After hosting 3 large wrestling tournaments this season, the Whippets had the opportunity to host their first dual meet of the season on Thursday night. The Monroe Cheesemakers made their way to Whitewater to participate in a first ever dual meet against each other. Whitewater has often seen Monroe in tournaments but due to distance never scheduled a dual meet. This all changed as Monroe and Whitewater are both part of the Rock Valley Conference in the Rock Division. The coaching staff knew this was going to be a challenging home dual meet as Monroe has a very solid team this year.
The dual started off at 138 pounds where Curtis Rossmiller came out strong but could not keep up the pace against a defending state qualifier and ended up getting pinned in the match. Traysen Thomason (144) followed up with a very well wrestled match picking up the decision to get the Whippets on the board. After a couple of weights going against the Whippets, Sebastian Cuellar (165) got things moving in the right direction for Whitewater in a tough match, coming up with a big pin to put the home team down 9-17. Jesus Barajas (175) followed with a very good match, nearly pinning his opponent on a couple of occasions but ended up getting a 10-3 victory and closing the gap to 12-17. Payton Lyon (190) put the Whippets on top with a second period pin. Ethan Barels followed with a very hard fought match coming up just short before Junior Soto got a forfeit at heavyweight putting the Whippets up 24-20 with five weights to go. At 113 Jasen Porras had the opportunity to see his way back on the mat after an early season injury, wrestling a very good match winning 8-4 and putting the Whippets up 27-24 with three to go. Jarvis Porcaro (120) got a major decision 12-4. Freshman Brady Friend walked out on the mat knowing that a victory by him would seal the win for the home team. Brady showed lots of grit, wrestling potentially the best match of the season winning 7-4 and sealing the win for the Whippets 34-25. The win improved their record to 7-1 on season and 3-0 in the conference.
The team is next in action on Thursday night, January 18, when they host the Jefferson Eagles. This will mark both Parents Night and Senior Night for the team. JV will start at 6:00 with the varsity competing at 7:00. The team would love to see a packed house in their battle against Jefferson.