The No. 13 ranked University of Wisconsin-Whitewater wrestling team claimed five of the final six matches Tuesday night, Jan. 21 on its way to a 27-12 victory over UW-Eau Claire in a Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference dual inside Kachel Gymansium. Senior Mike Tortorice and sophomore Jaritt Shinhoster recorded pins to lead the Warhawks (9-6 overall, 3-1 WIAC), who were taking part in their final home home competition of the 2019-20 season. Tortorice, ranked No. 2 in the nation by D3wrestle.com and No. 3 by Intermat at 125 pounds, posted a fall at 4:55 to give UW-Whitewater a 21-9 lead. Shinhoster, the nation’s consensus No. 1 wrestler at 174 pounds, took advantage of an early takedown for a fall at 1:29 over No. 10/9 Evan Lawrence. All other Warhawk victories were decided by decision. Freshman Jake Burford started off the dual with an 8-4 triumph at 157 pounds. He tallied a reversal and a two-point near fall in the second period to take control of the match. After the Blugolds (10-4, 2-3) tied the dual at 9-9 through four matches, senior Nick Sundberg gave UW-Whitewater the lead for good at 197 pounds, registering a third-period take down to pull away for a 5-1 win. Sophomore Cadin Koeppel then edged Noah Carter 2-1 at heavyweight. Senior Hazen Rice scored three third period points at 141 for a 5-3 comeback victory. Rice, ranked No. 2 in the nation by D3wrestle.com and No. 4 by Intermat, remained undefeated on the season. Senior Devin Tortorice closed the night with a comeback win, earning four points in the third period on a takedown and near fall for a 6-3 decision at 149 pounds. The Warhawks close out WIAC competition for the year Thursday at 7 p.m. at UW-Stevens Point. See below for complete results from Tuesday’s dual. 125: Mike Tortorice d. Erik Gerovac (UWEC) by fall, 4:55133: Jack Marley (UWEC) d. Josiah Lynden by decision, 9-5141: Hazen Rice d. Tyler Demo (UWEC) by decision, 5-3149: Devin Tortorice d. Jake Drexler (UWEC) by decision, 6-3157: Jake Burford d. Tristan Massie (UWEC) by decision, 8-4165: Chase Schmidt (UWEC) d. Ryder Sigler by decision, 6-1174: Jaritt Shinhoster d. Evan Lawrence (UWEC) by fall, 1:29184: Grant Balconi (UWEC) d. Alex Oruna by fall, 2:34197: Nick Sundberg d. James Huntley (UWEC) by decision, 5-1285: Cadin Koeppel d. Noah Carter (UWEC) by decision, 2-1

The WHS girl basketball team traveled to Delavan on Monday, Jan 20, for a non-conference game — and lost to the Comets, 58-55. The Comets scored 41 second half points for their win. Kacie Carollo led the Whippet scoring with 28 points.

by John Schimming

Saturday, January 18, the Whippet Wrestling team closed out a busy 10 days of dual meets culminating in a record of 4-2 over the time improving their overall record to 6-2.

Stating things off the Whippets traveled to East Troy in what is always a fun dual meet to be a part of as there is always a great turnout of support for both teams and the crowd really gets into it. Whitewater started off strong winning the first 8 matches to build a 41-0 lead. The team then ended the night with a nice pin to close out the victory 47-27.

The Whippets came back on on January 16th and hosted parents’ night as well as had a nice number of youth wrestlers come support the team after their practice when the team hosted Beloit Memorial. It was a great night to come watch the team as the entire team had an opportunity to wrestle. The JV team did outstanding only dropping four of the 16 matches. The varsity team then rolled to a 61-21 win.

