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ATHLETE OF THE WEEK: Briana Ernst
Belmont senior scores a career-high 32 to lead Braves to 4th straight win
Ernst
Senior Brianna Ernst made 5 of 6 free throws in the final 1:20 and finished with a career-high 32 points to lead Belmont to a 6655 victory over Benton last Friday night.
Jason Nihles
Updated: Dec 28, 2017, 4:17 PM
Published: Dec 28, 2017, 4:20 PM

EDITOR'S NOTE: The Swnews4u.com Athlete of the Week is a web-only feature that will publish each Thursday throughout the calendar year. 

Briana Ernst, Sr., F, Belmont girls basketball

    BELMONT — Senior forward Briana Ernst dropped in a career-high 32 points to send the Belmont Braves girls’ basketball team into the holiday break riding a four-game winning streak following an impressive 66–55 Six Rivers West victory over the Benton Zephyrs at BHS on Friday, Dec. 22.
    Ernst scored 17 of her 32 points in the opening half to lead the Lady Braves (5–4 overall, 3–1 SRW) out to a 39–18 halftime advantage, and she added seven of her 15 second-half points in the final 1:45 of the game to hold off a furious rally by the Zephyrs (5–3, 1–3).
    “We had a great start tonight. I told the girls in practice on Wednesday to start getting mentally ready for the game because the team that wanted to be here the most was going to win the game,” said Belmont head coach Alan Seabrooke. “In the first half, I felt like we played with more energy and more intensity than we have all year.”
    Ernst, a 5’11” forward, poured in 17 of her points in the first half and senior Kassandra Palzkill, a 5’10” forward, added 10 points as the Braves (5–4, 3–1) dominated the lane on their way to a 39–18 halftime lead.
    The Zephyrs battled back to within five points with just over two minutes remaining as senior Emma Lawrence scored 21 of her team-high 25 points in the second half. But a putback by Ernst following a missed free throw pushed the Braves’ cushion back to seven at 58–51. Then, Belmont connected on eight of their 10 free throw attempts in the final 1:20 to seal their fourth consecutive victory. Ernst sank 5-of-6 foul shots in that final stretch on her way to her game-high 32 points. 
    “We’ve kind of struggled with our free throws, but at the end of games we’ve been clutch and made them,” noted Seabrook.

 

 

HONORABLE MENTION (in alphabetical order):  

Dakota Govier, Sr., F, Fennimore boys basketball    

     Senior forward Dakota Govier scored a season-high 16 points and grabbed a team-high 11 rebounds to lead the Eagles to a key 67–53 SWAL victory over previously unbeaten Cuba City (4–1, 2–1) last Friday night. Govier made 7 of 9 field goal attempts as Fennimore (6–1, 2–1 SWAL) shot 55.8 percent from the field and outscored the Cubans 42–28 in the second half after trailing by two at intermission.

 

Drew Hennessey, Jr., 182, Iowa­–­Grant/Highland wrestling    

     Hennessey (19–0) remained undefeated on the season going 5–0 to win the 220-pound title at last Saturday’s 23-team Badger State Invitational at the Alliant Energy Center in Madison. He received back-to-back byes to open the tournament, then recorded three straight pins, including a 1:03 fall over Neenah’s Marshall Kools in the championship match. The Highland junior’s performance helped the Panthers placed 10th as a team.

