Sports

On Saturday, December 11, the Whippet Wrestling Team hosted their 8th annual Whitewater Invitational. This year proved to be one of the most competitive team-wise as a couple of new teams were added to the mix to make things much more competitive in many of the weight classes.

When all was said and done, the coaching staff was very pleased with the performance of the team as we felt they wrestled very well throughout the day. On the day the Whippets had approximately 70 matches, so there are always some you look back on and wish you could get back, but overall it was a very good day. In the end, Whitewater finished in 4th place, which surprised the coaches as we felt we had wrestled very well and would be higher, but that just demonstrated the level of competition they saw. In the end we were only 20 points out of first, so the top 4 were all close.

Individually, Whitewater had 6 wrestlers place in the top three and make podium. Once again Carter Friend worked his way through the 170-pound weight class, bringing home first place for the second week in a row.

Mason DePorter had the crowd on their feet in his championship match. It was the very last match of the tournament, so all eyes were on him, and it was against an opponent whose team was vying to overtake Whitewater in the standings. After falling behind early and having some calls that got many in the gym fired up, Mason showed lots of grit and emotion and threw his opponent to his back with less than 1:00 left and pinned him. The gym went crazy, as did Mason! This marked the first of many future Whitewater championships to be won on the newly donated mat.

Connor Friend put together a very successful day as he rolled his way into the finals, only to fall to a very tough opponent from Riverdale, 6-1. Overall, Connor looked very good as he beat a couple of opponents who on paper were seeded higher than him in the tournament.

Coming in 3rd place was Jason Villegas who wrestled well but dropped a couple of close matches.

Hector Arnodo placed 3rd as well. Hector wrestled well all day only losing once close match.

Aaron Porras came into the tournament in one of the top three weight classes in the tournament. He started off as an 8th seed but wrestled extremely well coming in 3rd place. As the day went on he felt he was not feeling well but he told the coaching staff he wanted to keep going. In the end he proved that the mindset is a powerful tool in his reaching the podium!

A big thank you goes out to the wrestling parents who once again stepped up as they do and put together a great meal for the coaches, officials, and workers. That is much appreciated by the officials who do an outstanding job in an often thankless position! Also, thank you to Sam Brown and Sterling Truesdale for staying after the Girls’ Basketball game right until the end, helping set up the four mats. It was much appreciated!

The Whippets are next in action on Tuesday night when they host the Tiders of Edgerton! We will be dedicating a new wrestling mat to the program as a pre-meet ceremony.

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

The Whitewater Girls’ Basketball Team played a home game against Jefferson Friday night, December 10.

The Whippets had trouble scoring in the first half, ending the half in a 14 point deficit, at 13-27. They battled back the second half, playing through lots of contact. The Whippets tightened up in the last 6 minutes of the game, closing a 17-point gap to 12, and then exploded with 1:30 left on the clock. Gwen Truesdale and Cali Kopecky scored 5 points apiece, getting us within 6 points. We managed to out-rebound and outscore Jefferson 25-23 in the second half, but came up short, losing 40-48.

Gwen Truesdale led the Whippets with 15 points, 5 rebounds, 2 blocks, 2 steals, and 1 assist. Cali Kopecky followed with 7 points, 4 rebounds, and 1 steal. Kindyl Kilar added 5 points, 9 rebounds, 3 steals, and 1 assist. Jenna Pope contributed with 5 points, 8 rebounds, 1 assist, and 1 steal. Mayte Navejas had 4 points, 4 steals, 2 rebounds, and 2 assists. Calli Grosinske and Danielle DePorter each added 2 points and 1 rebound. Aidyn Amundson ripped down 5 rebounds and had 1 assist.

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

By Chris Lindeke, Assistant Athletic Director, Strategic Communications and Branding, UW-W

Wednesday, December 8, 2021

Miller Earns 400th Win as UW-W Men’s Hoops Moves to 6-2

Game Statistics: https://s3.amazonaws.com/sidearm.sites/uwwsports.com/documents/2021/12/8/1981908.pdf

The University of Wisconsin-Whitewater men’s basketball team used hot shooting and strong second-half defense Wednesday night to defeat host Lake Forest (Ill.) 91-58 and give head coach Pat Miller his 400th career win.

Miller becomes the third coach in Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference history to reach the 400-win plateau, doing so in his 550th game. He is in his 21st season at the helm of the program and has led the Warhawks to two national championships during his tenure.

Miller’s .727 winning percentage is the fifth highest of any coach with 200 or more wins in league history. He entered the season ranked among the top 10 in Division III and among the top 30 in all NCAA divisions among active coaches in winning percentage. Miller is the 35th active coach to achieve the milestone.

