Gymnasts, wrestlers have strong showings in recent contests
By Kevin Cunningham
Sports Correspondent
In the lone meet for the Whippets this past week, the team swam against Fort Atkinson at home Jan. 22. Despite some wins for the Whippets throughout the final dual meet of the season, Fort Atkinson went on to win, 109-60.
Head coach Joan Domitrz said the team had a few best times, and Benny Liang led the way with two first-place finishes, coming in the 100-butterly and 100-breaststroke events. Liang was also a part of the 400-freestyle relay win, swimming with Andrew Gildner, Jack Downs and Seth Bols.
In the 200-Medley relay, a second-place finish ensued for Gildner, Liang, Bols and Dineth Gunawardena. Bols got second in the 200-I.M. as well, and Gildner took second in the 100-backstroke.
Third-place finishes were Downs in the 50 and 500-freestyles, and the 200-freestyle relay, which was swam by Mohamed Mohamed, Michael Kuhl, Jacob Korf and Downs.
For the junior varsity squad, Devin Samaranayake had the team’s only first-place finish, which came in the 100-breaststroke. Nick Kuzoff also took third in the 100-freestyle and second in the 100-breastroke.
New bests for gymnasts
The Whitewater gymnastics team also had one meet as well this past week, being the SWCCB Invite on Saturday, which took place at Southwestern High School. The Whippets earned a total team score of 121.875 and head coach Jennifer Galbrecht said it was a tough, competitive field with many top schools in the state.
Despite the upper-echelon competition, senior Kelly O’Hara broke her previous all-time school record on the floor of 9.35 with a 9.425. The routine earned her a first-place finish and helped her obtain a 35.225 all-around score, which was good for second overall in the meet.
O’Hara got second-place on the vault and took fourth on the beam to go along with her floor-winning routine. Other standouts were Autumn Lesar and Sydney Treder, as the two set new career-highs in the vault.
Amanda Kraayvanger was another gymnast who set a career-high score, with hers coming on the floor. Galbrecht also said many junior varsity girls improved on their past scores as well, naming Meikayla Korf, Emily Eisner, Carmen Kraayvanger, Sage Spear and Morgan Wiedenhoeft.
“We had quite a few falls on beam and didn’t have as clean of bars as we did at our previous meet so still have some room to improve there,” Galbrecht said. “The team had an awesome day on vault and floor however. We know some spots we can focus on at practice this meet to improve for the invitational next Saturday.”
That next meet for the team on Saturday is set to start at 11:30 a.m. and will take place at Elkhorn High School, against Elkhorn, Jefferson and Milton.
Big win for wrestlers
The Whippets’ wrestling team saw action twice this past week, starting with a dual against Edgerton on Jan. 21 at home. Thanks to the home crowd and a superior performance, the Whippets got the win at home, 51-15.
Whitewater won 10 of the 13 total matches against Edgerton, with seven wrestlers earning 6-0 victories. Those wrestlers were Tommy Cushman in the 120-weight class, Jimmy Cushman in the 138-weight class, Victor Fernandez in the 152-weight class, Thomas McManaway in the 160-weight class, Jimmy DuVal in the 182-weight class, Bryce Peche in the 220-weight class and Daniel Soto in the 285-weight class.
Three other wrestlers won their matches, 3-0, those being Tyler Gamble in the 106-weight class, Michael Fernandez in the 132-weight class and Max Reid in the 170-weight class. The team moved on from the win with a tournament in Monroe just two days later.
This year there were 11 teams in the tournament. Head coach John Schimming said it is always a great tournament and there were some great tests for his team.
“Although the team did not reach its goal of bringing home a plaque for a top-two finish, the team did have individuals who were able to bring home some hardware,” Schimming said. “The tournament did allow for us to bring a couple extra guys if there was an opening in the 8-man brackets and we were fortunate to bring Jose Villegas along at 106.”
Villegas took down the No. 3-seed in his first match of the day, and then lost to his teammate, Gamble. In that next match, Villegas took his opponent down in just 12 seconds before wrestling, and winning, earning himself a bronze medal.
Gamble lost in a tough match in the finals, Schimming said, but wrestled well throughout, earning a second-place finish. Fernandez had the best tournament of his career, going 3-1 and losing to the eventual champion in the Semifinal round.
Reid won the championship at this event a year ago, but after a grueling Semifinal match, Schimming said conditioning proved to be the difference, eventually coming up short in the Finals and taking home the silver.
Soto earned two pins in his route to a title, beating a wrestler, 6-2, from Cuba City, who was an honorable mention in the state rankings entering this tournament.
The wrestling team’s next meet will come in a match against Kettle Moraine. The team is off this week, and the match is slated to begin at 7 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 2 at Whitewater High School.
