On Saturday, February 3, the Whitewater Wrestling Team traveled to Delavan-Darien High School to participate in the Rock Valley Individual Conference Championships. This tournament involved all 11 teams with their individual wrestlers looking to bring home a championship at their weight class.
Overall, Whitewater performed very well coming in runner-up as a team behind Evansville. As a coaching staff it was exciting to see multiple wrestlers wrestle above their seeds and some at the best they have been all year to this point.
Leading the way for Whitewater was Payton Lyon who found the second time was a charm bringing home a conference championship at 190 pounds for the Whippets. Payton had 3 pins on the day to check off one of his goals on being a conference champ!
Reaching the finals but coming up short included Jarvis Porcaro (120), Connor Friend (132) and Sebastian Cuellar (165). All three of these Whippets had very tough opponents in the finals, all of them being highly ranked, and one being a 2x defending state champion. These guys remember their last match, but they wrestled very well throughout the day to reach the finals.
Wrestling very well throughout the day and to wrestle above their seeds were Jesus Barajas (175) and Ethan Barels (215). Each of these wrestlers brought home the bronze medal, securing great wins in the last match of the day and helping secure the second place finish for the team.
Also wrestling very well was JJ Gonzalez (157). After a heartbreaking overtime loss in the opening round, JJ battled back and had the opportunity to get a rematch with his first round opponent, this time coming up with a pin after building a 7 point lead. JJ showed great composure coming back from the early loss.
Closing out the scoring for the Whippets and getting wins during the day to help the Whippet’s team score were Jasen Porras (113), Brady Friend (126), Curtis Rossmiller (138), Traysen Thomason (144), and Junior Soto (HWT).
The Whitewater team is next in action when they travel to Clinton High School to participate in the Regional Wrestling Tournament. Wrestling will begin at 10:00 on Saturday morning, February 10.
Article and Photos Submitted by John Schimming
Whitewater High School Head Wrestling Coach
jschimming@wwusd.org