The Warhawks (6-2 overall) shot 58.1 percent from the floor in the contest and held the Foresters to 41.8 percent shooting, including a 29.6 percent clip in the second half.

Gage Malensek led all scorers with 21 points on 7-of-9 shooting, including 6-of-6 from 3-point range. He added a team-best seven assists.

Jack Brahm totaled 17 points and five rebounds, while Carter Capstran recorded 14 points, including 12 in the first half, to go along with six rebounds and two assists. Elijah Lambert collected 11 points and five rebounds, and Derek Gray finished with six points, five rebounds, three assists and two steals.

UW-Whitewater committed a season-low six turnovers and led by as many as 37 points in the contest.

Lake Forest (3-8) held a slim lead for most of the first 15 minutes of action. The Warhawks registered a 22-7 run over the final six-plus minutes of the first half, taking the lead for good on Brahm’s dunk with 5:05 on the clock.

Brahm and Lambert drilled back-to-back 3-pointers to make it a seven-point game with 3:32 left in the period, and Capstran scored UW-W’s final six points of the half, pushing the advantage to 49-38 with a jumper in the waning moments.

UW-Whitewater’s lead ballooned to 20 points just under three minutes into the second half. The team’s 11-2 run out of the locker room included four points from Brahm and a 3-point play by Malensek.

The Warhawks pushed their advantage to 30 points at 80-50 with 9:15 remaining on a 3-pointer by Malensek. JT Hoytink scored all five of his points over a two-minute span to bring the lead to 89-52 with 6:10 on the clock.

UW-Whitewater returns to action Tuesday, Dec. 14, at 7 p.m. as it hosts Greenville (Ill.) at Kachel Gymnasium.

The Whippet Boys’ Swim Team traveled to Delavan-Darien to compete in a dual meet against the Comets on Tuesday, December 7.

Tyler Arnett continues to race hard in the 500 Freestyle beating the competition by over a minute. He also swam in the 100 Backstroke, winning the race, and going a 1:13.07. He had an impressive relay split in the 400 Freestyle Relay, going a 57.59.

Jack Hefty was the lone swimmer in the 200 IM; with no competition to help push him, he put together a nice time of 2:42.27. He also continues to put another solid performance in the 100 Freestyle, going a 1:01.67, and winning the event. Jack had a nice relay split in the 200 Medley, doing the 50 Fly going 33.00.

Miles Nickelsburg, after swimming a nice relay split time in the Medley, had to immediately get out of the water and back onto the blocks to swim in the 200 Freestyle, where he put in a nice time of 3:09.90. Miles swam in the 100 Backstroke, going an impressive 1:38.27. Miles continues to improve his time in the 400 Freestyle Relay, going a 1:19.09 in the 100 Freestyle.

Zach Tomomitsu swam in the 50 Freestyle, going a 36.32, and put together a nice 100 Breaststroke time. Zach also continues to improve his relay split time in the 400 Freestyle Relay, going 1:31.71, a 2-second drop from Saturday’s time!

The Whippets ended the night with the most exciting race in the 400 Freestyle Relay, where each swimmer raced hard and ended up winning the event and out-touching the Comets by .45 seconds!

The Whippets are back in action on Tuesday, December 14, at 5:30 p.m. in Elkhorn.

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

The Whitewater Girls’ Basketball team played a conference game against Beloit Turner at home on Tuesday night, December 7.  It was another exciting game down to the last seconds. 

The Whippets were leading by one in the first half, 17-16. Coming out in the second half, only one point was scored in the first four minutes, by Turner, tying the game up 17-17. Turner then went on an 8-point scoring run in the next 2 minutes.  

The Whippets battled back little by little, tying the game up 34-34 with 5 minutes remaining in the game. It was a battle to the end, but unfortunately, the Whippets came up short, losing 39-41. 

Danielle DePorter led the Whippets in scoring with 12 points and added 1 assist and 2 steals. Gwen Truesdale had 11 points, 7 rebounds, 2 steals, 2 assists, and 1 block. Kindyl Kilar added 8 points, 7 rebounds, 2 assists, and 2 steals. Mayte Navejas had 5 points, 4 rebounds, and 2 steals. 

The Whippets play at home against Jefferson this Friday and will be honoring parents for all their support! 

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

The Whippet Gymnasts had an awesome first meet of the season last Friday, December 3, at Jefferson! Here are some highlights:

Halee Peters had a great performance, taking first place on beam (despite the tough competition) with an 8.75! She joined the 8.0 club on 2 other events as well, finishing 4th in the All-Around competition.

Brooklyn Griswold and Nola Coburn, both freshmen, showed lots of bravery and courage while competing high school gymnastics for the very first time! Nola did vault, beam, and was given a last-minute bar routine, all of which went very well. Brooklyn competed in bars, beam, and competed her new floor routine, remembering her choreography, and landing all of her tumbling passes.

