Today is Thursday, October 8, 2026
It was a great weekend of wrestling for the Whippets! The girls won the team conference championship, and the varsity boys finished only one point behind 2nd place Monroe. The JV team also wrestled well on Friday night.
Girls’ Conference Tournament:
On Saturday, February 8, the Lady Whippets had an opportunity to compete in the first ever Girls’ Rock Valley Conference Wrestling Tournament held at East Troy High School. The girls wrestled extremely well throughout the day, filling 10 of the 12 weight classes, bringing home 4 championships, 4 runner-up finishers, and the team title!
Isabelle Cantu started things off reaching the championship securing a pin in the semi-finals to advance to the finals. In the finals she had a very strong girl, dropping the match and bringing home the silver medal.
Due the tournament being new, teams were allowed to enter more than one girl per weight class. The 107-pound weight class found an all Whitewater Final with both girls securing pins in the semifinals. In the finals, Senior Adalynn Frye was able to take Ema Aranda down to her back and secure the first period pin, bringing home Whitewater’s first Girls’ Conference Champion.
Winning the title at 126 pounds was A’Lani Ross, who had a strong girl from Turner. She was able to build a big lead and then secured a second period pin to bring home the 2nd title for Whitewater.
Following A’Lani was Atreya Wilson at 132. She had a girl from Jefferson who had defeated her a week and a half ago. Atreya came out with a game plan for herself, getting the first takedown, and controlled the match from there forward. She was able to secure a pin in the second period after leading 9-2 and claimed the 3rd conference title of the day.
Coming in runner up at 138 pounds was Vivian Harris who found herself against a returning state place winner from Monroe. She is a very strong girl who has excellent technique, pinning Harris in the first period.
With a move to help the team battle for the team title, Payton Taylor wrestled up a weight class and did a great job against a strong girl from East Troy. Payton had great movement when she was on the bottom and was able to get the reversal and did a great job putting in a half nelson to the girls’ back. Payton was slow close to the pin but got just a little high on the girl and got rolled to her back in a tight hold. It was great work by Payton making adjustments. This is Payton’s first year, so just a little more mat time experience would have put her into a better position in the attempt for the pin.
Closing out the finals was Marianna Kubicz who also moved up a weight to help the team contend for the team title. Marianna was able to bring home a championship for the Whippets.
Also doing a great job after a tough semifinal loss was Silvia Harris. She came back strong in her Bronze Medal match, building a lead and then securing a 16-4 major decision to earn herself a conference medal.
Also wrestling well and helping the team in the team race was Alexa Arredondo who had a tough weight class but secured a 4th place finish. Aubrey Fuoco also wrestled tough in both the semifinals and in her 3rd place match but fell short in each of them coming home with a 4th place finish.
When the final tally came in for the team scores, the Whippet Girls found themselves on top of the conference and brought home the first ever Rock Valley Conference Team Championship. This was truly a team effort with all girls contributing to the title.
The girls are next in action when they move on to the individual portion of the season as they travel to Mukwonago for the Individual Regional Tournament on Friday, February 14, starting at 3:30. The top four wrestlers in each weight class from Friday advance to the individual sectional to be held at Whitewater High School.
Boys’ Conference Tournament:
On Saturday, February 8, the Boys’ Wrestling Team traveled to East Troy to compete in the Rock Valley Conference Wrestling Tournament. Overall, the team did very well, wrestling potentially the best they have as a team during the season to this point. When the dust settled after lots of great wrestling, the Whippets found themselves in 3rd place in the team standings behind Evansville and Monroe. The coaching staff was happy with this placement as they really competed well overall as each student competed their heart out and found themselves just outside of the top two losing to Monroe by 1 point!
Jarvis Porcaro and Connor Friend each closed out their Conference Tournament careers improving on last year’s Runner-Up finish by bringing home the championship for themselves. Jarvis had a very strong day defeating three opponents. In the finals he had great positioning over a strong student from Evansville.
Connor had found himself in the finals the last three seasons but each year just missed out on his title. He changed that today with three dominating performances, securing a 2nd period Technical Fall 18-3 in the championship.
