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SUPPZ.COM SWNEWS4U CO-ATHLETES OF THE WEEK: Belmont's Tanner Simmons and Dodgeville co-op junior Faith Hoffman
Belmont's Simmons scores 71 points in two wins; Dodgeville's Hoffman wins all-around title to lead undefeated Dodgers to the SWC title
Tanner Simmons
Senior Tanner Simmons scored a career-high 36 points in an 87–78 win at Shullsburg last Tuesday night, then poured in 35 points in a wild 93–92 overtime win over visiting Pecatoncia Friday night. (file photo by Jason Nihles)
Updated: Mar 6, 2025, 9:37 PM
Published: Feb 28, 2025, 5:53 PM
Faith Hoffman
Sophomore Faith Hoffman won the all-around title to lead the Dodgeville co-op to the Southwest Wisconsin Conference title last Thursday at Southwestern High School.

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

Tanner Simmons, Sr., Belmont boys basketball
BELMONT — Senior Tanner Simmons scored a career-high 36 points in an 87–78 win at Shullsburg last Tuesday night, then poured in 35 points in a wild 93–92 overtime win over visiting Pecatoncia Friday night. Simmons, who entered last week’s win at Shullsburg averaging 13.3 points per game, made 13 of 17 field goal attempts, including all four 3-point tries, and made 6 of 7 at the free throw line en rout to his career-high 36 points. He also added six rebounds and four assists. Freshman Thomas Freeman added 17 points, 10 boards and 7 assists, and freshman Wyatt Temperly finished with 16 points and eight assists. 

Simmons then had 35 points, 11 rebounds, six assists and four steals to lead five Braves in double figures Friday night. Freeman (18 points, 12 rebounds), Logan Kress (15 points, 9 rebounds, 6 assists), Temperly (13 points, 8 assists) and Josiah Ruiz (12 points) combined for 58 points to offset a game-high 45 points from sophomore Griffin Noll. Coach Beau Buchs’ Braves earned the No. 6 seed and will host No. 11 Juda (4–19) when the WIAA D5 regional playoffs begin Tuesday.

Faith Hoffman, Jr., Dodgeville co-op gymnastics
HAZEL GREEN — The Dodgeville/Mineral Point/Iowa–Grant/Highland co-op gymnastics team capped its perfect regular season with a first-place finish at Thursday’s Southwest Wisconsin Conference Championships at Southwestern High School. After going 4–0 in SWC duals the Dodgers won last week’s conference meet with an impressive combined score of 139.075.

Junior Faith Hoffman  won the all-around title after tying teammate Keira Haser for first on the balance beam, finishing second behind teammate Maddy Klein on the uneven bards, finishing second on the floor exercise and fourth on the vault to lead the Dodgeville co-op.

“This team has worked so hard all season, pushing themselves to improve every day,” said Dodgeville co-op head coach Julia Oellerich. “Their dedication, resilience, and teamwork have been incredible to watch, and we are beyond proud of each and every one of them.”

Platteville/Belmont/Lancaster finished second at 134.445, followed by the Southwestern co-op (133.7), Prairie du Chien/Fennimore (117.025) and River Valley/Barneveld (116.3).

HONORABLE MENTION (in alphabetical order):
Kylee Johnson, So., G, Boscobel girls basketball
Boscobel’s Kylee Johnson scored a career-high 25 points to lead the Bulldogs to a 66–60 comeback victory at Iowa–Grant Thursday night in the regular season finale for both teams. Johnson made three 3-pointers, went 10 of 15 at the free throw line and grabbed eight rebounds to lead the Bulldogs (4–20, 1–13 SWAL), who outscored the Panthers 32–13 over the final 12 minutes to rally from a 47–34 deficit to snap an 11-game losing streak.

Greenlee Krahn, Sr., G, Prairie du Chien girls basketball
Krahn hit three 3-pointers and and made four straight free throws in the closing seconds to lead the #5-ranked Blackhawks to clutch 53–48 Southwest Wisconsin Conference victory at #7 Platteville last Thursday night. Krahn finished the night with a team-high 15 points to help PdC (22–2, 9–1 SWC) earn a share of this year's SWC title with the Hillmen (20–4, 9–1). 

Lexie Lathrop, Sr., 235 pounds, Boscobel/Wauzeka–Steuben girls wrestling
Boscobel/Wauzeka–Steuben senior Lexie Lathrop went 3–1 to finish second at Friday’s WIAA Girls Prairie du Chien Sectional to become the program’s first female state qualifier. Lathrop (15–16) pinned Hazel Corbit in 1:30 to advance to the semifinals where she sufferd an 18–2 loss to top-seeded senior Kalie Davis (42–1) of Belmont/Platteville. Lathrop then pinned Sugar Rivers’s Nora Christensen in 28 seconds before pinning Monona Grove/McFarland’s Emily Karls midway through the third period (4:56) to make BWS history by becoming the program’s first girls wrestling state qualifier. Lathrop’s pin of Karls (20–6) avenged a first-period pinfall loss to Karls a week earlier in the second-place match at the WIAA Girls Mineral Point Regional. The top two finishers in each weight class advanced to this week’s WIAA Girls State Championships at the Kohl Center, which began Thursday afternoon.

