By Brett Schlossberg
Winter sports are wrapping up. Most competitions are now in the postseason, and exciting achievements are happening. From Wooodward hosting the region basketball tournament as standings leaders to two top-four finishers at swimming state to the wrestling state meets coming up, our War Eagles are gearing up for what looks to be a thrilling ending to a winter season.
Basketball (Boys)
The boys basketball team has won three games in a row to win their region. The region meet is being held at Woodward this week, with the War Eagles facing Shiloh High School in the first round. The team is ranked 5th in the state and have won 11 of their last 12 games. The team got consecutive home wins against Tri-Cities High School and Decatur High School, the second and third placed teams in the region, respectively. According to MaxPreps, the top players recently have been Zachary Foster ‘25, Deke Cooper ‘25, Myles Hayes ‘28, and Donovan Johnson ‘26.
Basketball (Girls)
The girls team also won their region. In fact, they won every game in their region, and gained crucial wins against Tri-Cities, Decatur and Arabia Mountain in their final three region games. They are hosting their region tournament and are hunting for a first state title since 2022. Lauryn Dennis-Cooper ‘26 led the points and assists per game charts, with 13.7 and 3, respectively. The team had three other players with more than 10 points per game- Kayla Whitner ‘25, Delaney Cooper ‘25, and Z Williams ‘27. Woodward plays Arabia Mountain High School on Thursday, February 13th at 7pm.
Swim and Dive
The month of January ended with the Metro Invitational, where 9 girls and 11 boys achieved Personal Bests. Harrison Deidrich ‘27, Andrejs Smith 25’ and Isaac Lohr ‘28 each achieved 3 personal bests for the boys, with Elliot Mainwaring ‘24 achieving four. On the girls team, Pate Jones ‘26 led with 3 PB’s, and Isabella Sullivan ‘27, swam two. In addition, RY Snyder ‘25 won diving with Dillon Craig ‘25 taking bronze.
RJ Snyder ‘25 won state in diving for a second year in a row. Dillon Craig ‘25 finished fourth in state in diving. Additionally, 11 boys qualified for the state meet, and three relays. The full list is below. List is courtesy of Assistant Swim and Dive Coach Rachel Chou.
-Andrejs Smith (12th) swimming the 200 IM, 100 Fly, 200 Medley Relay (Fly), and 200 Free Relay (Lead-off)
-Alejandro Guerra (11th) swimming the 100 Free, 100 Back, 200 Medley Relay (Back), and 400 Free Relay (Anchor)
-Matthew Hughes (9th) swimming the 50 free, 100 Free, 200 Free Relay (Anchor), and 400 Free (Lead-off)
-Eric Su (12th) 200 Medley (Breast)
-Isaac Lohr (9th) swimming 200 Free Relay (2nd) and 400 Free Relay (3rd)
-Elliott Mainwaring (12th) swimming 200 Medley Relay (Free), 200 Free Relay (3rd), and 400 Free Relay (2nd)
-Evan Zoumas (11th), Miles Glee (12th), Joseph Howard (11th), Gabe Fisher (11th) alternates
-Jack Emslie (Manager)
Wrestling (Boys)
The team has qualified for state this season. Robert De Haven ‘25 has committed to Harvard for wrestling, and is currently undefeated this season. The team has won one of three dual meets and are fourth out of eight in their region, so they will stand a chance at state. Wrestling news site Grappergold projects the team garnering eighth in the individual state tournament.
Wrestling (Girls)
The team added two new coaches this year alongside many new players, but according to three-year member Audrey Zents ‘26, the fresh faces made the transition easier.
“It didn’t feel like the same dynamic that was trying to change,” Audrey said. “It kind of felt like a new dynamic in general, and we just kind of relied on each other more.”
The team also had five state qualifiers at sectionals. The list is below.
1st – Efa Oju ‘25
1st – Lillian Stokes ‘26
2nd – Audrey Zents ‘26
4th – Jiya Dalal ‘27
5th – Violet Webb ‘28
The team will compete in state this week at the Macon Coliseum.
