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

Cody McCollough, Sr., Fennimore wrestling

     McCollough recorded three straight pins to win the 220-pound title and score a team-high 34 points to lead Fennimore to a second straight team conference title at last Saturday’s SWC/SWAL Clash at Richland Center. McCollough’s championship performance makes his this week’s Mast Water Technology SWnews4U.com Athlete of the Week.

     McCollough (34–4), who is currently ranked second in Division 3 at 220 pounds, received a first-round bye then pinned his way to the title. He scored a first-period fall over Riverdale’s Terry Hrubes in the quarterfinals, then pinned Alex Peters of Richland Center at the 3:39 mark in the semis. In the 220-pound championship match, McCollough put Mineral Point’s Grant Sporle on his back 1:30 into the match to claim Fennimore’s third individual title of the day. Fellow seniors Hunter Wardell and Justin Tollefsen also won titles at 138 and 145 respectively as Fennimore edged Southwest Wisconsin Conference dual co-champion River Valley 296–292 for this year’s team title.

     McCollough and the Golden Eagles will begin their quest toward the state tournament at Saturday’s WIAA Division 3 Riverdale Regional. The top two individuals at each weight class will advance to next week’s D3 Mineral Point Sectional. The regional team champion will advance to Tuesday’s D3 Orfordville Parkview Team Sectional. A year ago Fennimore won the WIAA Division 3 state state championship.  

HONORABLE MENTION (in alphabetical order):

Dakota Govier, Jr., F, Fennimore boys basketball

     Govier finished with a team-high 19 points, nine rebounds, three assist and three blocked shots to lead the Golden Eagles to a 68–46 victory over Cuba City last Monday night, Fennimore’s first over the Cubans since Feb. 7, 2006. Govier also had 12 points and eight boards in a 90–53 win at Riverdald last Friday night.

Dan Iselin, Sr., Platteville/Lancaster boys swimming

     Iselin won individual conference titles in the 100 butterfly (56.17) and the 100 backstroke (58.16) and also earned a pair of bronze medals swimming on the Hillmen 200 medley and 200 freestyle relay team at last Saturday’s Southern Lakes Conference Championship meet. Iselin’s efforts helped the Hillmen finish fourth out of seven teams with 263 points.

Abby Kaiser, Jr., G, Potosi girls basketball

     Less than two weeks after breaking Potosi’s single-game record with 39 points in a win against Albany on Jan. 24, Kaiser scored a team-high 27 points in last Saturday’s loss to second-ranked and undefeated Black Hawk to surpass the 1,000-point mark for her career. Kaiser became the fifth player in school history to reach 1,000 points and the first to do so as a junior. She also scored a team-high 20 points and grabbed 15 rebounds to lead the Chieftains to a 55–38 non-conference win at Argyle last Tuesday.

Brooklyn Liegel, Sr., Richland Center girls basketball

     Liegel made six 3-pointers and scored a career-high 21 points in an 80–66 non-conference victory over La Crosse Central Tuesday night as the Hornets improved to 17–1 on the season. Leigel tallied 14 points in an 82–56 win at Mauston on Saturday and a night earlier netted 17 points in a 57–37 Southwest Wisconsin Conference win over River Valley as Richland Center improved to 8–0 in conference play. Liegel and the Hornets have huge SWC game at first-place Platteville (14–4, 7–0 SWC) this Friday night. 

Dallas Marks, Sr., G, Boscobel boys basketball

     The high-scoring senior guard poured in game-high 32 points to lead the Bulldogs (5–11) to a 53–48 win over Southwestern last Friday night. Marks then scored 18 points in a 51–40 non-conference win over Wauzeka–Steuben on Monday night. 

Kathleen Mathias, So., G, Darlington girls basketball

     The sophomore guard posted a double–double of 18 points and 10 rebounds to lead the Redbirds as Darlington handed league-leading Mineral Point (14–4, 10–1 SWAL) its first conference loss of the season last Thursday night 60–50. Mathias also scored 17 points in a 77–71 loss to 10th-ranked Riverdale (15–3, 8–3) last Tuesday.

McKailah Strang, Sr., G, Shullsburg girls basketball

    Strang made 6 of 10 3-point attempts and scored a career-high 18 points to lead sixth-ranked Shullsburg to a 63–29 win over Potosi last Thursday night. The Miners improved to 14–3 overall and 9–0 in the Six Rivers West with the win.