Today is Tuesday, November 26, 2024
The Whippet Wrestling Team closed out 2023 by hosting the Mid-States Wrestling Classic Tournament held on the campus of UWW. This was the 45th year this tournament has taken place in which 42 teams gathered to compete on six mats over the course of two days.
Whitewater had ten team members competing in the tournament, and they competed well. The Whippets had five reach what Coach Schimming calls the blood round. This is the round that has winners move onto day two and claim a place in the top 12. Jesus Barajas and Vicente Soto both dropped tough losses in the blood round, just missing out on day two. Both guys competed very well on day one, finishing 2-2 in the tournament.
Jarvis Porcaro, Connor Friend, and Payton Lyon each made day 2. Porcaro and Lyon reached the quarterfinals before dropping their first loss while Connor Friend had three first period pins on day 1 to reach the semi-finals.
On day two, Porcaro won his first match, putting him on the podium as a top 8 finisher. Jarvis had two hard fought matches, unfortunately dropping them, and putting him in 8th place.
Payton Lyon dropped his first match on day two, unfortunately removing him from the podium, but he came back strong wrestling a very good match to put himself into the 9th place match. In the placement round Payton wrestled very well but came up just short in the 3rd period.
Connor Friend had a very good tournament. To open day two in the semifinals, he wrestled the number 1 seed from Sun Prairie. At the end of regulation, it was tied 6-6 so it went into 1 minute overtime where the first points win the match. The two got into a very intense scramble situation with Connor on the losing end. It is always tough to come back from a close loss in a big tournament. Connor drew a young man from Pecatonica whom he had lost to two weeks ago but wrestled a very patient match. Down 0-3 in the 3rd period, Connor got an escape and worked very hard pushing through a tough takedown attempt, putting his opponent to his back, and then securing the pin! The win put Connor into the 3rd place match and again, Connor kept composure and patience down in the 3rd period. Again, the patience paid off as Connor was able to secure a pin, bringing home the bronze medal. Connor was 5-1 in the tournament with 5 pins, and his sole loss was a very well contested overtime match.
The coaching staff was very happy with the performance of the team. Although we did not have as many make the podium as we would like, we felt like the team came and competed, and that is what we ask every time we take the mat in practice or competition.
Thank you to all that helped provide goods for the workers’ room and a big thank you for the great job the team did clearing three mats for the finals, then cleaning up and returning the mats to the high school. The tournament is a huge undertaking for the team, and they did great.
Next up for the Whippets is a Rock Valley Conference dual against Delavan-Darien on Thursday, January 4 at Delavan. The JV then hosts a 30-team tournament at Whitewater High School, and the girls travel to Kenosha Bradford on Saturday, January 6th.
Article Submitted by John Schimming
Whitewater High School Head Wrestling Coach
jschimming@wwusd.org
Photo Courtesy of Bob Mischka
By Broderick Frye
Asst. Sports Information Director
River Falls, Wis. – The University of Wisconsin-Whitewater men’s basketball team finished the Radisson Holiday Classic, surpassing the century mark in a 105-71 win over Northland on December 30.
Northland scored the first basket of the game, but it took them seven minutes to find the next as the Warhawk defense started out the game, forcing seven turnovers. On the offensive end, the Warhawks scored 18 straight points, jumping out to a 20-4 lead at the 13-minute mark.
The Lumberjacks started relying on the three ball to close the gap but had no luck as the Warhawks kept finding ways to score. UW-Whitewater was up 32-16 with eight minutes left in the half.
At the break, the Warhawks led 53-32 over Northland. A large portion of the Warhawk points came off turnovers, forcing 13 Northland turnovers and converting them into 22 points.
The second half was similar, with the Warhawks expanding their lead to 30 points midway through the half (77-47). The Warhawks didn’t stop there, hitting the century mark with 50 seconds left in the contest.
UW-Whitewater closed the game from there, defeating the Lumberjacks 105-71.
Four Warhawks hit double digits in the contest. Jameer Barker (Racine, Wis./St. Catherine’s) led the team with 15 points. Barker also dished out five assists and pulled down four rebounds.
Miles Barnstable (Sheboygan, Wis./Howards Grove), Carter Capstran (Franklin, Wis./Franklin), and Delvin Barnstable (Sheboygan, Wis./Sheboygan Lutheran) all had 12 points. Capstran led the team with six rebounds. James Kelley (Milwaukee, WI/St. John’s Northwestern Military Academy) helped his teammates out in scoring, dishing out five assists.
Northland was led by Jordan Brennan, scoring 25 points. The Warhawks won the battle on the glass, collecting 42 rebounds to Northland’s 22.
UW-Whitewater will return home for their next game, kicking off WIAC play against UW-Oshkosh. The Titans were picked to finish second in the conference at the beginning of the season. The tip-off is at 7 p.m. on January 3rd, 2024.
St. Thomas More beat Whitewater 52-27 in girls’ basketball action at Whitewater High School on Thursday, December 28. St. Thomas More jumped out to an early double-digit lead and led 27-9 at halftime.
Danielle DePorter was the leading Whippet scorer with 9 points, making all 4 of her free-throw attempts.
Whitewater hosts Deerfield on January 5, Big Foot on January 9, and Edgerton on January 12 to start the new year.
Article Submitted by Mike Dowden
Whitewater High School Head Girls’ Basketball Coach
dowmi01@wwusd.org
Photo Courtesy of Bob Mischka
The Whippet Wrestlers traveled to East Troy to participate in their first conference dual meet of the season and came away with a very nice 51-23 victory to start off the conference season. Whippets picking up wins in the dual included Ema Aranda, Jarvis Porcaro, Connor Friend, Traysen Thomason, Odair Porras, Sebastian Cuellar, Jesus Barajas, Payton Lyon, and Junior Soto. The entire team wrestled well in the dual which was a great start to the evening.
After the win against East Troy, the team closed out the evening with a non-conference dual meet against New Berlin. This was a very tough dual meet with the Whippets down 12-36 with five weight classes to compete. Connor Friend got the ball rolling with a pin at 138, and the team did not slow down going into the last match of the evening at 165 pounds. The Whippets were down 33-36 needing a major decision or better to seal the victory. Sebastian Cuellar came out against a very tough opponent that was back and forth with two very athletic students. Sebastian had a big move to start the 2nd period going up 7-1. He then was able to secure a pin, thus erupting the Whippet bench and bringing home the 39-36 victory.
The wins on the evening improved the Whippets to 5-1 on the season heading into the winter break. The team is next in action on Friday and Saturday, December 29 and 30, hosting the Mid-States Wrestling Tournament at the UWW campus. This event will include 41 teams from Wisconsin and Illinois.
Article and Photo Courtesy of John Schimming
Whitewater High School Head Wrestling Coach
jschimming@wwusd.org
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