Chloe LaRue, Sr., 145 pounds, Cuba City/Benton/Southwestern girls wrestling
LaRue (40–1) booker her third ticket to the Kohl Center by winning the 145-pound sectional title at last Friday's WIAA Girls Prairie du Chien Sectional. LaRue used a 14-second pin of Briella Granger of Ithaca/Weston, a 12–5 victory over Fennimore's Cadence Freymiller and in the championship match dominated Sophia Paulson of La Crosse Aquinas, 16–0. La Rue finished second at state at 145 pounds both as a freshman and sophomore in 2022 and 2023, before missing all of last season with an injury. LaRue is the No. 4 seed in her 16-girl bracket at this year's Girls State Tournament, which began Thursday afternoon.

Grant Matthews, Jr., 285 pounds, Riverdale wrestling
Matthews (49–2) cruised to the 285-pound title at last Saturday's WIAA Division 3 Westby Sectional with one of his best tournaments of the season. Matthews also picked up his 100th career victory by pinning Iowa–Grant/Highland senior Bode Brokopp, the #2-ranked heavyweight in D3, in the 285-pound championship match. Matthews enters this week's state tournament as the No. 1 seed in his 12-man bracket looking to close out his junior season with a state title.

Jaxson Wendhausen, Sr., G/F, Mineral Point boys basketball
Wendhausen made six 3-pointers and erupted for a career-high 33 points in a 91–59 blowout victory over Southwest Wisconsin Conference champion Platteville (17–7, 10–0 SWC) last Monday night. He then scored a team-high 22 points and had six rebounds and four assists in a 82–30 SWAL win over Riverdale as the Division 4 #2-ranked Pointers (23–1, 13–1 SWAL) wrapped up the outright SWAL title last Friday night. He the scored a game-high 23 points in 69–43 win at Marshall Saturday and chipped in 10 points in Monday's 63–43 rout of New Glarus this past Monday night.
SUPPZ.COM SWNEWS4U ATHLETE OF THE WEEK: Belmont's Kalli Hodgson
Senior pitches and hits Belmont to Division 5 regional title
Kalli Hodgson
Belmont senior Kalli Hodgson (13–2) settled in after allowing a lead off home in last Thursday's 5–1 WIAA Division 5 regional final victory over Wauzeka–Steuben to just one hit and two walks the rest of the way, while striking out nine to earn her 13th win of the season. She also went 2-for-4 with an RBI single and an RBI double. (photo by Jason Nihles)
Updated: Jun 6, 2025, 5:17 AM
Published: Jun 6, 2025, 5:18 AM

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

Kalli Hodgson, Sr., P, Belmont softball
The Belmont softball team is heading to sectionals for he 20th time in the last 27 seasons. The #1-ranked Braves dominated No. 8 seed Pecatonica 9–2 last Tuesday afternoon then rallied from an early 1–0 deficit to defeat No. 4 seed Wauzeka–Steuben 5–1 Thursday to win another WIAA Division 5 regional title.

During last week’s regional final, the Ridge and Valley champion Hornets (17–4) jumped out to an early 1–0 lead when Emma Wall hit the fourth pitch of the game over the fence in right centerfield fence for a solo home run. Belmont senior Kalli Hodgson (13–2) settled in after that and held W/S to just one hit and two walks the rest of the way, while striking out nine to earn her 13th win of the season. Sophomore Carsyn Ramaker pitched the sixth inning against the top of the Hornets’ lineup, recording two strikeouts before Hodgson pitched the final inning.

Junior Addy McNett got the Belmont offense going with a solo homer to lead of the bottom of the third. McNett’s blast ignited a four-run rally, which included an RBI single by senior Morgan Freeman, an RBI double by sophomore Lexi Riechers and an RBI double by Kalli Hodgson. Hodgson added another RBI single in the bottom of the fifth inning and finished the day 2-for-3 with two RBI. 

Two days earlier, Hodgson went 2-for-4 with a double and two RBI, and pitched four strong innings, allowing one run on two hits in four innings to lead the Braves  to a 9–2 D5 regional semifinal victory over Pecatonica last Tuesday. Hodgson is 13–2 with a 2.17 ERA and 112 strikeouts in 103 1/3 innings, while also batting .358 (29-for-81) with four doubles, one triple, one homer, 21 RBI and six runs scored. 

