WISCONSIN— The Badger State is sending several athletes to represent Team USA in the Paralympic Games from Aug. 24 through Sept. 5. 

Seven Wisconsin natives will compete in events including the paratriathlon, compound archery, wheelchair basketball and wheelchair rugby events. An additional three alumni of Wisconsin schools or training programs will compete in the wheelchair basketball and swimming events.

Here’s who Wisconsinites can cheer for during this year’s Paralympic Games: 

Paralympians native to Wisconsin

John Boie
Sport: Wheelchair Basketball
Hometown: Milton, Wis.

Boie, a current UW-Whitewater advisor, will play in his first Paralympic Games this summer. Boie most recently competed on the international stage in 2018, winning a silver medal in the World Championships. Boie is the latest of three Whitewater alumni to make the US Paralympic basketball team.

Lia Coryell
Sport: Compound Archery
Hometown: La Crosse, Wis.

Army veteran and La Crosse native Lia Coryell will shoot for the United States at the Tokyo Paralympic Games. Coryell, who has multiple sclerosis, will compete in the W1 archery competition, which is for athletes with disabilities affecting both the upper and lower parts of the body.

Hailey Danz
Sport: Paratriathlon
Hometown: Wauwatosa, Wis.

A veteran of the U.S. Paralympic team, Danz will compete again in the paratriathlon, in which she won a silver medal in 2016. An elite paratriathlon athlete outside of Paralympic competition, Danz is also a two-time USA Paratriathlon National Champion and has medaled in dozens of international events.

Joe Delagrave
Sport: Wheelchair Rugby
Hometown: Prairie du Chien, Wis.

Delagrave will join the U.S. rugby team for a second Paralympic trip after competing in the 2012 London games. The last time he was on the Paralympic team, Delagrave brought home a bronze medal. Now, Delagrave works as a motivational speaker, where he speaks about the way his paralysis changed his life and his struggles to overcome his injury.

Nate Hinze
Sport: Wheelchair Basketball
Hometown: Cedar Grove, Wis. 

Hinze is the most experienced UW-Whitewater wheelchair basketball player to make this list. A decorated two-time Paralympic athlete, Hinze brought home a bronze medal in basketball in the 2012 London games and a gold medal in 2016 Rio games alongside teammate Jake Williams.

Matt Lesperance
Sport: Wheelchair Basketball
Hometown: Coleman, Wis.

Lesperance, another UW-Whitewater alum and Team USA veteran, returns to the Paralympic games almost 13 years after his last Paralympic appearance at the 2008 Beijing games. Lesperance previously placed fourth in the 2008 games and has been playing wheelchair basketball since the age of nine, according to his Team USA bio.

Jake Williams
Sport: Wheelchair Basketball
Hometown: Milwaukee 

Williams, who graduated from UW-Whitewater, is one of the more decorated Paralympians on this list. Williams won a gold medal alongside fellow wheelchair basketball Whitewater alumni Nate Hinze in 2016.

Paralympians who studied and trained in Wisconsin

Keegan Knott
Sport: Swimming
Hometown: Lake Villa, Ill.
Team: Pleasant Prairie Patriots

Knott, just 15 years old, will compete in her first Paralympic games in August. Knott was born with congenital femoral deficiency and fibular hemimelia in her right leg, which leaves her with a shorter femur and tibia, no fibula or right hip joint and a fused right ankle, according to her Team USA bio. Before qualifying for the Paralympic games, Knott competed in the 2018 U.S. Paralympics Swimming Para National Championships taking third in the 400 meter freestyle and fourth in the 100 meter backstroke, 200 meter individual medley and 100 meter freestyle events.

Matt Scott
Sport: Wheelchair Basketball
Hometown: Detroit, Mich.
College: UW-Whitewater

Scott appeared in the 2004, 2008, 2012 and 2016 Paralympic games prior to this year’s games. Scott is an alumnus of UW-Whitewater’s wheelchair basketball program, and has won a gold and bronze medal during his lengthy Paralympic career.

Lindsey Zurbrugg
Sport: Wheelchair Basketball
Hometown: Portland, Ore.
College: UW-Whitewater

UW-Whitewater’s strong track record of producing world-class Paralympic athletes for Team USA continues with Zurbrugg, who is playing in her first Paralympic games this year. Zurbrugg, who aims to be a Paralympic trainer herself in the future, most recently competed on the international stage with Team USA in 2018, placing sixth in the World Championship.

Meet the Wisconsinites heading to Tokyo to compete in the Olympic Games, here.