Dropping matches early in the tournament but showing grit and true character were Jasen Porras, Traysen Thomason. and Junior Soto, each bringing home the Bronze Medal. All three of these seniors improved on their placement from last season to bring home the medal this year. Jasen had a tough semifinal loss and showed grit by coming back, getting a technical fall. Then, in the 3rd place match, he wrestled a great match against a tough competitor from Evansville winning the match in overtime, causing the Whippet crowd to erupt.
Traysen Thomason had a tough loss in the semifinals against a young man from Monroe that he has often had battles with the last two years. Traysen came back to secure a technical fall in the wrestle back and then brought home the bronze medal with a 9-3 victory.
Closing out our medalists was Junior Soto. Junior lost a tough first round match but kept his head up and battled back. He pinned his opponent from Turner and then followed that with a great match against a young man from Edgerton who had defeated him earlier in the season. He built a big lead and was able to battle through a scramble to end up pinning his opponent to reach the bronze match. In this match Junior wrestled extremely well, winning the match 6-4.
Bringing home 5th place for the Whippets were Richi Kalra and Austin Retzlaff. Richi went 4-2 on the day, getting some nice wins along the way. Austin defeated a student from Edgerton two times at the tournament, avenging an earlier season loss.
The Whippets are next in action next Saturday, February 15 when they travel to Delavan-Darien to participate in the Regional Wrestling tournament. The top four place winners at that event will advance to the Sectional Tournament the following weekend.
Articles and Photos Submitted by John Schimming
Whitewater High School Head Wrestling Coach
jschimming@wwusd.org
The Whippet Swim Team had four compete at JV Conference on Tuesday, February 4th. Angel Kilar, Sam Nickelsburg, Xavier Ortiz and Isaac Straight all showed up and swam some really strong and impressive races.
The four of them teamed up to compete in the 200 Medley Relay. Each of them put up impressive splits, Xavier 37.41 in the 50 Back, Isaac 40.44 in the 50 Breaststroke, Sam 32.71 in the 50 Fly, and Angel 36.43 in the 50 FR. Their times were good enough for a 3rd place finish!
Sam crushed his 200 Freestyle dropping 7 seconds and securing a 5th place medal finish!
Isaac and Angel both swam some pretty fast 50 Freestyles finishing 10 & 12 respectively.
Angel had an 8th place finish in the 100 Freestyle going right on his best time!
The four of them worked together to secure another 3rd place finish, this time in the 200 Freestyle Relay!
Isaac and Xavier took on the 100 Breaststroke. Isaac dropped 3 seconds to go a time of 1:26.61 and take home a 4th place medal. Xavier also dropped over 4 seconds to go a best time of 1:36.54 and finished 7th overall.
Up next, the boys will be competing at the Southern Lakes Conference Meet at Beloit Memorial on Saturday, February 8. Swimming starts at 11 am; we hope to see you there!
Article and Photo Submitted by Sarah Reynolds
Whitewater High School Head Swim Coach
ReynoldsSM07@uww.edu
Late Saturday morning, February 1, leading into early afternoon provided fans of wrestling with some great action to take in as the Whitewater Boys’ and Girls’ Wrestling teams closed out their home season with dual meets against the Panthers of Oregon.
The day started off with 20 great match ups between the two teams as weights aligned very well and all students from both teams had the opportunity to compete in front of their parents and family on parent/senior night. At the end of the JV competition the Whippets found to be on the positive side of approximately ⅔ of the matches so it was a great showing and very positive way to close out the home season.
Girls’ Wrestling Hosts First Ever Dual Meet Under the Light
Following the Boys’ JV the Girls’ Team had the opportunity to wrestle under the spotlight for the first time ever at Whitewater High School. This was a very nice experience as it had the exact same feel that fans are used to seeing when the boys compete, with the spotlight and their famous 30 seconds of walkout music that pumps them up. The girls wrestled very well with Isabelle Cantu, Aubrey Fuoco, Payton Taylor, and Marianna Kubicz all coming away with wins on the night. Aubrey had the match of the night as she was losing 3-0 in the 3rd period. She chose to go on top when it was her choice and she used lots of grit to turn her opponent to take a lead 4-3 and then turned her again this time to seal the pin. It was a very nice moment for a young lady who had just joined wrestling for the first time this year. Marianna Kubicz closed things out for the girls with a 2nd period reversal and then turned the girl to her back to secure the pin for the Whippets. Unfortunately, Oregon Girls were too much to handle and the Whippets dropped the dual meet 24-42, but it was definitely a step in the right direction for the growth of girls’ wrestling in the area having a dual meet with the same atmosphere as we are used to seeing the boys have at home.
