9-2 lead, bolstered by seven points from Grundahl, just over three minutes into the game. UW-La Crosse whittled away at margin and eventually took the lead courtesy of a pair of three-pointers late in the first quarter. 

The Eagles built up an eight-point lead by the 6:35 mark of the second quarter but UWW battled back to pull within two by the break, 40-38. 

The third quarter belonged to UWL as the Eagles outscored UWW 17-12 to take a seven-point advantage into the final period. The Warhawks continued to battle putting forth an incredible fourth-quarter effort to come back for the win. 

The final 10 minutes went back-and-forth early on with the teams trading runs. UWW used a 7-0 spurt early to cut the lead to two, but the Eagles would extend their advantage back to six, 67-61, with less than four minutes to play. The stifling Warhawk press and defense held UWL scoreless the rest of the way. Although Grundahl had been scoring all game, she took over in the final minutes. The senior knocked down a three, hit a layup, dropped in a pair of free throws and hit a jumper for a 9-0 solo run that gave the Warhawks a 3-0 lead – 70-67 with 1:35 remaining.

After a scoreless minute, UWL was fouled to send Maggie Trautsch to the line. She hit one to extend the gap to 71-67 with 22 seconds on the clock. A miss on the second free throw had the clock running right away and the Eagles bolting down the floor. The three-point heave was no good and Trautsch ran down the defensive board. She was quickly fouled and headed back to the line. 

This time UW-La Crosse called timeout after the miss to move the ball into their offensive end with nine seconds left in a four-point game. The Eagles got a shot off with just over three seconds on the clock with Bri McCurdy crashing the glass for a defensive board to all but seal the game with 2.7 left. 

UWW called timeout and advanced the ball for an inbounds play in front of their bench. McCurdy took the ball, surveyed and found Grundahl who was quickly fouled. She hit both to seal the game with her second breaking the program’s single game scoring record. 

Grundahl’s 39 points surpasses the mark set by Jody Landish (38) that had stood as the UWW record since 1995. That mark is tied for eighth-most in a single game by any player in WIAC history. Grundahl’s 39 came on 11-16 from the floor, 2-4 from beyond the arc and a phenomenal 15-16 from the charity stripe. She added six boards and three steals in the game. 

Trautsch was the most active on the glass with 13 rebounds including multiple late-game defensive boards that were integral in the comeback win. 

The Warhawk press, especially late in the game, led to a hefty advantage in points off miscues – 20-7 – in favor of UWW. 

With just two regular season games remaining, the Warhawks maintain a hold on second place in the WIAC standings with a 9-3 record. UW-Oshkosh leads the league with a 10-2 mark with UW-Platteville standing third at 7-5. 

The Whitewater Whippet Gymnastics Team went to Elkhorn Thursday night, February 8. The JV team took 2nd with a score of 65.2750.  It is the JV’s highest score this year.

Vaulting for the first time, Maddie Morton scored a 7.050.  Maggie, Amaya, and Gabriella scored their highest on vault.

JV Balance beam was once again a no fall beam routine from the four girls that competed.

JV had 5 girls compete on the floor, with all the girls scoring the personal best for the year so far.

Whitewater Whippets Gymnastics has two more meets left in the season. They will be in Waterford on Tuesday, February 13th and then head to Elkhorn for Conference on the 16th.

Article Submitted by Shawnda Peters
Whitewater High School Head Gymnastics Coach
speters@wwusd.org
Photos Courtesy of Bob Mischka

Whitewater beat Clinton 57-38 Thursday night, February 8, in a Rock Valley Conference girls’ basketball crossover game.

Whitewater slowly built a double-digit lead towards the end of the first half and kept that lead the rest of the night.

Grosinske led Whitewater with 22, Navejas contributed 13, DePorter added 8, and Kohl scored 7, balancing out the scoring. 

Whitewater is at Oconomowoc on Friday, February 9. They finish the regular season on Monday, February 12 (vs. East Troy) and Thursday, February 15 (vs. Jefferson) at home.

