In conjunction with the RVC Tournament at Clinton the Whitewater Lady Wrestlers had the opportunity to compete in a tournament of their own. The Whitewater girls did very well during the day. Adalynn Frye and Athena Soto both continued to show progress. This is a challenge for them as they are brand new to wrestling, so each time on the mat is a great learning opportunity for them. The coaching staff sees improvement, although the result the ladies may want is not there.

Leading the way for the Whippets was Lauren Buehler who had two pins on the day on her way to her first championship in her young career.

Ashly Xochipa followed with a second-place finish, going 3-1 on the day with three pins and a tough loss to a strong lady from Badger. Also taking 2nd place was Khloe Meyer who was able to secure a pin for her second-place finish. This is exciting for Khloe as she has shown growth, and it was nice to see the victory come her way.

Odeling Gonzalez started the day off with a loss but then came back and was able to win her last two matches. The exciting part of her day was that both of her victories came against young ladies that she had lost to earlier in the season.

Great job to the lady wrestlers. As always, they represented their team very well.

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

On Saturday, February 4, the Whippet Wrestling Team traveled to Clinton to participate in the Rock Valley Conference Wrestling Tournament. It was a very good day for the team as everyone wrestled very well with some having their best matches of the season to this point of the year. When the day ended, the Whippets found themselves in 2nd place in the Conference tournament behind Evansville. 

Leading the way for the Whippets was Aaron Porras who claimed his first RVC Championship. He wrestled very well all day recording two pins and a convincing win against a very strong opponent in the championship match. With the championship Saturday, Aaron checked off the first of his goals for the post season.

Finding their way into the finals were Victor Hernandez, Connor Friend, and Payton Lyon. Each of these wrestlers had very nice wins on their way to the championship match. Friend and Lyon both had a steep hill to climb in the finals as they had defending state champions and unfortunately were unable to knock them off, even though they gave it their all. Hernandez had two very nice matches leading up to the championship before a strong opponent from Big Foot.

Coming in 3rd place for the Whippets included Jasen Porras and CJ Tomomitsu. Each of these wrestlers lost tough semi-final matches but came back strong in the wrestlebacks to bring home the bronze. 

Taking 4th place and just missing a medal was Nate Black. Finishing the day strong and winning their last match of the day to take 5th included Jason Villegas, Trayson Thomason, Odair Porras, Jesus Barajas, Avi Kalra, and Ethan Barels. It is tough to battle back and wrestle for placement.

The Whippets are next in action on Saturday, February 11, when they travel to Jefferson to participate in the WIAA Regional Tournament.

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

The Whippets Boys’ Swim Team had a sensational day in the pool competing in the Southern Lakes Conference Championships on Saturday, February 4th. The Whippets finished 6^th overall as a team, took home 4 medals, and posted 17 of 21 best times!

Placing in the Top 16 includes (Top 6 medal):

 200 Medley Relay A (Tyler Arnett, Jack Hefty, Cruz Aranda, Andrew O’Toole) with a 9^th place finish and a time of 2:01.44.

200 Medley Relay B (Onyx Thompson, Xavier Zei, Myles Morse, David Enns) with a 15^th place finish and a time of 2:21.07. Dropped 7 seconds off seeded time. 

Miles Nickelsburg had an 8^th place finish in the 200 Freestyle going a best time of 2:18.69.

 Tyler Arnett finished 3^rd in the 200 Freestyle with a best time of 2:00.18. He moved up on the Whippet All Time Top 10 List to 7^th overall.

 Jack Hefty won his heat in the 200 IM with a best time of 2:23.35. His time was fast enough to beat two swimmers in the following heat to earn himself a 5^th place finish. 

 Cruz Aranda won his heat in the 50 Freestyle with a new best time of 25.69. He placed 10^th overall!

 Cruz Aranda finished 10^th in the 100 Butterfly with a time of 1:09.42.

 Tyler Arnett finished 2^nd in the 500 Freestyle with a best time of 5:29.50

 Andrew O’Toole dropped 27 seconds in the 500 Freestyle going a time of 6:24.42. Placing 11^th overall.

 Myles Morse dropped over 6 seconds in the 500 Freestyle going a time of 6:25.19. Placing 12^th overall. 

Onyx Thompson placed 15^th overall in the 100 Backstroke dropping over 3 seconds going a best time of 1:25.50 

Miles Nickelsburg dropped over 3 seconds in the 100 Backstroke placing 10^th overall going a 1:13.04

 Jack Hefty swam a fun 100 Breaststroke race where he and an opponent from Jefferson/Cambridge touched at the same time. The two of them ended up tying for a 6^th place finish. Jack went a new best time of 1:15.16.

 400 Freestyle Relay A (Cruz Aranda, Andrew O’Toole, Jack Hefty, Tyler Arnett) placed 5^th overall with a time of 3:54.63. They bested their seeded time by nearly 5 seconds. Jack Hefty posted an impressive 55.82 split and Andrew O’Toole also had an impressive split going a 1:01.68.

 400 Freestyle Relay B (Myles Morse, Onyx Thompson, Xavier Zei, Miles Nickelsburg) placed 10^th overall with a 4:41.92. They all swam well and beat their seeded time by 11 seconds. 

With an impressive meet like this, we are excited to watch the Whippets compete in the WIAA Sectional next Saturday, February 11^th at Sauk Prairie at 1 p.m. Go Dogs!

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

The Whippets fell 37-40 in a close game by a last second shot to the Jefferson Eagles in a girls’ basketball conference match up at home Thursday night, February 2. 

Working a good inside out game offensively and communicating on defense were key going into this game. We got into foul trouble early in the first half, but we continued to play aggressively on defense, making adjustments to protect the hoop. We started to connect on our outside shots and hit key free throws to give us the edge going into the second half up 18-15. 

To start the second half we struggled offensively, stuck at 18 as Jefferson went on an 8-point scoring run. Working our inside out game, hitting our free throws, and putting on our press helped us chip away and tie up the game 27-27 with 5 minutes left in the game. The rest of the game was back and forth right up to the end. Danielle DePorter fought for an offensive rebound, got fouled, and hit both free throws to tie it up 37-37 with seconds left in the game. 

Jefferson’s Lenz connected on a last second shot scoring 3 of her 4 points to win the game. 

Mayte Navejas led the Whippets with 12 points and 3 steals. Danielle DePorter followed with 7 points and 3 rebounds. Cali Kopecky added 5 points and 8 rebounds. Kindyl Kilar also scored 5 points. 

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