 

Abby Kaiser, Sr., G, Potosi girls basketball

    Kaiser scored a team-high 16 points in Friday’s 55–39 Six Rivers West victory over visiting Highland Friday night to become Potosi’s all-time leading scorer. Kaiser, a four-year starter, now has 1,310 career points, one more than previous record holder and 1999 PHS graduate Jamie Nebel, who was in attendance Friday night. A year ago, Kaiser broke Nebel's single-game school record of 36 points, when she scored a career-high 39 points in an 82–55 route of Albany.
SUPPZ.COM SWNEWS4U ATHLETE OF THE WEEK: Cassville/Potosi's Brielle Fishnick
Cassville/Potosi sophomore wins four events to highlight team's record-setting day at Six Rivers Conference meet
Fishnick
Cassville/Potosi sophomore Brielle Fishnick won the girls’ 100-meter-dash (12.54), 200 (26.61), long jump (17’3.5") and the triple jump (36’6.5") at last Thursday's Six Rivers Conference Meet to finish the day with a meet-best 40 team points. Fishnick established both school and conference meet records in the long jump and triple jump, along with the 100-meter dash. - photo by A.J. Gates
Updated: May 30, 2025, 2:37 AM
Published: May 29, 2025, 7:17 PM

EDITOR'S NOTE: The Swnews4u.com Athlete of the Week is a web-only feature that will publish each Thursday or Friday throughout the calendar year.

By Jason Nihles, The Platteville Journal, Fennimore Times, Boscobel Dial

Brielle Fishnick, So., Cassville/Potosi girls track and field
PATCH GROVE — The Cassville/Potosi track and field teams set eight school records, broke three conference records, tied one conference record and the boys’ team finished second at the Six Rivers Conference Track and Field Championship Meet held Thursday at River Ridge High School.  

Cassville/Potosi sophomore Brielle Fishnick won the girls’ 100-meter-dash with a time of 12.54 seconds, breaking both the school and the conference meet record. The Cassville phenom went on to also win the girls 200 meters in 26.61 seconds, the long jump with a mark of 17’3.5" and the triple jump with a leap of 36’6.5" to finish the day with a meet-best 40 team points. Fishnick established both school and conference meet records in the long jump and triple jump, along with the 100-meter dash.

The C/P girls finished fourth at the conference meet with 112.5 points, behind conference champion Argyle/Pecatonica (137.5), River Ridge (124) and Benton/Scales Mound/Shullsburg (123.5).

Following the tragic events that unfolded at UW–Platteville last Monday, which caused the cancellation of the Six Rivers Conference Meet along with the closure of the UWP venue for the remainder of the season, the SRC coaches united to find a date and a location where and when the meet could be held.  River Ridge High School took the lead and hosted the meet on what turned out to be a beautiful day for the event.

Fishnick went on to qualify for Friday's WIAA Division 3 Bangor Sectional in all four of her events by winning the long jump (18'0.5") and triple jump (35'1.5"), while placing third in both the 100-meter-dash (12.99) and 200 (27.16) at this past Tuesday's WIAA D3 Kickapoo/La Farge Regional. The long jump mark broke her own school record set last week.

HONORABLE MENTION (in alphabetical order)
Casey Dresen, Sr., Fennimore baseball
Fennimore senior Casey Dresen went 8-for-10 with four walks, a team-high nine RBI and twovruns scored  in four league victories over the past week to help the Golden Eagles (20–2, 14–0 SWAL) clinch their first outright SWAL title since 2018. Dresen (6–0) also earned his sixth pitching win in last Wednesday's 9–8 victory over Boscobel, allowing one earned run on three hits and three walks in six strong innings.

Kyree Fischer, Fr., P, Richland Center softball
Fischer went 3–0 with 50 strikeouts and allowed just one unearned run in 23 innings to lead the Hornets to three more victories in the past week. She struck out 15 and allowed just two walks in a 1–0 one-hit shutout at Platteville last Thursday. Fischer then struck out 16 in a three-hit 8–0 shutout win over Royall a day later.  But the cherry on top of the sundae was a 19-strikeout performance in a 2–1 nine-inning victory over visiting Lancaster this past Tuesday. Fisher and the Hornets finished the regular season 14–8 overall and 6–4 in the SWC, good for third place behind Dodgeville (15–8, 8–2). and Prairie du Chien (17–7, 7–3). This is Richland Center’s best season since going 16–9 overall and 8–2 to finish second in the SWC 13 years ago in 2012. The Hornets finished just 3–13 a year ago and 0–10 in the SWC, and have won just 10 conference games (10–100) in the last 11 seasons (there was no season in 2020). 

