Catch up with the daily Team Wisconsin action at the 2026 Special Olympics USA Games!
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MONDAY, JUNE 22 – DAY 1
Bocce brought home the first medals for Team Wisconsin with mixed doubles play Monday. The tandem of Christian Sylvester (Waunakee, Wis.) and Christina Wren (Madison, Wis.) fell to Florida, 3-7, and Colorado, 5-9, in round robin play, earning bronze in Division 4. In Division 1, the pair of Michael Berry (Dousman, Wis.) and Norma Ryan (Janesville, Wis.) had a forfeit in their pool, shifting their competition to a two-match series against Florida. The Wisconsin pair split that series but earned silver on aggregate point differential.
Powerlifting began Monday with Joshua Follen (Marshfield, Wis.) taking to Northrop Auditorium. He led off with a squat of 67.5 kg, then posted a bench press off 52.5 kg. His deadlift of 87.5 concluded his trio of lifts, earning fourth place in all three individual events plus the combination. Team Wisconsin’s powerlifting schedule will conclude with the women’s competition Wednesday.
Basketball kicked off the team competition on opening day, dropping a 26-52 contest to a very strong Southern California squad. Josh Leitner (Sturgeon Bay, Wis.) led with eight points, with Joey Riebe (West Allis, Wis.) and Isaiah Tallman (Rice Lake, Wis.) adding six apiece. Wisconsin will continue Group B play Tuesday at 12:30 p.m. against Maine (1-0).
Cornhole opened competition with singles play Monday with two matches apiece. Joe Neumann (West Salem, Wis.) went a perfect 2-0 with a 21-9 win over Florida and a 21-16 win over Texas. Will Hautamaki (La Crosse, Wis.) picked up a rare shutout win over Mississippi, 21-0. Scott Prairie (Onalaska, Wis.) knocked off a Minnesota foe 21-13 to pick up a win, as did Jacob Decker (Green Bay, Wis.) over Mississippi, 21-2.
Volleyball split its opening day slate, breezing past Alabama 2-0 (25-6, 25-13) in the tournament opener before falling to New York 0-2 (22-25, 11-25) in the nightcap. The 1-1 overall finish placed second in Group B. Wisconsin will move into Group D for Tuesday’s matchups against New Jersey (2-0) and Texas (0-2) at 10 a.m. and 11 a.m. respectively.
Swimming began preliminary heats Monday in the 50 Butterfly, 200 Freestyle, and the 4×50 Medley Relay. Those events will move into finals competition Tuesday, as well as prelims in the 50 Freestyle, 100 Freestyle, 50 Backstroke, and 100 Medley.
Track & Field preliminary heats in the 400-meter, 1500-meter, Mini-javelin, and men’s Running Long Jump took place Monday. The two running events will move to Finals Tuesday, joining prelims for the 100-meter, 200-meter, 4×100 Relay, and women’s Running Long Jump.
Golf hosted a divisioning round for Team Wisconsin’s traditional golfers and unified tandem Monday, with all four golfers hitting the links Tuesday.
Bowling also held divisioning events Monday; competition will begin with singles Tuesday.
MEDAL COUNT: Wisconsin posted its first two medals of the 2026 USA Games—both coming via Mixed Doubles on the Bocce pitch. That pair placed Team Wisconsin 16th overall after the first day of competition. Host Minnesota leads the field with six gold after Day 1, while Nebraska leads with a total of 10 medals overall.
Day 1 Recap Video (Coming Soon!)
