Today is Monday, July 29, 2024
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
By Chris Lindeke, Assistant Athletic Director, Strategic Communications and Branding, UW-W
No. 3 Warhawk Football Downed in NCAA Semifinals
Game Statistics: https://s3.amazonaws.com/sidearm.sites/uwwsports.com/documents/2021/12/11/28466.pdf
The No. 3 University of Wisconsin-Whitewater football team fell behind by double digits in the first half Saturday and was unable to cut into the deficit in a 24-7 setback against No. 2 Mary Hardin-Baylor (Texas) in a semifinal of the NCAA Division III Playoffs at Perkins Stadium.
The Warhawks (13-1 overall), who were playing in their 13th semifinal round in the last 16 years, conclude the season following their 38th Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference championship and 17th appearance in the NCAA Division III Playoffs.
The Crusaders (14-0) totaled 309 yards through the air and held the ball for nearly 12 minutes in the fourth quarter to maintain their lead.
UW-Whitewater was held to 64 yards rushing and 271 yards of offense, and was limited to 5-of-15 conversions on third down.
Max Meylor finished 23-of-32 passing for 207 yards and one touchdown. Tyler Holte caught six passes for 91 yards and one touchdown, and Alex Peete rushed for 43 yards and tallied 38 yards receiving.
Mark McGrath led the defense with 10 tackles, while Shane McGrail finished with eight stops, including 1.5 for a loss. Thomas Wojnowski and Kyle Koelblinger collected seven tackles apiece.
After a scoreless first quarter, Mary Hardin-Baylor completed a 14-play, 82-yard drive in the end zone to take a 7-0 advantage with 13:00 on the clock.
After a UW-W turnover, the Crusaders scored another touchdown with 9:46 on the clock to double their advantage.
Following a UMHB field goal, the Warhawks drove 80 yards in 12 plays as Meylor hit Holte over the middle for a 9-yard score with 1:01 remaining in the second quarter.
Mary Hardin-Baylor scored on its first drive of the third quarter, punching it in on fourth and goal from the 1-yard line for a 24-7 advantage with 6:31 to play in the period.
UW-Whitewater was unable to get back in the scoring column the rest of the way.
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By Lynn Binnie
Whitewater Banner volunteer staff
whitewaterbanner@gmail.com
December 11, 2021
Those who said that the outcome of the NCAA D III semifinal game would boil down to whether the #3 Warhawks could defend against # 2 Mary Hardin-Baylor’s passing prowess unfortunately “called it.” UW-W lost 24-7 to Mary Hardin-Baylor (MH-B) on December 11, with MH-B dominating on passing. It would have been 24-10 if the nearly-always reliable Matt Maldonado hadn’t had a missed field goal which commentators surmised was caused by wind. The championship game on December 17 in Canton, OH will feature defending champion North Central vs. MH-B. North Central beat UW-W by 41-14 in 2019; the 2020 game was canceled due to COVID-19. Attendance was 2519, compared with 1400 last week.
| UW-W | MH-B | |
| Pass | 207 | 309 |
| Rush | 64 | 69 |
| Total | 271 | 377 |
Here’s the link to a comprehensive article in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, assuming you don’t hit a paywall.
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.
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