The past week was a busy one for the Whippet Boys’ Wrestling Team. On Tuesday, January 20, the team traveled to Edgerton to compete against Edgerton and Beloit Turner, coming away with two dual meet victories over the Tiders and Trojans.

Thursday, January 22, the team then traveled to Janesville Craig to have a dual meet with the Cougars. Both the JV and Varsity teams wrestled very well. The JV team won 58-12 with some very nice wrestling by all competitors. The varsity came up big with some big wins from Esteban Lopez-Villanueva at 126 and Cristian Aranda at 157 pounds. Villanueva showed much improvement and was able to wrestle tough in the closing period to secure a big victory for the Whippets. Aranda showed a no give up attitude in his victory. He was losing in the second period and found himself in a scramble on the edge of the mat. He kept wrestling through positions and was able to put his opponent to his back for a big pin. This win put the dual meet out of reach for the Cougars giving the Whippets their 7th dual meet victory on the season. They extended their record to 7-3 with one dual meet left on their regular season schedule. 

Saturday, January 24, the team braved the cold and traveled to Monroe to participate in the Monroe Invitational. This was an extremely competitive tournament and was made even more competitive when some teams were added after cancelations of tournaments on Friday night. The boys wrestled tough and although WHS had nobody in the finals, they did have many competing in the final round. Gabe Crane (132) and Deavion Olson (Hwt) led the way with 3rd place finishes in two very close matches in the bronze medal victory. Also coming home with a medal for the Whippets were George Christon (106) bringing home fourth place and Austin Retzlaff (215) coming home with a 5th place finish, going 4-1 on the day.

Tuesday, January 27, the team will travel to Belleville to compete in their final dual meet of the regular season.

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

The Whippets took care of business against Beloit Memorial, picking up a 108–49 victory and winning 9 of the 11 events Tuesday night, January 20!

Meet Highlights:

• 200 Freestyle

Wyatt Esch won his heat with a time of 2:18.68. Sam Nickelsburg dropped 8 seconds for a best time of 2:20.07, and Hunter Runnoe had a massive 55-second time drop going 2:44.15.

• 200 IM

Langdon Coburn won the event with a time of 2:21.84. Caleb Kluck gave the 200 IM a try for the first time, posting a solid 2:45.88, while Ian Agen dropped 6 seconds off his previous time.

• 50 Freestyle

In the JV heat, ChaCha Binagi won with a blazing 30.41, and Cooper Housel dropped 2 seconds to go 32.84.

In the varsity heat, Mateo Bazeley won the event with a lifetime best 23.28, jumping from 9th to 6th on the Whippet Top 10 list.

• 100 Fly

Sam Nickelsburg won his heat swimming right on his best time at 1:10.50. Angel Kilar also had a strong swim, posting a new best time.

• 100 Freestyle

Langdon Coburn hit a lifetime best with a 54.58, and Hunter Runnoe followed with a best time of 1:11.10.

• 500 Freestyle

Mateo Bazeley won the event in his first-ever 500, clocking a 5:46.69. David Enns dropped nearly a full minute for a lifetime best of 7:36.69, and ChaCha Binagi also put together a solid swim in his first 500 of the season.

• 100 Backstroke

Wyatt Esch dropped 2 seconds, finishing with a time of 1:13.68.

• 100 Breaststroke

Caleb Kluck posted a lifetime best 1:20.59, dropping 6 seconds off his previous time.

The Whippets were back in action tonight, Thursday, January 22 as they traveled to Badger High School to take on Badger and Platteville/Lancaster.

Article and Photo Submitted by Sarah Reynolds
Whitewater High School Head Swim Coach
ReynoldsSM07@uww.edu

On Saturday, January 17, the Whitewater Girls’ Wrestling Team boarded the bus and traveled to Janesville Craig High School to participate in their first annual girls’ wrestling invite. The Whippet girls performed very well with many great performances throughout the day. When the dust had settled the ladies found themselves on top of the podium as a team, outdistancing Verona by 22 points to bring home the team gold.

Leading the way for the ladies was Kora Davis (120) who had a great gut wrenching match in her semi-final coming out with the 8-6 victory to reach the championship. In the championship round Kora had a tough match against her opponent but came up short. This was Kora’s highest placement for her this being her first season of wrestling. 

Madi Kubicz (185) also had a great semi-final match against her opponent, getting the 1-0 victory. In the championship, much of the match was wrestled in the neutral position with Madi providing much of the action, but Madi was unable to completely finish and ended up falling and bringing home the silver.

Also reaching the podium and bringing home the bronze were Isabelle Cantu (100) and Storm De Porter (126). Isabelle lost a tough semi-final ending up on the short end of a scramble. The girl she lost to went on to win the gold in a similar match, coming out on top in a scramble. Other than the one defeat, Isabelle had a really good day, securing three pins during the day.

Storm had a very nice day showing lots of aggression on her feet and wrestling tough on top. She had a very strong opponent in the semi-finals from Monroe, coming up short for the finals. She battled back strong, coming up with two more wins, both by very strong pins.

Other placements on the day included Ema Aranda (107), Katie Rojas-Reyes (132), Atreya Wilson (138), Burma Vubumu (145), Aubrey Fuoco (145), Saray Villegas (152), Payton Taylor (165) and Silvia Harris (120). Silvia had a very good day coming away with three pins and finishing in 5th place. In her 5th place match Silvia was down 9-3 in the 3rd period and was able to come away with the pin.

The girls are in action on Wednesday night, January 21, when they host Madison Memorial and Big Foot. This will be Senior Night and Parents’ night starting at 6:00.

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

Clinton beat Whitewater 69-40 in RVC Girls’ Basketball action Friday night, January 16. After the game was tied 8-8, Clinton went on a 14-3 and then never looked back. Whitewater plays again on Thursday at Brodhead.

Information Provided by Mike Dowden
Whitewater High School Head Girls’ Basketball Coach
dowmi01@wwusd.org