Warhawk Wheelchair Basketball repeats national championship
Released: March 31, 2004
The University of Wisconsin-Whitewater Warhawk Wheelchair Basketball team successfully defended its Intercollegiate National Championship title on March 12-13, bringing home the fifth championship in school history and earning back-to-back titles for the first time.
“The win was awesome,” gushed Coach Tracy Chynoweth. “The talent of the top teams was pretty even, so it came down to the best leadership. Our veteran players stepped up, not wanting to be denied. We will lose five guys this year so they were playing their last game.”
In a heated semifinal, the Warhawks defeated the University of Illinois team 65-49. Senior Jeremy Lade led the scoring with 18 points and seven assists.
The Warhawks followed that performance with their best effort of the season in beating the University of Texas-Arlington in the National Championship game by a score of 69-62. After leading by two at the half, the Warhawks surrendered the first eight points of the second session and trailed by six before settling down and outscoring UTA. Jake Counts led UW-Whitewater with 17 points, Jeremy Lade added 16 points and Justin South contributed 10 points off the bench.
Annual awards included: Academic All-American - Zac Niemann; First team All-American - Scott Zessin, Jake Counts; Second team All-American - Jeremy Lade; National Player of the Year - Jake Counts.
When asked about next year’s team, Chynoweth noted, “We will be very tough. Two guys were red shirts this year and we play ten deep, so we’re in good shape. My motto for next year, which I haven’t told the guys yet, is ‘why rebuild when we can reload?’”
- Jane Provorse ,provorsj@uww.edu