Article Submitted by Mike Dowden
Whitewater High School Head Girls’ Basketball Coach
dowmi01@wwusd.org
Photo courtesy of Bob Mischka

Whitewater Boys’ Basketball (3-17), lost to Delavan-Darien High School on Thursday, February 8, by a score of 60-41. Reece Condon led the Whippets with 13 points, followed by Wyatt Nixon with 7.

Article Submitted by Mike McCabe
Whitewater High School Head Boys’ Basketball Coach
mccmi01@wwusd.org
Photo courtesy of Bob Mischka

By Angela Kelm
Asst. Athletic Director for Sports Information

Stevens Point, Wis. – The No. 10 University of Wisconsin-Whitewater women’s basketball team outscored the Pointers 17-9 in the third quarter leading to a 64-51 win at UW-Stevens Point Wednesday night. Senior forward Aleah Grundahl had a monster night with 33 points on 12-16 from the floor and 8-11 from the charity stripe. She added eight boards, two blocks, an assist and a steal in 29 minutes of action.

Box Score

The Warhawks dominated in the paint in the second half scoring 24 points in the lane while holding the Pointers to just four. For the game, UWW enjoyed a 32-24 sway in points in the paint. 

Katie Hildebrandt opened the game with a three-pointer off of a Maggie Trautsch pass eleven seconds into the game and UW-Whitewater maintained the lead through the first quarter. Trautsch got the second quarter off to a similar start knocking down a triple from a Grundahl dish to push the lead to eight, 21-13. 

UW-Stevens Point whittled down the lead eventually taking the advantage on a layup, 25-23, with 6:14 on the clock. UWW regained the advantage in the next two possessions but a late and-one for UWSP sent the teams into the locker room with the Warhawks leading by just two, 30-28. 

On the other side of the break, the Pointers tallied the first basket, a three-pointer to claim the lead. A few plays later, Trautsch found Lunden Alexander who powered through a foul on a layup. She dropped in the free throw to spark a 12-6 run through the rest of the quarter. The Warhawks ran through the Pointers in the 10-minute span, outscoring the host school 17-9 to open up a double-digit advantage, 47-37. 

UWSP was able to cut the margin to five twice in the first two minutes of the fourth quarter but Grundahl and UWW would not be stopped. The senior forward dropped in 14 of the team’s 17 points in the final quarter. Grundahl played the entire period hitting 6-7 from the floor and 2-2 from the free throw line while adding four rebounds and a blocked shot. 

Trautsch paced the Warhawks on the glass with 10 rebounds, all on the defensive end, adding a team-high five assists and three steals. 

With just three games remaining in the regular season, UW-Whitewater holds second in the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference standings with an 8-3 record. The Warhawks are one game back from UWO (9-2). UW-Platteville (6-5) is third followed by UW-Stout (5-6), UW-River Falls (5-6), UW-La Crosse (4-7), UW-Eau Claire (4-7) and UW-Stevens Point (3-8). 

Saint Francis (9-11) beat the Whitewater Boys’ Basketball Team (3-16) in overtime on Tuesday, February 6. The final score was 85-82.

Reece Condon led Whitewater with 25 points and tied the game in the final seconds of regulation by taking the ball strong to the hoop. Coach McCabe said, “Reece is a player. He’s smooth. I really hope we can fight our way into third place in the conference by winning out. I’d love to get Reece on that All-Conference Team where he deserves to be. He’s playing at a very high-level.”

Casey Lyon had 10 points. Jaylyn Ewing had 17 points and 11 rebounds, and Wyatt Nixon and Marcos Sagrero added in 11 points each. 

For the Mariners, Cam Nerby came into the game averaging 20 points and scored 27. Kennan Green led the Saint Francis with 29 points. 

Next up, the Whippets travel to Delavan-Darien High School on Thursday, February 8, for a conference matchup with the Comets. 

