EDITOR'S NOTE: The Swnews4u.com Athlete of the Week is a web-only feature that will publish each Thursday throughout the calendar year.
Oren Charles, Sr., LB, Shullsburg football
Shullsburg senior linebacker Oren Charles racked up seven tackles in Friday night’s 32–2 season-ending loss to Black Hawk to finish tied for the all-time state record with 461 tackles. Charles would have broken the record he now holds with Southern Door’s Tony Jarndrin (2013-16), but he left the game in the third quarter due to an injury.
“Oren had a great season and a great career for us. Having him at middle linebacker, he was in on almost every tackle. He was the linchpin of our defense,” said Shullsburg head coach Andy Paulsen.
Charles had three tackles for loss in his final game and also recovered one of the Warriors’ six fumbles. Charles finished his senior season with a team-high 120 tackles (29 solo, 91 assists), six tackles for loss and three fumble recoveries, as the Miners’ ended the 2018 season with a 3–6 record, 1–6 in Six Rivers Conference play. The 6-foot-1, 215-pound middle linebacker finished his four-year varsity career with 130 solo tackles, 331 assists, 19 tackles for loss, seven sacks, five fumble recoveries and one interception in 40 games. He led Shullsburg’s 2016 WIAA Division 7 state runner-up team with 138 tackles and five sacks.
HONORABLE MENTION (in alphabetical order):
Dawson Bowen, Jr., RB, Lancaster football
Bowen rushed for 126 yards and four touchdowns on 15 carries to lead the Flying Arrows (6–3, 3–2 SWC) to a 35–12 victory at Dodgeville last Friday night as Lancaster cliched a playoff berth for the 26th straight year.
Andy Clendenen, Sr., QB, Cuba City football
Clendenden passed 226 yards and five touchdowns, and ran for a sixth score to lead the Cubans (5–4, 4–2 SWAL) to a 42–8 victory over visiting Iowa–Grant last Friday night. The Cubans finished third in the SWAL and will travel to Wauzeka/Seneca to open the WIAA Division 6 playoffs Friday night.
Nick Jansen, Sr., RB, Benton/Scales Mound
Jansen rushed for 191 yards and four touchdowns and had a 2-point conversion on offense and recorded eight tackles on defense in the Zephyrs’ 52–21 victory over host River Ridge last Friday night at Benton/Scales Mound (6–4, 4–3 SRC) ended an eight-year playoff drought. The Zephyrs will travel to third-seeded Fall River (8–1) for Friday’s WIAA Division 7 Level I playoff game.
Anna Kartman, So., OH, Cassville volleyball
Kartman led the Comets (5–15–1, 3–9 SRW) to a pair of Six River West victories last week to close out the regulars season. Hartman recorded nine kills and two blocks in a 25–22, 25–21, 25–19 sweep of visiting Potosi last Tuesday night, then posted a match-high 19 kills, five aces and two blocks in Thursday’s 21–25, 25–14, 25–16, 25–12 Thursday night.
Lydia Murphy, Sr., Lancaster cross country
Murphy won the individual girls’ title at the Southwest Wisconsin Conference Championships with a time of 19:39 to lead the Flying Arrows to the girls’ conference championship last Thursday afternoon at Lancaster High School.
Skylar White, Jr., OH, River Ridge volleyball
White slammed a tea-high 17 kills, had one ace and nine digs to lead River Ridge (20–0, 12–0 Six Rivers West) to a conference-title clinching 25–16, 25–10, 25–15 sweep of second-place Benton (23–2, 10–2 SRW) last Thursday night.
