Today is Friday, October 9, 2026
By Angela Kelm
Asst. Athletic Director for Sports Information
The No. 3 University of Wisconsin-Whitewater football team suffered its first loss of the 2024 campaign Saturday at Perkins Stadium. Despite stellar special teams play, the Warhawks fell to [unranked] Mary Hardin-Baylor 35-17.
Defense and special teams dominated Saturday at the Perk with more scoring coming from those two facets of the game than from either offense.
The first two scores of the game went to the Crusaders courtesy of pick-6s. The first came on UW-Whitewater’s first drive of the game as Durand Hill jumped a passing lane at the Warhawks’ 18 and went the distance. UWW’s second drive ended with a 32-yard interception return for touchdown.
Following a three-and-out for the Warhawks, the UWW defense stepped up with a big play causing a turnover. On the third play of UMHB’s next drive, Bryson Clarson forced a fumble from the Cru’s quarterback and Luke Hagedorn jumped on the loose ball to bring the Warhawk offense back onto the field at the UMHB 30. Despite the good field position, a Warhawk miscue led to another fumble that was recovered by the Crusaders at their own 20. That turnover led to an offensive score on a 30-yard touchdown pass and an early 21-0 UMHB lead.
The second quarter featured scores from both squads and more turnovers. Deven Magli intercepted a UMHB pass on third-and-six at the Warhawks’ 35 early in the quarter. The next big play would come from UW-Whitewater’s special teams unit. After forcing a punt on fourth-and-14 at the Cru’s own 16, Karsten Libby was able to get into the backfield and block the punt back to the end zone. Eli Hoelke pounced on the ball in the end zone for the special teams score. Jackson Fox hit the extra point to get the Warhawks on the board, 21-7.
Nearing the two-minute warning of the first half, the Warhawks forced another turnover – this time it was Matt Burba that knocked the ball loose and Jaden Hendrickson was credited with the recovery at the UWW 45.
The Crusaders got the ball back on a controversial call. Jackson Chryst attempted a short pass to the right side of the line and receiver Brian Wilterdink was hit as the ball reached him. The officials signaled for a catch and fumble with UMHB recovering at their own 40. That led to a touchdown for Mary Hardin-Baylor and a 28-7 advantage at the break.
The Warhawks seemed to get some momentum early in the second half after scoring on their first drive of the third quarter. Chryst found Wilterdink on a deep ball down the middle for a 43-yard gain down to the UMHB 21 on the second play of the drive. Brian Stanton gave UWW first-and-goal from the 10 on an 11-yard rush, but the drive stalled in the red zone. Fox drilled the 21-yard field goal to make the score 28-10.
UW-Whitewater’s special teams unit continued to try and spark the Warhawks with big plays. The defense forced another three-and-out and Libby got to the punter once again to give UWW great field position at the UMHB 42, but the Cru defense stiffened and kept the Warhawks off of the board.
On UMHB’s next drive, the Cru running back bounced a rush outside and bolted up the sideline for a 96-yard touchdown and a 35-10 lead.
The special teams unit for UW-Whitewater wasn’t done yet. This time it was Nic Hall getting to the UMHB punter for the block. Patrick Lippe notched the scoop-and-score picking the ball up at the UMHB 14 with a clear path to the end zone. Fox made it 35-17 with the point after and the final score of the contest.
Chryst was 20-33 for 236 yards. Stanton led the Warhawks in the ground game with 59 yards on 17 attempts. Tyler Vasey took a couple of direct snaps and bolted through the line for 32 rushing yards. He added three catches for 40 yards.
Blake Haggerty was the favorite target on the day with six receptions for 78 yards while Wilterdink posted 51 yards on three catches.
Defensively, Kyle Koelblinger led UWW with nine tackles including six solo and a tackle for a loss of four yards.
The Warhawks will rest up with a bye week before returning to the gridiron on Saturday, October 5. UW-Whitewater will host UW-Oshkosh for the annual Family Fest game presented by PremierBank at 1 p.m.
The Whippet Girls’ tennis team traveled to Edgerton High School for a match dubbed, “The Battle for the Stick,” on Thursday, September 19. This tradition started three years ago between the tennis programs of Edgerton and Whitewater. The Whippets have won the last two years, and the tradition continued Thursday night in a close contest with the Whippets coming out on top by a team score of 4-3.
The Whippet Girls’ Tennis Team will honor the Seniors on Tuesday, September 24 in a home match against Delavan-Darien.
Article and Photos Submitted by Greg Stewart
Whitewater High School Assistant Tennis Coach
gstewart@wwusd.org
Whitewater High School Volleyball hosted the Eagles of Jefferson Thursday night, September 19, in a conference matchup. The Whippets started the night out strong winning the first two sets (25-16, 25-22). The Eagles didn’t back down and fought back to take the remaining three sets to win the match (23-25, 17-25, 8-15).
The Whippets were led offensively by senior Falyn Krahn tallying 13 kills and senior Calli Grosinke dishing out 21 assists. Senior Zoe Kohl controlled the net for the Whippets with 3 blocks. Defensively senior Ella Spear led for the Whippets picking up 24 digs.
The Whippets are off until next Thursday when they travel to East Troy for a Valley Division matchup.
Article Submitted by Caitlin Dowden
Whitewater High School Head Volleyball Coach
dowca01@wwusd.org
Photo courtesy of Bob and Peter Mischka
On Tuesday, September 18, the Whitewater Girls’ Swim Team competed against Burlington Co-Op.
There were a handful of best times at the dual meet. Here are a few of them:
- All the 200 Freestyle swimmers earned themselves a best time including Charlotte Hajewski who dropped 3 seconds, Georgia Esch who dropped 14 seconds, and Grace Coleman who dropped 17 seconds. We love to see a clean sweep of best times in a single race!
- Atreya Wilson competed in the 200 IM for the first time in her swim career. Despite many nerves at the beginning of the race, Atreya crushed it and went a time of 3:14.17. Kendra Serrano continues to improve by dropping 2 seconds in the 200 IM.
- In the 50 Freestyle, Caitlin Alford went a best time of 43.11. She continues to get closer to her goal to go under 40 seconds!
- Makayla Bazeley not only went a season best time (1:00.18) in the 100 Butterfly but she broke a 19-year-old Burlington pool record. Congratulations Makayla! Georgia Esch also showed up to compete by dropping an impressive 9 seconds from her previous time.
- Another sweep of best times in the 100 Freestyle included Laken DePorter who dropped 5 seconds, Charlotte Hajewski with a time of 1:10.36, and Kendra Serrano with a time of 1:13.66.
- In the 100 Backstroke, Maggie Maas went a best time of 1:18.48, and Makayla Bazeley went a best time of 1:00.47.
- In the 100 Breaststroke, Maya Davis continues to drop time every week. She went a 1:42.32 that is 9 seconds faster than her previous time.
Come support the Whippets at home on Tuesday, September 24 as they take on Badger and Platteville/Lancaster at 5:30 pm. Let’s fill the stands with a ton of red and white!
Article and Photo Submitted by Sarah Reynolds
Whitewater High School Head Swim Coach
ReynoldsSM07@uww.edu
Upcoming Events
