Wheeler and Berg Each Win Twice As Kentucky Sweeps Cincinnati

Kentucky vs. Cincinnati

  • January 27, 2023
  • Keating Aquatic Center, Cincinnati, OH
  • SCY (25 yards)
  • Full Results
  • Team Scores
    • Kentucky men def. Cincinnati men 180-117
    • #17 Kentucky women def. Cincinnati women 210-85

The Cincinnati Bearcats hosted the Kentucky Wildcats for their final home meet of the season. Kentucky came out on top of both sides of the meet, out-scoring Cincinnati by 63 points in the men’s meet and 125 points on the women’s side. 

Both teams have wrapped up the dual meet portions of the season, and will look ahead to their respective conference meets. Kentucky will compete at the SEC Championships in College Station, while Cincinnati will head to Dallas for the American Athletic Conference Championships. 

Men’s Recap:

  • Kentucky – 180
  • Cincinnati – 117

The Kentucky men’s victory over Cincinnati marked their first (and only) dual meet win of the season. The Wildcats were led by junior Max Berg, who recorded two individual victories on Friday. He dominated the 50 free, touching first in 20.28 to win by seven tenths of a second over Cincinnati’s Drew Hawthorne (20.89).

Berg secured his 2nd win in the 200 IM, where he again put on a dominating performance. He won in 1:49.68, over two seconds faster than his teammate Zane Rosely (1:52.01).

Rosely picked up a win of his own in the 200 free, where he set a personal best time of 1:39.04 to beat his teammate Nicholas Caruso (1:39.42). Rosely clocked another personal best time in the 200 breaststroke of 2:03.46, earning 2nd behind Cincinnati’s Conner Funke (2:03.14). 

In addition to the 200 breast, Funke also won the 100 breaststroke for the Bearcats. He touched first in a time of 56.51, just two tenths ahead of his teammate Brogan Robinson

The 200 fly was another strong event for the Wildcats, as freshman Ryan Merani won in a season best time of 1:47.47, beating his teammate Logan Ingerick by over 4 seconds. Ingerick’s time of 1:51.61 marked a personal best time by nearly a second.

Cincinnati junior Hunter Gubeno collected a win in the 200 back. He posted a 1:46.19 to top the field by over two seconds. Gubeno was the runner-up in the 100 back, finishing half a second behind Kentucky’s Mason Wilby (48.93). 

Kentucky swept both relays and both diving events, with Sam Duncan setting a pool record of 391.88 points on 3-meter en route to his victory. 

Women’s Recap

  • #17 Kentucky – 210
  • Cincinnati – 85

With this victory the #17 Kentucky women improved on their dual meet record to end their season at 3-3. Their only double-event winner this weekend on the swimming side was senior Kaitlynn Wheeler. Wheeler first won the 50 free in 23.68 as the only athlete under the 24-second barrier. She later picked up a win for the Wildcats in the 100 fly, clocking a 56.02 to narrowly beat her teammate Breckin Gormley (56.30).

Gormley was also part of a 1-2-3 Kentucky finish in the 1000, as she touched 3rd in 10:15.99. Izzy Gati won the event in 10:00.32, followed by Caroline Benda at 10:10.11.

Kentucky junior Anna Havens Rice secured a victory in the 500 freestyle in a personal best time of 4:58.17. Her teammate, Maddie Welborn, joined her under the 5-minute mark to finish 2nd in 4:59.98. 

Cincinnati freshman Grace Gavin was the only individual winner for the Bearcats on Friday. She clocked a 2:07.84 to win the event, with her teammate Annabelle Young picking up 2nd in 2:08.43. Young also finished 5th in the 1000 free in a season best time of 10:32.13.

Cincinnati’s team of Jessica Davis (24.19), Joleigh Crye (23.77), Kaylee Nagel (23.58), and Meghan Fleury (23.46) officially won the 200 freestyle relay in a time of 1:35.00, though Kentucky’s A team clocked a 1:34.61 as exhibition. 

Kentucky’s Kyndal Knight swept the diving events for Kentucky, as she won both 1-meter and 3-meter with scores of 335.48 and 319.35, respectively. Her 1-meter score marked a new pool record.

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