To close out 2025, the Whippet Wrestling Team hosted the 53rd annual Mid-States Wrestling Classic held at UWW and hosted by Whitewater High School. The field of teams this year was as usual quite competitive with teams from Illinois and Wisconsin competing over the two-day event. As a fan following the tournament for the first time who is familiar with Illinois wrestling told me, “Boy those are some top notch teams in that tournament.” That it was, and it proved to be a good test for the Whitewater Team.
Leading the way for the Whippets was freshman Gabe Crane who had some very tough matches over the course of the two days. He was in some very tight battles three times over the tournament, which is exactly what Gabe needed, and he proved that he has improved since the first competition of the season in early December. The Mid-States medals the top 8 individuals in their weight classes. Gabe found himself reaching the podium as a freshman in 8th place.
Also having a good tournament was Brady Friend who was 4-3 over the course of the two days with again some very competitive matches for himself. Brady had a couple of pins as well as a couple of hard-fought wins along the way. Brady ended up finishing in 11th place at 138 lbs. Although he stated he should have been on the podium, as a coaching staff we are seeing steady improvement from Brady, and he shows that desire to want to better no matter the outcome.
Austin Retzlaff at 215 lbs had a nice two days as he finished in 12th place going 4-4 over the course of the two days. Austin had some really significant wins on day one that placed him in contention for a medal on day two. He dropped a couple of close matches dropping him into 12th place.
The Whippets have a busy week as we head back to school from the winter break. On Thursday, January 8, the team travels to Monroe to take on the Cheesemakers in a big Rock Valley Conference Dual meet. Saturday, the Varsity then travels to Clinton to take part in a 12 team tournament. The JV boys will be staying in Whitewater as they host a 21 team JV Challenge Series where the top 3 contestants at each weight class earn a trip to the JV Challenge Series Finals. And finally, the Girls will travel to Muskego to take part in a large girls’ tournament on Saturday.