Today is Thursday, March 6, 2025
UW-Whitewater senior guard Kacie Carollo (Whitewater, Wis./Whitewater) has been named the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Player of the Year. The four-time All-WIAC honoree was joined on the All-WIAC squad by Katie Hildebrandt (McFarland, Wis./McFarland).
For the fourth consecutive season, a Warhawk has been named the league’s top player. Carollo follows Aleah Grundahl (DeForest, Wis./DeForest) who received the award the previous three seasons. In addition to the WIAC’s top honor, Carollo was selected All-WIAC for the fourth time and to the All-Defensive Team for the third consecutive season. This season, Carollo has led the conference in nearly every statistical category including scoring (21.2 per game), points (593), rebounding (9.2 per game), field goals made (202), free throw shooting (116 made, 84.1%), three-pointers made (73), assists (116, 4.1 per game), steals (62, 2.2 per game) and total minutes played (960). She ranks among the top 20 in Division III this season in points, points per game and three-pointers while holding top 50 marks in rebounds, field goals, free throws and assists. The four-time All-American (two honors from the Women’s basketball coaches association and two from D3hoops.com), set the WIAC record in career three-pointers this season and broke the program record for career rebounds – a mark that had stood for 41 years. Carollo currently has 28 career double-doubles – tied for the program record.
Hildebrandt, a fellow senior, claimed Honorable Mention All-WIAC recognition for the second straight season. The forward ranks among the top 20 in the league in scoring (9.0 per game), rebounding (5.2 per game), field goal percentage (40.0), free throw percentage (69.6), assists (1.6 per game), blocks (1.2 per game) and steals (1.0 per game).
Olivia Zuege (Green Bay, Wis./Preble) represented UW-Whitewater on the WIAC All-Sportsmanship Team this season. Carollo was also named the league’s Judy Kruckman Scholar Athlete for Women’s Basketball – awarded to the top senior in the conference.
These seniors helped lead the Warhawks to the program’s fourth WIAC Tournament Championship and ninth consecutive berth into the NCAA Division III Tournament. UW-Whitewater will open NCAA regional action for the 23rd time in program history Friday against Principia College. Tipoff is slated for 7 PM in Kachel Gym.
The University of Wisconsin-Whitewater baseball team opened the season on February 28 with a double-header sweep of Asbury University in Kentucky. The Warhawks picked up right where they left off from last season, with a 26-4 mercy rule win in the first game. The Warhawks took the second game 12-2.
With the opening win, Head Coach John Vodenlich became the all-time Winningest Coach in Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference baseball history. Vodenlich has collected 730 wins, surpassing Tom Lechnir (728, UWO: 1989-2013) for most wins as a head coach in the WIAC.
In the opening game, the Warhawks blasted two home runs in the first two batters. Aaron Holland (Wheaton, Ill./Wheaton North) and Matt Scolan (Downers Grove, Ill./South) each went the distance to put the Warhawks up 2-0 after only two batters.
The Warhawks went on to score 15 runs over the first three innings. Holland added another homer in the fourth for the warhawks only run that inning.
Asbury held UWW off the board in the 5th, but the Warhawks answered back with 10 runs in the 6th. Scolan hit his second homer of the game, a 3-run go to start off the scoring. Holland hit his third homer of the game to cap off the inning & put the Warhawks up 26-0.
Asbury managed to avoid the shutout, scoring four runs in the 7th inning, but the run-rule ended the game after seven.
Jack Hagen (San Clemente, Cal./San Clemente) picked up the win in the first game, going 5.0 innings with 4 Ks.
The second game started with 6 first inning runs from UWW, quickly setting the tone once again. Asbury added one run in the bottom of the third, keeping the game closer than the opener. But Eli Frank (Bayport, Wis./Bay Port) had a three-run homer in the top of the 9th to the Warhawks up 12-1.
An unearned run from the Eagles in the bottom of the ninth added another for Asbury, but Danny Hopper (Palatine, Ill./Palatine) closed out the game with a swinging strikeout.
Cade Hansen (New Braunfels, Texas/Smithson Valley) got the win, with 5.0 innings & only 4 hits.
The UW-Whitewater gymnastics team added entries to the program record book in multiple categories Saturday. The Warhawks honored the seniors with a huge 193.750-189.575 win over UW-Eau Claire in the final home meet of the season.
The UWW overall team total – 193.750 – is the second-highest team score recorded in program history. The Warhawks also tied the team vault record that they set earlier this season with a 48.550 on the apparatus. The floor saw the second-best team total ever recorded posted Saturday – 48.925. UW-Whitewater added the seventh-best team total on the bars – 48.400 – to cap a phenomenal evening in Russell Arena.