On Saturday Whitewater was able to get on the roads after they were cleared of snow to travel to Clinton to participate in the Rock Valley Conference Duals. Whitewater had 4 conference dual meets on the day. They started off with a strong 72-12 win over Clinton. They were then in quite a battle with Beloit Turner as the coaching staff knew it would be. The dual meet was not decided until the last match; unfortunately the team was on the losing end of that contest, dropping their first dual meet of the season. There were some great matches in this dual meet with Turner coming out on top on a couple too many of the close ones. A highlight in the dual was Marcus DePorter who wrestled possibly his best match of his high school career defeating his opponent by a major decision 10-2. On the day Marcus did well going 3-1 overall.

The Whippets bounced back from the loss defeating Jefferson 58-21. The coaching staff was happy to see the team bounce back and wrestled hard after their first defeat.

To close out the day the Whippets did not wrestle up to their potential, which they needed to do against a very good Evansville team. The dual exposed items that will definitely be addressed as we start shifting focus for the varsity to the tournament series which will begin in only 3 weeks!

Highlights of the day for individuals included Jaden Salmieri who reached a milestone that he set when he was a freshman securing his 100th career win in the Turner Dual Meet. He finished the day 4-0. David Cushman also had an outstanding day going 4-0 seeming to get tougher as the day progressed. Going 3-1 on the day included; CJ Tomomitsu, Cooper Hammond and Marcus DePorter.

The JV team was also competing on Saturday at the Conference Duals in indvidual competition. The coaching staff felt they looked good and continue to improve. Going 3-0 were Aaron Porras and Leo Gonzalez. Going 2-1 were Victor Hernandez, Mason Nobs, and Hector Arnodo. The entire JV team has worked hard and is showing improvement every day.

Thank you, parents, for all your support of the Whitewater Whippet Wresting Team.

by Chris Lindeke, Asst. Athletic Director, UW-W

The University of Wisconsin-Whitewater men’s basketball team made several big plays down the stretch offensively and forced a miss on a last-second shot attempt defensively Saturday for a 73-72 victory at UW-Stout in a Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference contest in Menomonie, Wis.

The Warhawks (6-10 overall, 1-4 WIAC) shot 54.5 percent from the field, their second-highest mark this season, and outscored the Blue Devils 26-8 in points from reserves.

Junior forward Equan Ards collected 29 points on 12-of-20 shooting and added seven rebounds and three assists. Freshman guard James Burks tallied 17 points, five rebounds and two steals off the bench, and sophomore guard Bailey Kale posted 10 points, three rebounds and two assists.

Senior center Riley Jensen and freshman forward Trevon Chislom registered six points apiece, and freshman guard Austin Gates grabbed a team-high eight rebounds and added two steals.

UW-Stout (5-11, 1-4) led 7-0 three minutes into the contest, but UW-Whitewater drew back to within two at the 13:28 mark on a jumper by Kale.

The Blue Devils built their lead up to 10 points with 11:07 to play in the half before the Warhawks ran off eight straight points, including four from Burks, to make it 21-19 with 8:17 on the clock.

UW-Whitewater tied the game at 28-28 with 5:50 left, but UW-Stout regained the lead 16 seconds later and held a 38-36 advantage heading into halftime.

The Warhawks scored eight straight points to start the second half, with Ards’ layup capping the run and putting the team ahead 44-38 with 17:34 to play.

UW-Whitewater’s lead dwindled to one by the 15:22 mark before the Warhawks posted an 11-2 run, including five points from Ards and four from Burks, for a 57-47 lead with 11:20 to go.

The Blue Devils rallied for the next 11 points to take a one-point advantage at 6:52. The Warhawks responded again, this time with a 13-3 spurt, to take a 70-61 lead with four minutes left after a free throw by Burks.

UW-Stout narrowed its deficit to one possession with 1:40 to go, but Burks responded with a 3-pointer at the 1:13 mark for a 73-67 advantage.

The Warhawks held on despite five straight Blue Devil points and a game-winning shot attempt by UW-Stout just before the buzzer.

UW-Whitewater visits No. 7 UW-Platteville Wednesday. Tipoff is slated for 7 p.m.