EDITOR'S NOTE: The Swnews4u.com Athlete of the Week is a web-only feature that will publish each Thursday throughout the calendar year.
Michael Douglas, Sr., 285 pounds, Belmont/Platteville wrestling
WISCONSIN DELLS — It is a well known fact throughout the state the WIAA is not allowing regular season wrestling tournaments this year during the COVID-19 pandemic.
It is not as well known that the WIAA has allowed prep wrestlers to attend and compete in two non-WIAA club tournaments during the season.
The Belmont/Platteville wrestling team took advantage of the opportunity and traveled to Wisconsin Dells Wednesday morning, a day after a 36–31 non-conference dual meet loss to Viroqua, to compete in the USA Wrestling Folkstyle Tour of America Holiday Classic on Wednesday at the Woodside Dome.
Belmont senior Michael Douglas won the high school boys session 1 285-pound title with a bye and four victories to lead seven Braves who wrestled under the team name the Belmont/Platteville Wrestling Club.
Douglas pinned Andres Cisneros of the Alpha Wrestling Academy in the second round, then scored an 8–0 major decision over Tyler Krizan of Stanley–Boyd in the quarterfinals.
He then defeated David Gaudeman of Wittenberg-Birnamwood 7–4 in the semifinals before notching a 3–1 dramatic overtime victory over Neenah’s Bryce Fochs in the championship match.
“We had seven of our 10 kids go wrestle there, which was amazing and I am really glad we had so many take the opportunity to get some extra matches in,” said Belmont/Platteville head coach Emeric Williams. “Michael Douglas won the tournament beating three ranked kids in his four matches. That was huge for him since he has only had one match in so far this season.
“The tournament does not count towards the WIAA season in any way, but it is nice the WIAA is allowing kids to go compete in two tournaments outside of WIAA sanctioned events.”
Layla Alt, Sr., G, Shullsburg girls basketball
Shullsburg senior guard Layla Alt achieved a personal milestone by scoring the 1,000th-point of her varsity career with her 19-point effort in a 51–38 loss at Division 4 #10-ranked Lancaster on Saturday. Alt, who hit the mark exactly on her final basket of the game with 2:55 remaining, becomes just the sixth player in program history to reach the milestone.
Alt pulled down 11 rebounds to go along with her 19 points for a double-double, and she also had three steals and two assists. In two other games against state-ranked foes last week, Alt led D5 #6-ranked Shullsburg (9–3) with 13 points and nine rebounds in a 49–42 loss to Division 5 #2 Bangor last Wednesday and she had 10 points and seven boards in a 44–42 loss to Division 4 #8 Mineral Point on Monday.
HONORABLE MENTION (in alphabetical order):
Bailey Butler, Sr., PG, Black Hawk girls basketball
Butler had 31 points, nine assists, eight steals and seven rebounds in an 81–39 win over Argyle and registered a quadruple-double with 23 points, 16 rebounds, 15 assists and 10 steals to lead the Division 5 #1-ranked Lady Warriors to a 72-52 victory over the previously unbeaten and D5 #5-ranked Albany Comets.
Lily Krahn, Jr., PG, Prairie du Chien girls basketball
Prairie du Chien’s Lily Krahn and her teammates had an ax to grind, and rightfully so. The host Platteville Hillmen have ended the Blackhawks’ season each of the past two years in the sectional semifinals and won five of the six meetings between the two teams since Krahn joined the PdC varsity as a freshman. Krahn, a speedy, athletic 5’9” point guard who has received multiple Division 1 scholarship offers, led the charge from the opening tip last Wednesday night in a 70–41 rout of coach Brandon Temperly’s new-look young Hillmen. Krahn hit three straight three-pointers and scored 19 of her game-high 27 points in the first half to spear-head the victory. Krahn then scored a game-high 20 points to lead the undefeated Division 3 #4-ranked Blackhawks (7–0) to a 56–40 victory at Prairie du Chien.
Brynlee Nelson, Sr., PG, Fennimore girls basketball
Nelson became the fourth girl in school history to score 1,000 points with a pair of free throws in the second half of Fennimore's 58–40 loss at Belmont last Thursday night. Nelson then scored a season-high 21 points, grabbed six rebounds, had five steals and two blocks to lead Fennimore (3–7, 3–3 SWAL) to a 47–40 SWAL victory at Riverdale Monday night.
Preston Noethe, Sr., F, Lancaster boys basketball
Noethe had the best all-around game of his career, posting 18 points, 14 rebounds, four assists and four steals (all team highs) in a 64–57 Southwest Wisconsin Conference win over Prairie du Chien Saturday night. Noethe was 7-of-9 from the field and 4-of-8 from the line. Noethe then posted eight points and six rebounds in a 64–44 rout of Highland Monday night, before posting 12 points, six rebounds and three assists in a 72–69 comeback overtime victory at River Valley Tuesday night.
Lilly Post, Sr., C, Potosi/Cassville girls basketball
Post recorded a monster double–double of 19 points and a career-high 21 rebounds to lead the Chieftains (3–4) to a dominating 62–35 non-conference victory over Cuba City last Tuesday night. Post then had 12 points, seven rebounds and three steals in a 63–23 non-conference win at Boscobel Tuesday night.