Anna Ejnik came ready to go, also competing in the All-Around competition. She is a versatile gymnast and did very well with powerful tumbling and a confident beam routine.

Makayla Bazeley, a freshman, also performed very well for her first high school meet. She was confident in her dancing and floor routine, which is awesome to see in a first-year high school gymnast! Makayla competed in the All-Around and is definitely one to keep an eye on for the next 4 years!

Lexi Kuhnke stepped in right when we needed her, performing last-year’s floor routine on short notice. She did very well, including new tumbling passes. We can’t wait to see her compete more events in the near future!

Our next meet is this Saturday the 11th, at 10:00 a.m. at Janesville Craig. Go, Whippets!

Article and Photos Submitted by Shawnda Peters
Whitewater High School Head Gymnastics Coach
speters@wwusd.org

After going through last year without being able to participate in regular season tournaments, the Whitewater Wrestling Team was back in action on Saturday to mark the official start of the 2021-2022 campaign. 

The varsity team traveled to Watertown on Saturday to compete in the Watertown Tom McGarvie Invitational. This is a very competitive tournament, with 17 teams from all three divisions. Winning the team trophy was Winneconne, the returning Division 2 State Champion, and coming in Runner-up was Mineral Point, the returning Division 3 State Champion from a year ago. Whitewater wrestled well during the course of the day and finished in 7th place. This was a nice finish considering the level of competition at every weight class. 

Leading the way for the Whippets was Carter Friend at 170 pounds. He finished the day 5-0 with some very strong matches along the way to his championship. This is the 2nd time Carter has won this tournament, winning it in 2019, the last time we competed in it.

Following Friend was Mason DePorter who wrestled very well on the day, finishing 4-1 and in 5th place. Mason had some very good matches and he showed his increase in strength and mobility in winning those matches.

Brother Marcus DePorter also finished 4-1 on the day. Marcus dropped his first match but then battled back with some very competitive matches. He showed grit in his victories throughout the day.

Next up were CJ Tomomitsu, Connor Friend, and Sebastian Cuellar Meza, who all went 3-2 on the day. CJ and Sebastian finished in 6th place, while Connor finished as consolation champion. These young men wrestled well, with Sebastian and Connor seeing their first ever varsity tournament and handling it very well. CJ came out each time with a fire in his eyes that he is going to be a force to reckon with. Even in his two losses he was very strong. 

Also wrestling well but missing out on a medal were Cooper Hammond, Jesus Barajas, Mason Nobs, Hector Arnodo, Payton Lyon, Armando Villarreal, Leo Ortiz, and Scott Krebs.  

The coaching staff was very pleased with the efforts of the team; however, there are always areas for improvement as we progress into the next week of practice. We were proud of the students as this is a very large tournament, and the coaching staff is quite busy, so the team did a great job helping each other out with mat assignments and support throughout the day!

The Whippets are next in action on Thursday night when they travel to Clinton for a dual meet and then again on Saturday, December 11th, when they host the 8th annual Whitewater Invitational. Wrestling will begin at approximately 9:15 a.m. at Whitewater High School. 

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

The Whippet Boys’ Swim Team traveled to Milton High School to compete in the Lieder Invitational on Saturday, December 4. The boys got to compete for the first time this season in individual events. 

Tyler Arnett took a 4th place finish in the 200 Freestyle with a time of 2:07.20. Tyler went home with a 2nd place medal in the 500 Freestyle where he went a personal best time of 5:32.10. This time now puts him 6th all-time on the Whippet Top 10 List! Tyler also had some nice relay splits; in the 200 Freestyle Relay he anchored with a 25.67, and in the 400 Freestyle Relay he also anchored with a 1:01.30.

Jack Hefty put together some nice swims with an 8th place finish in the 50 Freestyle, going a 26.84, and a 6th place finish in the 100 Freestyle, with a time of 1:01.52. Jack swam another 50 and 100 Freestyle in the 200 and 400 Freestyle relays where he led off sitting right around his best time from his earlier swims.

Miles Nickelsburg followed along with teammate Jack, swimming in individual events of 50 Freestyle, going a 36.32, and 100 Freestyle, going 1:23.79. Miles also had a nice relay split in the 400 Freestyle Relay, going a 1:23.80.

Zach Tomomitsu swam the 200 Freestyle, where he went a 3:17.32 and already showed improvements from Tuesday’s meet with a 20 second drop! Zach also swam in the 100 Backstroke, the only swimmer who ventured out and swam something other than Freestyle. Zach also had a nice relay split in the 200 Freestyle Relay!  

The boys will swim again on Tuesday, December 7th, at 5:30 p.m., at Delavan-Darien.

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