Hodgson and the Braves (24–3) went on to beat Six Rivers Conference co-champion Barneveld (19–6) 7–4 in Wednesday's D5 sectional semifinals before beating fellow No. 1 seed Johnson Creek 9–2 Thursday afternoon to win Belmont's eighth sectional title and clinch the program's eighth trip to the WIAA State Tournament (1999, 2002, 2003, 2006, 2009, 2017, 2017, 2025).

HONORABLE MENTION (in alphabetical order)
Payton Gile, Sr., Cuba City softball
Gile threw a pair of dominating shutouts last week over a pair of SWAL rivals to lead the #3-ranked Cubans to a WIAA Division 4 regional title. Gile struck out 14 of the 21 batters she faced and walked just three in a five-inning 12–0 shutout over Darlington last Tuesday night. She then struck out 10 and walked one in a 7–0 four-hit shutout over Iowa–Grant (15–12) in last Thursday's regional final. Gile was recently named this year's SWAL Player of the Year after leading the Cubans (22–5, 13–1 SWAL) to a share of this year's conference title. 

Miriam Goomey, Sr., F, Platteville/Lancaster girls soccer
Senior forward Miriam Goomey scored a pair of goals in last Thursday’s 4–1 victory at River Valley (12–3–4, 7–1–2 SWC) to help the Hillmen (13–3–2, 8–2) win this year’s SWC title. After a 1–0 loss to Dodgeville/Mineral Point on May 15, Platteville/Lancaster got back in the race when Prairie du Chien/River Ridge/Seneca played River Valley to a 1–1 tie May 22. The Hillmen then dominated Richland Center 8–0 on May 27, behind a one-goal, three-assist performance from Goomey.

Landon Haessly, Sr., P/3B, Boscobel baseball
The Boscobel baseball team recorded its first 10-win season since 2010 this year and was justly rewarded with its first home playoff game since 2011. The Bulldogs earned the No. 8 seed in their 14-team WIAA Division 4 half sectional and took full advantage of the home cookin’ to open the 2025 postseason with a 5–3 win over No. 9 Potosi/Cassville last Thursday. Haessly sat down 15 of the final 17 batters he face to hold the Chieftains (10–13) scoreless the final five innings of the game. Haessly (4–4) struck out eight and allowed just one earned run on four hits and one walk in the complete game win. This past Tuesday, Haessly was even better, striking out four while walking just one in a brilliant 71-pitch five-hit shutout to lead the No. 8 seed Bulldogs (13–12) to a 1–0 upset victory over No. 1 seed and #1-ranked Seneca (21–3). Haessly and the Bulldogs went on to beat No. 5 seed De Soto 4–2 Wednesday to win the program's first regional title since 1999.

Grant Herbst, So., Platteville boys golf
Sophomore Cole Herbst shot a 7-over par 79 to finish second out of 49 golfers to lead the Platteville boys golf team to a third-place finish at last Tuesday’ s 10-team Prairie du Chien Regional. Herbst, the reigning two-time Southwest Wisconsin Conference Player of the Year, followed up a 41 on the front nine with a sparkling 38 on the final nine holes to help the SWC champion Hillmen extend their season. Platteville posted a combined four-man score of 346 strokes to finish third behind SWAL champion Mineral Point (326), which was moved up to Division 2 this year by the new WIAA Competitive Balance Initiative after winning last year’s D3 state title, and runner-up Cuba City/Southwestern/Benton (335). River Valley (347) finished fourth one stroke behind Platteville. Herbst went on to shoot a 6-over par 76 at to place fifth at the D2 Mineral Point Sectional Tuesday at Dodge Point Country Club and earn one of the three individual qualifier berths in next week's WIAA Boys Golf State Championships, which will be held Monday and Tuesday at University Ridge in Madison.

Nora Jillson, Sr., Boscobel girls track and field
Senior Nora Jillson became a four-year state qualifier for Lady Bulldogs. The UW–La Crosse recruit placed second in the 800 with a time of 2:17.38, third in the 3,200 (11:32.10) and fourth in the 1,600 (5:02.11) last Friday at the Bangor Sectional. Jillson will again be joined at this year’s state meet by juniors Madi Kinnett, Aubrey Seep, and sophomore Hannah Dilley, as well as senior Cameron Hogan Kinnett, Seep, Dilley and teamed with freshman Payten Sadner to place fourth in the girls 4x400 relay at Bangor with a time of 4:10.13. A year ago Jillson, Kinnett and Seep, along with 2024 graduate Aleya Kliesner, won a silver medal in the D3 4x800 relay. Dilley and Avery Updike were alternates on that state runner-up relay team. Jillson also placed seventh in the D3 girls 800 (2:17.94) a year ago.