UW-Whitewater Collegiate DECA Excels at 2025 State Competition

Written by Gracie Weston  | Photos by Nick Pook

The University of Wisconsin-Whitewater Collegiate DECA chapter showcased its excellence at the 2025 Wisconsin Collegiate DECA State Career Development Conference, earning multiple chapter and individual honors. Continuing its tradition of success, the UW-Whitewater chapter received numerous accolades, including the prestigious Chapter of the Year Award for the third consecutive year. 

The UW-Whitewater Collegiate DECA chapter was recognized as the “Largest Chapter in Wisconsin” and received the Community Service Award and the Chapter Passport Award, highlighting the organization’s commitment to leadership, professional development, and community engagement. Additionally, two UW-Whitewater members were elected as state officers for the 2025-2026 term: Kyle Krentz as President and Nathan Shaw as Vice President. 

Frank Lanko, faculty advisor for the UWW chapter stated, “The DECA students who signed up for competition this year have actually been working toward their competitive events the entire academic year. Our prepared event teams started working on their projects in the fall and continued through winter break in order to have a finished product in time for the state competition. These teams, along with all of our other competitors in individual and team case study events, went through a lot of practice sessions – rehearsing their presentations with our board members and myself and participating in a ‘dress rehearsal’ prep day that we hosted in early February where everyone presented their events in front of alumni and employer judges to receive practice, coaching, and feedback.” 

He continued, “As we look forward to the International Career Development Conference in San Francisco in early April, the students are continuing their competition preparation – revising their written projects based on judges’ feedback from the state conference and reviewing additional sample case studies as well.”  

“All of these events give our students an opportunity to take what they are learning in their classes and apply the knowledge to real-world case studies and competitive events (designing advertising campaigns, new business proposals, writing detailed financial statement analysis, and competing in case studies that pull from knowledge gained throughout their academic careers),” said Frank Lanko. 

Individual and Team Honors 

Several UW-Whitewater students delivered outstanding performances in their respective competitive events, earning top placements and securing spots at the upcoming national competition. Notable individual and team accomplishments include: 

Student of the Year: Bella Biever 

Individual Passport Awards: Bella Biever, Caden Boehnen, and Shalomi Sahabandhu 

Accounting: 

• 1st Place – Michael Westbrook 

• 2nd Place – Alyssa Cassidy 

• Finalists & National Qualifiers – Kyle Krentz, Megan Hermes, Dylan Morgan 

Advertising Campaign: 

• 1st Place – Sabrina Wolf, Tamber Pelischek, & Hannah Breckheimer 

Business Ethics: 

• 3rd Place – Claire Wright & Tiana Heitmann 

Corporate Finance: 

• 3rd Place – Hayden Itzenheiser 

Digital Marketing Strategies: 

• 1st Place – Bella Biever & Chad Tjugum 

• 2nd Place – Greta Tjugum & Shalomi Sahabandhu 

Entrepreneurship – Starting a Business: 

• 2nd Place – Tyler Kraemer, Dylan Morgan, & Evan Kraucyk 

Entrepreneurship Operations:  

• 3rd Place – Chad Tjugum 

Event Planning: 

• Finalists & National Qualifiers – Nathan Shaw & Ella Duckworth, Karlie Sorenson & Mady Lockman 

Retail Management: 

• 2nd Place – Hannah Breckheimer 

• 3rd Place – Bella Biever 

Financial Statement Analysis: 

• 2nd Place – Nathan Shaw & Ella Duckworth 

Travel & Tourism: 

• 1st Place – Caden Boehnen 

Human Resources: 

• 1st Place – Ellie Goeden 

• 2nd Place – Ashton Boehnlein 

• Finalist & National Qualifier – Tamber Pelischek 

International Marketing: 

• 2nd Place – Shalomi Sahabandhu & Sergio Pastor Serrano 

Marketing Management: 

• 2nd Place – Brody Large 

• Finalists & National Qualifiers – Evan Kraucyk, Tyler Kraemer, George Zimbric 

Professional Sales: 

• 1st Place – Brody Large 

• 2nd Place – Caden Boehnen 

• Finalist & National Qualifier – Solomon Foley 

Restaurant & Food Service Management: 

• 1st Place – Sabrina Wolf 

• 3rd Place – Greta Tjugum 

Sports Marketing: 

• 1st Place – Kara Winch & Jarret Ripperger 

• Finalists & National Qualifiers – Solomon Foley & George Kuhnen 

The UW-Whitewater Collegiate DECA chapter will advance to the 2025 International Career Development Conference, where they will compete against top students from around the world. 

About UW-Whitewater Collegiate DECA 

Collegiate DECA prepares emerging leaders and entrepreneurs for careers in marketing, finance, hospitality, and management. The UW-Whitewater Collegiate DECA chapter is committed to professional development, competition, and community service. For more information, contact DECA@uww.edu. 

More about the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater College of Business and Economics (CoBE):  

The University of Wisconsin-Whitewater College of Business and Economics (CoBE) is Wisconsin’s largest business college. It is home to the #1 ranked online, single school Masters of Business Administration (MBA) program in the State and is the only college in Wisconsin that offers an AACSB-accredited Doctorate of Business Administration (DBA) degree program. CoBE is in the top 2% of the world’s business schools having earned both AACSB and AACSB Accounting Accreditation. For more information on the College of Business and Economics, visit uww.edu/cobe or email cobe@uww.edu.  

Above: The UWW DECA chapter celebrates their success with a group photo showcasing all the awards they earned at the 2025 State Competition. 

Above: Bella Biever receives the prestigious 2025 Student of the Year award.