EDITOR'S NOTE: The Swnews4u.com Athlete of the Week is a web-only feature that will publish each Thursday throughout the calendar year.
By Jason Nihles, The Platteville Journal
Elliott Biba, Sr., 138 pounds, Iowa–Grant/Highland wrestling
LA CROSSE — Iowa–Grant/Highland senior Elliott Biba got off to a late start this season, but he is showing no signs of rust.
Biba (15–0) breezed through the opening three rounds and ultimately finished 6–0 to win the 138-pound title at the two-day, 72-team Bi-State Classic at the La Crosse Center.
Biba scored a team-high 46 points to lead the Panthers to a third-place finish in Division 3 and a third-place overall finish with 254.5 points.
Only Division 3 champion Chatfield (Minn.) (291.5) and D3 runner-up La Crosse Aquinas (270) scored more points in the entire tournament than coach Ryan Allen’s Panthers.
After back-to-back pins, and an 18–7 major decision in round 3, Biba gutted out a 6–5 decision over Jack Bainbridge of Hastings (Minn.) in the quarterfinals. He then scored a dominating 17–8 major decision over River Valley’s Noah Radtke (18–3) before winning the 138-pound title with an 8–3 victory over Holmen’s Preston Kratochvill (9–1).
Rachel Schauer, Sr., 165 pounds, Fennimore girls wrestling
LA CROSSE — LA CROSSE — Fennimore seniors Rachel Schauer and Brooklyn Lull kept the Fennimore wrestling tradition of excellence alive and well at last weekend’s Bi-State Girls Classic.
Schauer (9–0) entered the three-day girls-only tournament as the top seed among 19 wrestlers at 165 pounds and more than lived up to the billing en route to winning the title.
Lull (11–4), who was seeded seventh out of 25 girls at 114 pounds, wrestled her way to a second-place finish. In all, the Fennimore girls team of five wrestlers scored 66 team points to place 12th out of 57 teams at the Bi-State Girls Classic, which was held last Thursday through Saturday at the La Crosse Center.
After a first-round bye, Schauer pinned her way to the 165-pound title. Her only match that lasted past the first period was a second-period pin (2:24) of Adams–Friendship’s Kimura Hutter (12–1) in the finals.
“Rachel Schauer did a great job attacking the legs this weekend,” said Fennimore boys head coach Chad Steldt. “Everyone knows her for her head-throw, but at the more advanced levels such a move is not always there. Rachel adjusted well this weekend and hit several beautiful high and low level leg attacks. A lot of people were anticipating her match in the finals to go the distance, but Rachel ended up getting the pin.”
HONORABLE MENTION (in alphabetical order):
Eli Adams, Sr., G, Cassville boys basketball
Adams joined a very elite group of players at Cassville High School over the holiday break, reaching the 1,000-career scoring mark at the New Lisbon Holiday Tournament last Thursday. Scoring 16 points in a 71-50 win over New Lisbon, and 15 points in a 61-50 loss to Ithaca, Adams came away from the tournament with 1,027 career points with 15 games remaining in the regular season. Adams joins the likes of Sam Okey, Ty Kartman, Mike Uppena, Mason Infield, Kent Faurote, Robby Roe and Raz Okey as the school’s 1,000-point scorers.
Caitlynn Banfield, So., Platteville Dance Team
Banfield, a team co-captain, choreographed many of Platteville's halftime routines during the fall football seasons and really enjoyed working with the younger kids for team fundraisers. Banfield debuted her very own, self-choreographed solo this year, placing 4th in our division at the recent Kiel Winter Invitational. She also helped the team win 1st place in the D3 Jazz division there.
Roen Carey, Jr., 132 pounds, Mineral Point wrestling
Carey (19–1) went 6–0 to win the 132-pound title at last weekend's Bi-State Classic, capturing the title with a gritty 3–2 win over Zumbrota-Mazeppa senior Jack Krier (18–2). Junior teammate Kade Rule (17–3) finished second at 165 pounds.
Davyn Edge, Sr., F, Plattteville boys basketball
Edge scored a career-high 26 points in just 18 minutes on 12 of 17 shooting, and junior guard Lucas Ludlum added 21 points in the 88–52 rout in the second game of a girls–boys non-conference doubleheader last Friday night. The Hillmen (6–2) had a four players reach double figures in the contest, led by Edge, who also had a six steals and three rebounds in the rout.
Tyson Imhoff, Jr., 150 pounds, and Jaxon Busse, So., 157 pounds, Iowa–Grant/Highland wrestling
Imhoff (22–2) at 150 and Busse (22–1) at 157 each placed second to help the Panthers finish third in Division 3 and third overall out of 72 teams at last weekend's 41st Bi-State Classic in La Crosse.
Adrianna Logue, So., 185 pounds, North Crawford/Seneca girls wrestling
Louge (20–1) went 5–0 with a bye and four-straight pins to win the girls' 185-pound title at last weekend's Bi-State Classic. Logue pinned Lake Geneva Badger's Ella Creighton (18–2) in the finals (3:45).
Brooklyn Lull, Sr., 114 pounds, Fennimore girls wrestling
Lull, who was seeded seventh out of 25 girls at 114 pounds, wrestled her way to a second-place finish at last weekend's Bi-State Classic. After a first-round bye, Lull (11–4) recorded back-to-back pins to advance to the semifinals where she dominated Hudson’s Mary Prescott 15–8.
Madison Meyer, Sr., 152 pounds, Richland Center girls wrestling
Meyer (9–3) went 4–1 to finish second at 152 pounds at last weekend's 57-team Bi-State Girls Classic in La Crosse.
Olivia Olson, Jr., G, Cuba City girls basketball
Olson set the Cuba City girls single-game scoring record with a new career-high 37 points in last Thursday's 63–43 victory over Poynette at the Waunakee Holiday Classic. Olson made five 3-pointers and went 6 of 8 at the free throw line en route to the single-game school record.
Shane Rochon, Fr., 106 pounds, Dodgeville wrestling
Rochan defeated Colton Koss (18–3) of GET/Melrose–Mindoro 5–1 in the finals to win the 106-pound title at last weekend's 41st Bi-State Classic in La Crosse. Rochan (20–1) went 6–0 over the two-day tournament.
Cyle Steffl, Sr., G, Iowa–Grant boys basketball
Steffl scored a team-high 20 points in the game one loss to the host Timberwolves at last Wednesday's River Ridge Holiday Tournament and in the process went over 1,000 career points. He also had 24 points, nine rebounds and four assists in the consolation game loss to Blair–Taylor. Steffl now has 1,040 career points in 79 varsity games (13.2 ppg). “I thought Cyle played extremely well on each end of the floor in both games,” said IG head coach Shawn Dailey. “He was in attack mode all day by constantly getting into the paint and drawing fouls and going to the free throw line."
