DuVal, Soto wrestle to championships; O’Hara breaks three records
By Kevin Cunningham
Sports Correspondent
On Feb. 6, the Southern Lakes Conference Swim Championships were held and out of seven total teams, Whitewater High School placed fifth. The Whippets totaled 229 points, while the meet’s winner, Lake Geneva Badger, garnered 519.
Another third-place finish came from Bols in the 100-Yard Freestyle. Bols posted a time of 53.42 in the finals. The final third-place finish was in the 400-Yard Freestyle Relay, as Bols, Gildner, Jack Downs and Liang recorded a 3:39.16.
A few third-place finishes as well as a couple first-place finishes took place, highlighting the day for Whitewater. In the 200-Yard Medley Relay, the quartet of Andrew Gildner, Benny Liang, Seth Bols and Dineth Gunawardena earned a third-place finish with a time of 1:48.98. Their time was 0.94 off Badger’s first-place team.
Another third-place finish came from Bols in the 100-Yard Freestyle. Bols posted a time of 53.42 in the finals. The final third-place finish was in the 400-Yard Freestyle Relay, as Bols, Gildner, Jack Downs and Liang recorded a 3:39.16.
The two first-place finishes came way via Liang, with wins in the 100-Yard Butterfly and the 100-Yard Breaststroke. In the butterfly, Liang had a time of 54.11, and in the breaststroke, took home the victory with his 1:02.35, which was more than three seconds faster than the next competitor.
The team’s swimming season comes to a close with its fifth-place finish, but the WIAA Sectionals will be held on Feb. 13.
Wrestling team third
Also on Feb. 6, the Whitewater wrestling team competed in its conference meet, it being the Rock Valley Conference Meet, held at Edgerton High School. Eleven teams competed, and by the day’s end, two Whippets won championships while the team finished in third-place overall.
Jimmy DuVal in the 182-weight class and Daniel Soto in the heavyweight earned first-place medals. After cruising through his matches up until the final, DuVal found himself matched up with a wrestler from Evansville who he had lost to earlier in the season, 3-2.
This time around, it was DuVal who came out victorious, 3-2, in overtime for the championship. For Soto, his work came easier in the final, as 31 seconds into the match, he pinned his Evansville opponent. Both DuVal and Soto were first-time conference championship winners.
Adrian Casillas was another standout, as he ended up taking a silver medal home. Casillas wrestled really well according to Whippet head coach John Schimming, and in the final, lost to an Evansville wrestler who had earned a state medal in his past.
Evansville ended up winning the meet while Beloit Turner took second. The Whippets now enter the WIAA Regional Tournament which begins on Saturday at Big Foot. The top-two competitors in each weight class will advance to the Sectional Tournament, which takes place the very next week.
O’Hara strong across the board
On Feb. 8, the Whitewater gymnastics team competed against the Burlington Area School District and fitting, on senior night, Whippets senior Kelly O’Hara broke three school records. The team lost, 134.175-118.125, but O’Hara broke the all-around, floor and beam records held by previous Whippets.
On the floor, it was her own record she broke, posting a score of 9.5. On the beam, the senior scored a 9.4, besting Kim Stonewerth’s score set back in 2011.
In the process, O’Hara set the new all-around record with her score of 36.175. Between O’Hara’s vault (which she also won), floor and beam scores, each of the three events were won by at least 0.425 points.
In the all-around, the senior’s 36.175 bested her teammates’ second and third-place scores of 26.35 and 26.275, held by Autumn Lesar and Nicole Tomomitsu, respectively. Whippets head coach Jennifer Galbrecht was pleased not only with O’Hara, but the entire team.
“This is such a neat way for Kelly to end the final home meet of her career and all the coaches couldn’t be more excited for her,” Galbrecht said. “We had five varsity gymnasts compete all-around and they did a fantastic job. Amanda Kraayvanger had a personal best on beam and we had many JV girls with no falls this meet on beam. It’s nice to see other girls getting skills put together to be able to compete and add to the team score.”
Before the SLC Championship takes place on Feb. 19, the team heads to Platteville to take on Platteville, Southwestern and Sauk Prairie on Saturday. The meet is scheduled to start at 11 a.m.
