O’Hara wins conference in gymnastics; Reid wrestles his way to state
By Kevin Cunningham
Sports Correspondent
On Feb. 13 the Whitewater High School boys swimming team competed at Sectionals and two individual boys qualified for the state meet. Benny Liang qualified in the 100-yard butterfly and in the 100-yard breaststroke and Seth Bols in the 200 I.M.
The 200-medley relay swam by Andrew Gildner, Bols, Liang and Dineth Gunawardena also qualified that day. Then on Feb. 19, the boys hit the pool for the state meet and Liang repeated as state champion in the 100-yard breaststroke.
Liang swam his first 50 in 26.76 and the entire 100 in 58.64, setting a new school record. His coach, Joan Domitrz, said Liang knew he had to step up his training in and out of the pool, and he did just that.
“His off-season training with the J-Hawks and the commitment to this season’s training never wavered,” Domitrz said. “Benny also took 3rd place in the 100-butterfly with a time of 52.28. Both of these swims were lifetime best times.”
Along with Liang’s repetition of state champion came Bols’ 16th-place finish in the 200 I.M. The 200-medley relay ended up finishing one spot better, in 15th. Each of the four swims by the Whippets were best-times.
“Three members of the relay team (Andrew, Seth and Dineth) had never competed at the State level before and it was great to see them step up and own their events,” Domitrz said. “Competing at the state level also provided a good experience for Seth and Dineth as returnees for next season. As seniors, this was Benny and Andrew’s last meet (a bittersweet moment for all of us) (…) we will miss them next year!
“The team had a great fan section. We want to thank all the teammates, parents, family and friends that were there to cheer on the boys.”
Of 34 total teams competing, Whitewater closed its season with a 15th-place finish.
O’Hara wins all-around
Also on Feb. 19, the Whippets’ gymnastics team participated in the conference meet and came out with an overall winner in senior, Kelly O’Hara. O’Hara won the all-around competition against multiple Division I and D-II gymnasts.
Alongside her all-around win came first-place finishes in the vault and beam events. Whippets head coach Jennifer Galbrecht spoke highly of her senior standout.
“To win overall in this conference is amazing,” she said. “She’s such a talented gymnast and it is nice to see her finally put everything together for her senior year and come out from this meet [as] conference champ.”
As a team, the Whippets had a lot of falls throughout the meet according to Galbrecht, but the team finished fourth at the meet and tied for third overall in the conference. Two freshmen, Sydney Treder and Autumn Lesar, stood out to Galbrecht as well, often times finishing right behind O’Hara for the Whippets.
“Overall this meet there were a lot of ups and downs,” Galbrecht said. “For the last week of practice we will definitely be focusing on cleaning things up and getting quality routines completed. I am positive that this team will work hard throughout the course of this week so we can finish on a really high note at Sectionals on Friday.”
Reid heading to state
The Whippets’ wrestling team had three athletes participating at the sectional meet on Feb. 20 and if they finished in the top-three, they would punch their ticket to the state competition, which begins on Feb. 27. Of the three wrestlers, one – Max Reid – placed in the top-three, finishing in third, and will advance to participate at the Kohl Center in Madison, Wis.
Reid got a pin in his quarterfinal match and then lost in his semifinal match to the No. 1-ranked D-II wrestler in the state. In his next match, he won 5-4, advancing to the third-place match. He needed to win in order to advance to state and he did, pinning his opponent in the first period.
According to Whippets head coach John Schimming, Reid will compete on Thursday evening at the Kohl Center. Alongside Reid for the Whippets were Jimmy DuVal and Thomas McManaway.
DuVal ended up losing in the semifinal match and falling just short of advancing with Reid.
“Saturday was a great learning day for Jimmy as he experienced those ups and downs and realizes he is good enough to be in the state tournament and will use Saturday’s loss to drive him for next season.”
McManaway had a difficult time from the start but wrestled his heart out, according to Schimming, and finished the year going 31-14. McManaway is also a junior and will be back next year competing for the Whippets.
Schimming said if fans are unable to go to the state tournament in person they can follow along online at trackwrestling.com.
