EDITOR'S NOTE: The Swnews4u.com Athlete of the Week is a web-only feature that will publish each Thursday throughout the calendar year.
Brianna Leahy, Sr., C, Shullsburg girls basketball
Shullsburg senior center Brianna Leahy poured in a game-high 21 points and pulled down a team-high 13 rebounds to surpass 1,000 boards for her career to lead the Miners (17–5, 10–2) to 70–47 victory at Highland last Thursday night. The victory gave Shullsburg a share of a fourth straight conference title.
It was also Leahy’s 15th double–double of the season and she added seven blocked shots to finish the regular season with a state-best 126 blocked shots.
“Our program doesn’t focus on individual accomplishments much, but this one I certainly want to highlight,” said Shullsburg head coach Nathan Russell. “There are very few people in the state of Wisconsin who have achieved 1,000 rebounds in a career. This is a true testament to Brianna’s hard work and dedication to getting better. It is even more telling that the vast majority of her rebounds were on the defensive end as she has allowed us to do things defensively we have never been able to do before.”
Tuesday night, Leahy recorded her fourth triple–double of the season with 16 points, 14 rebounds and 11 blocks in a 69–25 WIAA Division 5 regional quarterfinal victory over 16th-seeded Cassville (3–19). Leahy and the Miners (18–5) will host eighth-seeded Belmont (10–13) Friday night at 7 p.m.
HONORABLE MENTION (in alphabetical order):
Brady Curtis, Jr., Potosi boys basketball
Curtis had 20 points and seven rebounds to lead Potosi to an 85–49 victory over visiting Benton last Tuesday night. Three nights later he scored a team-high 19 points and grabbed five rebounds in a 67–28 victory over Highland. With the two league victories, the Chieftains (16–5, 11–0) clinched just the fourth boys basketball conference title in school history.
Kelsie Goffinet, Sr., Southwestern/Cuba City/Benton gymnastics
Goffinet won the balance beam (9.15), finished second on the vaults (9.025) and floor (9.2) and third on the uneven bars (8.30) to place second in the all-around (35.675) at last Friday’s SWC Championships last Friday night at Prairie du Chien. Goffinet’s performance helped the Southwestern/Cuba City/Benton Wildcats win the conference title 130.125–128.7 over runner-up Dodgeville/Mineral Point.
Megan Hartl, Sr., Cuba City girls basketball
Hartl, the lone senior on the Cuba City girls’ basketball team, made the most of Senior Night, scoring a career- and game-high 17 points to lead the Cubans (16–6, 12–2) to a 65–59 victory over visiting Mineral Point (16–6, 11–3) to finish second in the SWAL.
Paul King, Sr., Darlington/Black Hawk wrestling
King (33–7) earned his first state tournament berth by winning the 120-pound title at last Saturday’s WIAA Division 3 Mineral Point Sectional. King pinned his way to the title match with falls over North Crawford/Seneca’s Trae Steele and New Lisbon’s Kalen Baumgart, then defeated SWAL rival Alex Birchman of Fennimore in the finals, 9–5.
Devon Schmitz, Richland Center boys basketball
Schmitz scored a game-high 30 points to lead the Hornets (10–11, 4–5 SWC) to a 65–57 non-conference victory over Iowa–Grant last Thursday night and in the process became Richland Center’s all-time leading scorer, passing Brian Puls (1993–97) former mark of 1,603 points. Playing his third game in four days, Schmitz scored a team-high 21 points in a 67–56 loss at Lancaster on Friday night.
Isaac Wiegel, Sr., Belmont/Platteville wrestling
Wiegel (43–4) avenged a regional loss to River Valley’s Caleb Radtke, by dominating Radtke in the 120-pound finals at the WIAA Division 2 Richland Center Sectional last Saturday. Wiegel also earned his fourth straight trip to the WIAA Individual Wrestling State Tournament, that begins tonight at the Kohl Center in Madison. Wiegel, who is 161–28 in his career, finished third at 113 pounds at state a year ago and fourth at 106 as a sophomore.