Article Submitted by Mike McCabe
Whitewater High School Head Boys’ Basketball Coach
mccmi01@wwusd.org
Photo Courtesy of Bob Mischka

On Saturday, February 3, the Whitewater Wrestling Team traveled to Delavan-Darien High School to participate in the Rock Valley Individual Conference Championships. This tournament involved all 11 teams with their individual wrestlers looking to bring home a championship at their weight class.

Overall, Whitewater performed very well coming in runner-up as a team behind Evansville. As a coaching staff it was exciting to see multiple wrestlers wrestle above their seeds and some at the best they have been all year to this point.

Leading the way for Whitewater was Payton Lyon who found the second time was a charm bringing home a conference championship at 190 pounds for the Whippets. Payton had 3 pins on the day to check off one of his goals on being a conference champ!

Reaching the finals but coming up short included Jarvis Porcaro (120), Connor Friend (132) and Sebastian Cuellar (165). All three of these Whippets had very tough opponents in the finals, all of them being highly ranked, and one being a 2x defending state champion. These guys remember their last match, but they wrestled very well throughout the day to reach the finals.

Wrestling very well throughout the day and to wrestle above their seeds were Jesus Barajas (175) and Ethan Barels (215). Each of these wrestlers brought home the bronze medal, securing great wins in the last match of the day and helping secure the second place finish for the team.

Also wrestling very well was JJ Gonzalez (157). After a heartbreaking overtime loss in the opening round, JJ battled back and had the opportunity to get a rematch with his first round opponent, this time coming up with a pin after building a 7 point lead. JJ showed great composure coming back from the early loss.

Closing out the scoring for the Whippets and getting wins during the day to help the Whippet’s team score were Jasen Porras (113), Brady Friend (126), Curtis Rossmiller (138), Traysen Thomason (144), and Junior Soto (HWT).

The Whitewater team is next in action when they travel to Clinton High School to participate in the Regional Wrestling Tournament. Wrestling will begin at 10:00 on Saturday morning, February 10.

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

On Friday night, February 2, the Whitewater JV Wrestling Team kicked off the Conference weekend by traveling to Delavan-Darien High School to participate in the JV Rock Valley Conference Tournament Championships. The evening had all 11 schools in the conference gather to allow their JV competitors to have the opportunity to showcase their abilities as the year approaches an end.

Whitewater had wrestlers at 11 of the weight classes, with the team winning 8 of those 11 weights and taking runner up in two of the other weight classes. This is a great sign for the Whippets as they really showed up and performed well on the evening. Whitewater has very deep weight classes at 157 and 165. Both of these weight classes were a 16 person bracket, and the top 5 finishers at 165 lbs were all from Whitewater! At Heavyweight, the podium saw the top three place finishers all from Whitewater!

Leading the way for the Whippets included champions Ruben Puc Chi (120 lbs), Eduard Jiron (150), Nate Black (157), Trevor Piper (165), Avi Kalra (175), Richi Kalra (190), Austin Retzlaff (215), and Deavion Olson (HWT). Each of these students wrestled very well throughout the night, many picking up a lot of pins. 

Coming in as Runner-up were Quinton O’Toole (126), Dahlton Vogel (144), Christian Minett (165), Marcus Seaver (190), and Keegan Peyer (HWT).

Rounding out the medalists and placing third included Braedyn Flores (120), Max Babcock (165), and Colton Liberto (HWT).

It was a very exciting night for the Whippet team to see that many students place so high in their weight classes. The coaching staff is very happy to see the students see these accomplishments as it showed the hard work and the improvement they have made since the beginning of the season in November. 

The JV team will close out their season on Tuesday night when they travel to Lake Geneva Badger to participate in one more tournament. Wrestling will begin at 5:00 at Badger High School.

Article and Photo Courtesy of John Schimming
Whitewater High School Head Wrestling Coach
jschimming@wwusd.org