Three former area prep standouts star on the NCAA stage
Barely four months after helping lead Brookfield East to a swimming and diving state championship, Reilly Tiltmann came up golden again.
This time around, though, it was for an NCAA title.
Tiltmann's decision to graduate high school early and enroll at the University of Virginia paid off over the weekend as she did her part to help the Cavaliers win the first NCAA championship in program history.
Tiltmann led off the Cavaliers' 400yard medley relay that took second place and earned 34 points. She also placed fifth and earned 14 points in the 200 backstroke, an event won by Wisconsin freshman Phoebe Bacon, and ninth in the 100 backstroke.
Tiltmann competed in the 100 butterfly prelims, as well, but did not qualify for the final.
At Brookfield East, she won four events at the WIAA Division 1 state meet in November, including as a part of two record-setting relays.
The Spartans won the state title for the second consecutive season. Overall she won seven individual state titles in high school.
Rather than graduating from East in the summer, Tiltmann finished school early and joined the Cavaliers at the beginning of the spring semester.
Bronze medalists in wrestling
A pair of former standouts on the mat from the Milwaukee area each took third place at the NCAA Division I wrestling meet over the weekend.
Missouri freshman and former Arrowhead wrestler Keegan O'Toole and Northern Iowa sophomore and former Nicolet standout Parker Keckeisen both took third place in their respective weight classes Saturday.
O'Toole, a four-time individual state champion and the top-ranked wrestler in the country as a senior, lost in the quarterfinals as the No. 6 seed at 165 pounds before tearing through the wrestlebacks with four consecutive wins, including a 4-3 decision in the third-place match.
Keckeisen won back-to-back state titles and went undefeated at Nicolet in 2018 and '19. He earned the No. 4 seed at 184 pounds in the NCAA tournament and reached the semifinals before losing to eventual champion Aaron Brooks of Penn State, 6-4. With wins in his next two matches, Keckeisen earned third place.