On Saturday morning, January 20, the varsity wrestlers traveled to Monroe to participate in the Monroe Invitational. This year the event featured 15 teams as some teams joined after having their tournament canceled from last weekend’s snow storm. The added teams were some very strong teams, one featuring three returning state champions and another that is going to be in a battle for a regional title in a strong regional in southwest Wisconsin. This was an outstanding test for the Whippet Wrestlers to help analyze where they are as we are three weeks from the tournament series.

The tournament was a tale of contrasting rounds for the team. They started out extremely strong losing only one match, followed by round two where the team only won two of its matches as they ran into some extremely tough opponents in the quarter finals. After a tough round, the coaching staff was concerned on how the team would respond, but they did great, winning all but two of the matches again. One of those wins put Sebastian Cuellar (165) into the finals after a big pin in the semi-finals. Unfortunately, based on the format of the brackets, the only way a wrestler can place in the top 4 is by making the semi-finals. Besides Cuellar, those that won in the 3rd round all put themselves into the 5th place match. 

The final round was another tough round for the Whippets. Cuellar lost a tough match to a young man from Belleville who is having a very strong year, putting Cuellar as runner up at 165 pounds. Junior (Vicente) Soto at heavyweight wrestled extremely well all day finishing with the bronze medal. On the 5th place mat, the Whippets saw Jasen Porras (113), Jarvis Porcaro (120), and Traysen Thomason (144) all secure victories and reach the podium. Cuellar, Soto, Porras, Porcaro, and Thomason all finished the day an impressive 4-1. Finishing the day 3-2 and in 6th place were Connor Friend (132), Odair Porras (150), JJ Gonzalez (157), Jesus Barajas (175), and Payton Lyon (190). 

The team race was very close with the top two teams; Janesville Parker edged Belleville by one point!  Whitewater finished in 6th place with 143 points. The two teams immediately ahead of Whitewater had 144 points. Looking back on the day, had the Whippets picked up just one more win they would have finished in 4th place. Of course, as a coach it hurts to be so close to the top four as a team. However, based on the quality of competition of the tournament, the coaching staff is happy with the performance of the team. 

The Whippets are next in action on Thursday, January 25th, when they travel to compete against a strong Oregon team.

Article Submitted by John Schimming
Whitewater High School Head Wrestling Coach
jschimming@wwusd.org
File Photo Courtesy of Bob Mischka

Whitewater (2-12) fell to Evansville (2-12) in boys’ basketball at Whitewater High School on Thursday night, January 25, by a score of 65-50.

Evansville was led in scoring by Mason Brown with 16 points off the bench. Whitewater was led by sophomore Casey Lyon with 16 points. Evansville’s freshman Karter Tway had 12 points in the second half. 

Next up for the Whippets is Milwaukee Reagan. Whitewater plays at JustAgame Fieldhouse in Wisconsin Dells on Saturday. JV1 and JV2 tip at 2:30 p.m., and Varsity is scheduled to start at 4:10 p.m.

Article Submitted by Mike McCabe
Whitewater High School Head Boys’ Basketball Coach
mccmi01@wwusd.org
Photo Courtesy of Bob Mischka

By Angela Kelm
Asst. Athletic Director for Sports Information

La Crosse, Wis. – The No. 4 University of Wisconsin-Whitewater women’s basketball team suffered its first loss of the 2023-24 campaign Wednesday – 77-66 at UW-La Crosse. 

Box Score

The game was tight until the fourth when the Eagles’ offense took flight. UW-La Crosse shot 60-percent (6-10) from the floor and 71-percent (5-7) from three-point range to pull away in the final 10 minutes of action. 

The Warhawks battled back from an early seven-point deficit to knot the game by the end of the first quarter. UW-Whitewater went on a 6-0 run with Aleah Grundahl registering an old-fashioned three-point play followed by a Kacie Carollo triple that brought the score to 17-17 at the end of the first. 

UWW claimed the lead, 27-25, midway through the second quarter on a Maggie Trautsch coast-to-coast layin following a steal. Another Trautsch layup at the 1:47 mark gave UW-Whitewater its largest lead, 35-29. The Eagles hit a jumper and a three-pointer to cut the lead to one, but Katie Hildebrandt capitalized on a second chance opportunity to send UWW into the intermission with a 37-34 lead. 

The third quarter was a roller coaster of a period with three ties and five lead changes. By the end, UW-La Crosse had flipped the three-point advantage in their favor.

The Warhawks trailed by just two at the halfway mark of the fourth before the Eagles really started to heat up from the floor. Following the final media timeout of the game, UWL hit 4-5 of their shots from the floor, including three from long range, and hit all of their free throw opportunities to keep UWW at bay. 

Grundahl and Carollo combined for 52 points in the game. Grundahl had a double-double in hand by halftime and ended with 27 points, bolstered by 9-10 from the free throw line, and 12 rebounds. Carollo chipped in 25 points on 8-16 from the floor, 4-8 from beyond the arc and 5-6 from the charity stripe. She added six boards and five assists. 

The now 17-1 Warhawks maintain position on top of the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference standings with a 6-1 league mark. UWW opens the second round through the WIAC with UW-Oshkosh Saturday, January 27 in Kachel Gym. 

Whitewater JV Gymnastics kicked off a great start to the season last week. The girls have been working very hard on new routines and skills for the meet.

The balance beam was the highlight of the night for the girls. The four girls had a no fall beam routine. Gabriella Pena Perroni scored a high for her at 5.1.

Maddie Joseph and Emy Islas competed on bars. The girls are both freshmen and working very hard on new skills for the bar.

The vault exercises were competed by all freshmen. This was the first time for all five of them competing in a meet. Maggie Maas scored a 5.8, and Amaya Conner scored a 5.9.

Zoe Zei kicked off the floor exercise scoring a 4.7. We had four girls compete the floor exercise and all scored very well.

Whitewater Whippets Gymnastics will have another home meet January 30 at 6:00.

Article Submitted by Shawnda Peters
Whitewater High School Head Gymnastics Coach
speters@wwusd.org