By Kevin Cunningham
Sports Correspondent
On Dec. 10, the Whitewater High School wrestling team hosted an 11-team invitational that featured “some very good competition,” according to Whippets head coach John Schimming. Much like a week ago, this invitational was formatted as a scramble format, meaning the wrestlers had the opportunity to compete in five separate matches depending on how successful they were.
For Whitewater, four different student-athletes came away with medals and two took home the gold.
“Leading the way for Whitewater was Tyler Gamble at 106 pounds and Jimmy DuVal at 182 pounds each bringing home the gold medal in their respective weight class,” Schimming said. “Ernesto Magana at 195 pounds had one blemish on his record on the day falling to a very good young man from Illinois yet was still able to come home with a silver medal. Closing out the medalist for the whippets was Thomas McManaway who came home with a bronze finish.”
Schimming also talked about Tyler Sheffield, who lost his initial match of the invitational, but responded with four straight wins to end his weekend. Due to the first loss, it dropped him from contention of earning a medal.
As a team, the Whippets finished in fifth-place and Schimming said there were some highs and some lows, leading to things the team can work on going forward.
“As coaches we stress that each time we go out to compete we are evaluating what we are doing well to work off of and what we are not doing so well that we can focus on to be more prepared the next time we hit the mat,” he said.
Following the Whitewater Invitational, the team began its conference dual portion of the season on Dec. 13 against Jefferson. To open up its first dual, the Whippets came away victorious, winning, 43-33.
“The dual started with a great match at 160 pounds with Tyler Lippens dropping a close well wrestled match 6-7,” Schimming said. “Thomas McManaway followed with a really nice win 7-0. Thomas stayed in great position the whole time allowing him to secure a win for the whippets. Tyler Sheffield and Jimmy DuVal then opened the Whippet lead to 15-3 with two pins.”
He also talked about Magana, who played a team-role to help ensure a Whippet victory. Magana wrestled up one weight class to help fill a need for the team and Schimming said he has continued to show improvement, winning his match, 12-2.
The meet then started to turn Jefferson’s way, but the Whippets’ Jose Villegas turned the dual back in Whitewater’s favor with a pin. After Villegas’ win, Hiqment Dauti closed out the victories for Whitewater with his first period pin at the 145-weight class.
“Overall the team wrestled quite well in the dual and the coaching staff was pleased with some adjustments guys have made to help improve their wrestling,” Schimming said. “The goal is to continue to improve each time they walk onto the mat and the coaches feel as though that happened on Tuesday night.”
