The Whitewater Wrestling team finished up a busy week of competition culminating in hosting their 10th annual Whitewater Invitational on December 9. Saturday consisted of the varsity team competing against 14 other top-notch teams from the area including many division one programs. The team and individual competition was very stiff, potentially the best overall wrestling we have seen in the ten years of the tournament.
When the tournament ended, the Whippets found themselves in a respectable 5th place behind a very good Riverdale team from southwest Wisconsin who won the tournament, with Burlington coming in second. Third went to Janesville Craig and fourth went to Verona. The coaching staff was happy with the finish as there were some very high-quality teams ahead of the Whippets and thought overall we wrestled well.
Connor Friend was the top placing Whippet coming in 3rd place. Connor lost a tough overtime match against an opponent from Riverdale who had beaten Connor last year quite severely. Connor wrestled very well losing on a scramble in overtime. In the third-place match, Connor was able secure a pin against a very tough young man from Lake Mills.
Nate Black and JJ Gonzalez also had very good days, each losing only one match and going 4-1. Because this is a scramble tournament the timing of their losses prevented them from being in the championship bracket so they did not medal but did wrestle extremely well.
Team Picks Up Two Dual Meet Wins on the Week
On Thursday night, December 7, the wrestlers traveled to Beloit Turner to compete in two dual meets. In dual number one the Whippets took care of Clinton in the first dual 67-12. Coming away with pins in this dual meet were Jarvis Porcaro, Jason Villegas, Brady Friend, Traysen Thomason, Odair Porras, and Sebastian Cuellar.
In the nightcap, the Whippets weathered a storm and were able to hang on to defeat Beloit Turner 48-30. As always, the Whippets vs the Trojans of Turner is a very competitive dual. The Whippets found Turner ahead and gaining momentum as we entered the 138-pound contest when Connor Friend and Traysen Thomason picked up a couple of quick pins. Then JJ Gonzalez and Odair Porras followed with some well wrestled matches to keep the momentum in our direction. After a loss, Jesus Barajas had a big win at 175 sealing the victory for the Whippets. The two wins on the night pushed the Whippets to 3-1 on the season.
The team is next in action on Saturday, December 16, when the varsity and girls’ teams go to the Mount Horeb Invitational and the JV team is at the Elkhorn JV Invitational.
Article Submitted by John Schimming
Whitewater High School Head Wrestling Coach
jschimming@wwusd.org
Action Photo Courtesy of Bob Mischka
