Related Links:
2021-22 D3hoops.com Women's Top 25 – Week 3
WBCA NCAA Division III Top 25 Coaches Poll – Dec. 21
2021-22 NTCA December Poll
2021-22 NTCA Preseason Division II/III Poll
D3wrestle.com Rankings #5 – Dec. 22
NWCA Division III Coaches Rankings – Regular Season Poll #3 (Dec. 29)
ITA Collegiate Tennis Division III Men's Regional and National Rankings – Dec. 9
ITA Collegiate Tennis Division III Women's Regional and National Rankings – Dec. 9
Collegiate Baseball 2022 Preseason NCAA Division III Poll – Dec. 21
Four University of Wisconsin-Whitewater teams and individuals from the Warhawk men's and women's tennis teams are represented in the latest national rankings. This week's edition of Warhawks in the Rankings is presented by Whitewater Family Dentistry.
Bowling
The Warhawks moved up to No. 20 in the National Tenpin Coaches Association December Poll, the most recent rankings released for the 2021-22 season. UW-W was ranked fourth in the NTCA's Division II/III Preseason Poll.
UW-Whitewater finished second at the Warhawk Classic at Rock River Lanes in Fort Atkinson on Nov. 20-21. UW-W finished with a 7-3 record at the tournament, and
Sam Knab (Antioch, Ill./Antioch) and
Caitlin Mertins (Racine, Wis./Park) garnered All-Tournament Team accolades following the conclusion of play. The team closed the calendar year at the United States Bowling Congress-sanctioned Warhawk Open, where it placed third in qualifying, on Dec. 3-4.
The Warhawks play their next NCAA-sanctioned tournament Jan. 21-23 at the Northeast Classic in Deptford, N.J.
Women's Basketball
UW-Whitewater remained fourth in the Women's Basketball Coaches Association NCAA Division III Top 25 Coaches Poll and is fifth in the D3hoops.com Top 25, which was most recently released Dec. 13.
UW-W (10-0 overall, 2-0 WIAC) swept a pair of contests at the Daytona Beach Shootout in Daytona Beach, Fla., on Dec. 19-20. The Warhawks topped Alfred (N.Y.) 91-50 before defeating Centre (Ky.) 94-38 to close the two-day tournament.
Aleah Grundahl (DeForest, Wis./DeForest) led the team with 16 points against Alfred, and
Abby Belschner (Grafton, Wis./Cedarburg) recorded a career-high 19 points against Centre.
UW-Whitewater hosts Edgewood Thursday at Kachel Gymnasium. Tipoff is slated for 1 p.m. The team's game against Lake Forest (Ill.), which was scheduled for Wednesday, has been postponed to Jan. 30 at 2 p.m. in Whitewater.
Wrestling
UW-Whitewater is 14th in the latest National Wrestling Coaches Association Division III Coaches Dual Team Rankings and 25th in the Tournament Team Rankings.
Jake Burford (Crown Point, Ind./Crown Point) and
Jaritt Shinhoster (Hoffman Estates, Ill./Barrington) are each ranked nationally by the NWCA, and Burford, Shinhoster and
Cadin Koeppel (Cary, Ill./Cary-Grove) appear in D3wrestle.com's listing.
Shinhoster is ranked fifth at 184 pounds by the NWCA and D3wrestle.com. Burford, a 149-pounder, is seventh in the weight class in the NWCA's rankings and eighth in D3wrestle.com's, while Koeppel, a heavyweight, is ranked ninth by D3wrestle.com at 285 pounds.
Ryan Vedner (Arlington Heights, Ill./Prospect), a 174-pounder, is listed in the "Contender" category in the D3wrestle.com rankings. Wrestlers listed in the "Honorable Mention" section include
Alex Barbarise (Antioch, Ill./Antioch Community) at 125 pounds,
Ethan Pogorzelski (Menomonee Falls, Wis./Menomonee Falls) at 133,
Tommy Hoy (Wauconda, Ill./Carmel Catholic) at 165 and
Chad Richards (Loves Park, Ill./Harlem) at 197.
The Warhawks topped No. 15 UW-Oshkosh on Dec. 10 by a 32-11 score. UW-W claimed eight of the 10 matches in the dual, including pins from Shinhoster and Koeppel and major decisions from Burford and 141-pounder
Dakarai Clay (Madison, Wis./Madison East). The team sent 16 wrestlers to the North Central Invitational the next day, placing fourth at the tournament behind runner-up finishes by
Hayden Krein (Sparta, Wis./Sparta) at 165 pounds and
Drew Nash (Lemont, Ill./Lemont Township) at 141 pounds.
UW-Whitewater heads to Louisville, Ky., on Jan. 6-7 for the annual NWCA National Duals.
Men's Tennis
John Zakowski (Green Bay, Wis./Southwest) and
Cole Lindwall (Cottage Grove, Wis./Monona Grove) end the calendar year ranked among the top 20 in the Intercollegiate Tennis Association Collegiate Tennis Division III Men's National Rankings after impressive performances at the ITA Midwest Regional in the fall.
Zakowski, the regional champion and newly minted All-American, is 13th, while Lindwall, the regional runner-up, is 16th. Both represented UW-Whitewater at the ITA Oracle Cup in October.
Zakowski and
Alex Gray (Edwardsville, Ill./Edwardsville) are 17th in the national doubles rankings. The pair won the Midwest Regional title and competed in the doubles draw at the ITA Oracle Cup.
The Warhawks begin the spring season Feb. 5 with duals against Cardinal Stritch and Illinois Tech at Lake Geneva Tennis in Lake Geneva.
Women's Tennis
Autumn Bruno (Milwaukee, Wis./Greenfield Whitnall), a ITA Midwest Regional semifinalist in the women's singles draw, will begin the spring season as the No. 40 ranked player in Division III.
Bruno and
Cassie Lee (Downers Grove, Ill./Timothy Christian) won the regional's doubles draw and are ranked 16th in the nation by the ITA.
UW-Whitewater (10-0), which earned its 15th straight WIAC championship in the fall, will start the spring season March 4 with a dual at Division I Northern Illinois.
Baseball
The Warhawks are 11th in
Collegiate Baseball's 2022 Preseason NCAA Division III Poll, which was released Dec. 21. UW-W was ninth in the final D3baseball.com/National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association Top 25 in 2021.
UW-Whitewater is coming off its fourth straight WIAC regular season championship and third consecutive conference tournament title. The team finished as runner-up in the NCAA Whitewater Regional and tallied a 40-7 record, including a 24-4 mark in league play, during the season.
The Warhawks will begin the 2022 season March 3 with the first of four games in three days at No. 21 Trinity (Texas).