Boys Fall to Oregon in Close Dual Meet
The boys’ team closed out the day’s events with a very good dual meet that saw them fall just short to a very strong Panther team. Oregon is a favorite to win their regional in two weeks, and the Whippets held their own. Unfortunately, in the end a couple of tough losses were too much for the Whippets to overcome, falling 36-38. Junior Soto got the team on the board first with what may have been his best wrestling match of his career as he wrestled extremely smart vs an opponent that was significantly bigger than he was. Junior was able to stay in great position on top and used perfect technique to turn his opponent over for the pin. The Whippets followed with a couple of forfeits at 106 and 113 by Cooper Housel and Juan Garrafa. This brought us to one of the featured matches of the day where Jarvis Porcaro had a very talented opponent from Oregon. Jarvis just missed out on a takedown on the edge of the mat in the first period as his foot just came off the mat; as they say sports are inches from success or failure sometimes. This really could have been a swing in the match. Jarvis ended up wrestling to the bitter end but dropped a tough decision. After a couple more tough loses for the Whippets, Connor Friend came out and went to work securing a pin to bring the Whippets back where they needed to be, needing one win to secure a victory. Another pivotal match occurred at 150 pounds where Traysen Thomason had a great opponent whom he had narrowly beaten at the mid-states 7-6. This was a match that came right to the end with Traysen falling 7-8. Avi Kalra closed out the scoring for the Whippets with a pin at 165 to bring the score to the final of 36-38.
A big thank you goes out to all parents and family members who make wrestling possible for their sons and daughters. Also, a congratulations goes out to the seniors as they competed on the Whippet home wrestling mat for the final time on Saturday. It was a nice career for all of them, and we look forward to seeing what the future holds in the tournaments series as well as their future selves.
The Lady Whippets are next in action on Tuesday night, February 4, when they travel to Beloit Turner for a quad starting at 5:30. Both teams then close out the regular season on Wednesday night at Janesville Craig. Friday night sees the JV team traveling to East Troy to compete in the JV Conference Tournament followed by the boys’ and girls’ teams traveling to East Troy on Saturday morning for the RVC Conference Tournament. Wrestling begins on Saturday at 9:15.
Article Submitted by John Schimming
Whitewater High School Head Wrestling Coach
jschimming@wwusd.org
Following a tough loss the night before, the boys’ varsity wrestling team traveled to Monroe for an individual tournament on Saturday, January 25. The boys recovered quickly from the previous day’s disappointment. Since the tournament was individual, each wrestler had their own personal goals for the day. It was inspiring to see them test their determination in the quest for victory and overcome adversity throughout the event.
Leading the way was Jarvis Porcaro. He opened the day by winning his first match by pinning his opponent. This victory propelled him into the semifinal match against a competitor from Belmont/Platteville, where he won decisively by a major decision, 15-1. This win advanced him to the finals against a tough wrestler from Boscobel/Wauzeka-Steuben. We believe this was one of Jarvis’s best matches of the year. He displayed persistence throughout the match and secured the victory with a last-second takedown.
As mentioned earlier, each wrestler had individual goals, and most were able to achieve at least some of them. Following Jarvis in the tournament standings were Jason Porras, Traysen Thomason, and Avi Kalra. All three wrestlers won their first-round matches but lost in the second round. This loss placed them in contention for fifth place, which they fought hard to attain.
Overall, it was a very successful tournament. The Whippets finished 9th out of 16 teams, despite competing with only 11 wrestlers. The coaches were impressed with how the team performed after a tough loss the night before. As a team, they have committed to continuous improvement throughout the season, aiming to peak at the right time.
Article and Photo Courtesy of John Schimming
Whitewater High School Head Wrestling Coach
jschimming@wwusd.org
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