The Warhawks set the tone right off the bat with the eight (including exhibition) highest scores recorded on the apparatus. Carleigh Moore (Oregon, Wis./Oregon) led the way with a 9.75 followed by Elaine Copeland’s (Arlington, Texas/University Prep) 9.725. Brianna Balian (Peoria, Ariz./Sunrise Mountain) and Chloe Hammond (Ankeny, Iowa/Ankeny) each registered a score of 9.7 while Ava Pesch (Waterford, Wis./Waterford Union) and Alayna Fern (Gainesville, Fla./Gainesville) tallied matching 9.675s.
On the bars, it was Ariana Goodwin (Elgin, Ill./The Einstein Academy) with the top routine of the night. The freshman wrote her name in the program record book with a 9.8 – tied for the eighth-best in UWW history in the event. Kelsey Kollhoff (Miamisburg, Ohio/Miamisburg) was the runner-up with a 9.675. Copeland and Hayden Gough (Dallas, Texas/Dallas International School) shared third with scores of 9.65 and Paige Magel (Cary, Ill./Prairie Ridge) rounded out the scoring five with a 9.625.
Kristen Swiebocki (Naperville, Ill./Neuqua Valley) and Hammond paced UW-Whitewater on the balance beam with 9.7s to tie for second. Ashnaya Gupta (Carmel, Ind./Carmel) was fifth with a 9.6 followed by Kollhoff’s 9.575 and Magel’s 9.3.
Capping the meet on the always exciting floor exercise, the Warhawks combined for the best score since 2014 in the event. Moore and Kollhoff shared gold with incredible routines scoring 9.85. Zoe Jenks-Recker (Cottage Grove, Wis./Monona Grove) secured bronze with a 9.825 and Hammond was fourth with a 9.775. Copeland wrapped up the scoring five with a 9.625.
The Warhawks will head to La Crosse for the WIAC Championship/NCGA West Regional next Saturday. UWW, the top seed heading into the regional, will compete in the second session that is set to begin at 6 PM.
The Whitewater Wrestling Team concluded their season this weekend with five competing on the Kohl Center floor in Madison. The format of the tournament was different this season with each competitor being guaranteed two matches over the weekend.
The team wrestled well throughout the weekend, but unfortunately three of them were unable to come off victorious even though they had given it their all on the mat. All of the losses the students took ended up being to opponents that placed in the top six and made podium on Saturday night.
Jasen Porras, Traysen Thomason, and Marianna Kubicz each competed on Thursday night and Friday morning but had some tough challenges in front of them, coming up short.
Connor Friend started off the tournament with a very strong opponent who was a great rider on top. This was a tough loss, as all are in the state tournament, and he had to regroup and come back on Friday morning to stay in the medal hunt. Connor saw an opponent from Belmont/Platteville, whom he had lost to 4 weeks ago. Connor wrestled a great match coming out on top 4–1. This placed him in the consolation semifinals on Saturday morning. Connor had an opponent that was very good at defense, which made it difficult to get to his offense, which he is very good at. In the end, Connor fell just short of reaching his goal of being on the podium.
Jarvis Porcaro had a very good tournament. He started the tournament on Thursday evening with a nice technical fall victory in the opening round setting him up for a quarter final match against a state runner up from Richland Center. Jarvis wrestled an outstanding match, coming out with 10-8 victory, putting him into the state semifinals on Friday night. In this match, Jarvis wrestled against the number 1 seed in the tournament and came out very strong with an early takedown. Entering the 3rd period, Jarvis was down 7-5, but that was as close as it got. Jarvis ended up dropping the match, which was very disappointing to him as he self-analyzed his match right away and knew his errors in the 3rd period. He stayed positive with himself, which has been a huge battle for him to overcome since last season. This season, Jarvis was able to stay in the mental mindset, even during tough times. On Saturday morning, Jarvis came back to compete in the 3rd place match but lost the match, thus finishing in 4th place in the state. Jarvis had set his goals after last season to be in the state finals, and although he came up short of that goal, he was upbeat with his weekend and knows this is just one chapter of his life of wrestling. He will move forward working toward collegiate goals.
The weekend saw the close of some stellar high school careers from Jarvis, Jasen, Connor, and Traysen. They will be missed by the program, and we wish them the best of luck in their future endeavors.
Article and Photo Submitted by John Schimming
Whitewater High School Head Wrestling Coach
jschimming@wwusd.org
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