Kalli Hodgson, Sr., Belmont softball
Hodgson went 3-for-3 with two RBI and two runs scored, and earned the pitching win with four strong innings in Belmont's 15–3 rout of host River Ridge last Thursday night. The Division 5 #1-ranked Braves (20–3, 16–2 SRC) clinched a share of a second straight Six Rivers Conference title with the win. Hodgson struck out sixth and allowed just one unearned run on four hits and a walk in a key 2–1 SRC win over Pecatonica Thursday, May 15.

Evan Larson, Sr., Fennimore boys golf
Fennimore senior Evan Larson shot a 6-over par 78 to share medalist honors with Mineral Point senior Eli Lindsey at Thursday’s SWAL Golf Championships at Edleweiss Chalet Country Club in New Glarus. Larson’s medalist round earned him a seventh place finish in the final individual SWAL standings with 256.5 points, and a spot on the five-player All-SWAL second team. Fennimore finished fourth Thursday with a combined score of 357 strokes, and finished seventh in the season-long SWAL standings with nine points. 

Eli Lindsey, Sr., Mineral Point boys golf
Mineral Point senior Eli Lindsey shot a 6-over par 78 at Thursday’s SWAL Golf Championships at Edleweiss Chalet Country Club in New Glarus to share medalist honors with Fennimore's Evan Larson. Mineral Point’s Reid Acherman and Drew Aschliman shot 79 to tie for third and help the Pointers win the team title Thursday as well as a 10th straight overall conference title. Gaige Godfrey shot an 88 to round out Mineral Point’s winning team score of 324. The Pointers finished 12 strokes better than runner-up Cuba City/Southwestern/Benton (336), which was led by Ben Thill, who shot 81 to finish sixth on Thursday.

Oliver Post, Sr., Cassville/Potosi boys track and field
Senior Oliver Post recorded wins in the boys’ 110-meter high hurdles (15.69), the high jump (5’6”), the 300-meter intermediate hurdles (42.72), establishing a new SRC meet and school record in the 300 hurdles to lead the Cassville/Potosi boys to a second place team finish at last Thursday's Six Rivers Conference Meet at River Ridge. Post was also a part of the school record setting win in the boys 4x400 relay, along with sophomores Hunter White, Myles Helminiak, and Aaron Edge, which posted a time of 3:42.46. 

Ruah Franzmann-Simmert, So., Tri-State Homeschool track and field
After dealing with injury and illness throughout the outdoor track and field season, Franzmann-Simmert won her heat in the full mile at Running Lane Track Championships in Huntsville Alabama May 23 and 24 with a time of 5:03.49. Her 7-second PR brakes this event's heat record. Previous highlights this spring included qualifying for New Balance Indoor Nationals, and placing 3rd in the 800M run at the Wisconsin Indoor Track and Field Championships back in April. Franzmann-Simmert is the top distance runner for the local Tri-State Homeschool Falcons team.

Tyson Starkey, Sr., Fennimore baseball
Starkey struck out seven batters without issuing a walk in a dazzling 75-pitch four-hit shutout of third-place Mineral Point in the first game of a split doubleheader last Thursday night. After the early game win at Mineral Point, the Golden Eagles (20–2, 14–0 SWAL) traveled back to Fennimore then beat Boscobel 12–1 in the nightcap to clinch its first outright SWAL baseball title since 2018. Starkey also had a team-high 9 hits in 16 at-bats, scored a team-best 10 runs, and stole 10 bases in four conference wins over the past week. He went 3-for-5 with three RBI, four stolen bases, three runs scored and pitched the final 1.2 innings of Tuesday's 12–11 win over Darlington to record the save to complete Fennimore's first ever undefeated conference season.