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 / Fennimore Times / Boscobel Dial
and A.J. Gates, Herald Independent / Tri-County Press

Gavin Wunderlin, Jr., F and Sam Udelhofen, Sr., PG, Potosi boys basketball
POTOSI — It’s been a historic week for the Potosi boys’ basketball program, which improved to 10–1 in Six Rivers West action with wins over Belmont and Shullsburg, and also welcomed two new 1,000-point scorers to a very select club.

Junior forward Gavin Wunderlin and senior point guard Sam Udelhofen each scored their 1,000 career points within a span of four days.

Wunderlin joined the club with a 29-point performance last Tuesday night in an 87–45 win over Belmont, while Udelhofen reached the milestone with a 23-point performance against Pecatonica Saturday afternoon.

The list of 1,000-point scorers at Potosi High School has now reached four, with 2001 graduate Jeremy Leibfried atop the list with 1,642 career points. Wunderlin has moved into second on the school’s all-time scoring list with 1,053 points, having scored 174 as a freshman, 415 as a sophomore and 464 points so far during his junior season and could catch Leibfried next year with a standout senior season. 

“Gavin is shooting it well, for one thing, but he’s also been able to create some shots,” said Potosi head coach Mike Uppena. “He’s been working really hard to get himself open and in position. Right now, the ball has been going in for him.”

Sitting third on Potosi’s list of top scorers is 1993 graduate Chad Kruser, who has 1,048 career points to his credit and could very well be caught by Udelhofen.

Scoring 259 points in his sophomore season, 376 as a junior, and 371 so far during his senior season, Udelhofen has 1,006 career points with at least two games remaining. If Udelhofen continues with this year’s 16.9 points per game average, he should be a lock to secure the third spot.

“Sam is just a heck of a leader,” Uppena said. “He leads the team in assists (86) and in rebounds (139). He helps us go, there’s no question about it. He’s obviously a good defender and he takes care of the ball, which is in his hands a lot of the time.”

Potosi (17–5, 10–1) will close out the regular season Thursday night at Benton (16–7, 6–5),  looking to secure the program’s first conference crown since the 2018–19 season. River Ridge (19–4, 10–1) could also secure a share with a win Thursday night against Belmont (2–21, 0–11)

Wunderlin finished with a game-high 29 points on 11-of-19 shooting from the floor, including 4-of-8 from downtown. He also pulled down five boards to go along with three assists and four steals.

Wunderlin scored a layup for the first points of the game and was very aggressive the rest of the night with many family members in attendance. He scored 10 points on back-to-back fast break layups and a pair of 3-pointers during a 13–2 Potosi run that made it 35–7 with 8:51 left in the first half.

He hit a 3-pointer at the 5-minute mark to get to 998 points, then after a pair of missed 3-pointers on the next couple of trips, Uppena called a post up play for Wunderlin. Udelhofen fed him on the right block and Gavin spun baseline for an easy two for 1,000 points in the dot with 2:43 left in the half and Potosi up 45–20.

Udelhofen wasn’t far behind with 23 points on 8-of-18 shooting from the floor, including 4-of-10 from downtown. He also had a team-high seven rebounds and seven assists.

Friday, the Chieftains traveled to Shullsburg, where they handed the Miners a 67–59 loss. Wunderlin led all scorers with 33 points on 12-of-16 shooting from the floor, including an amazing 8-of-11 from downtown. He also came away with a team-high three steals, while Udelhofen chipped in 13 points to go along with a team-high 11 assists.

In non-conference action last Saturday, Potosi pounded Pecatonica, 72–36, getting a team-high 23 points from Sam Udelhofen, followed by 17 from Wunderlin.

Udelhofen scored 17 of his 23 points in the first half and joined the 1,000-point club with a 3-pointer from the right wing with 4:34 left in the opening half. 

Moments later, before Uppena had a chance to call timeout to acknowledge Udelhofen’s achievement, Wunderlin picked off an errant pass and took it coast-to-coast for a two-hand slam, his second of the game. The game was then briefly stopped and Udelhofen was showered by cheers from the home crowd.

HONORABLE MENTION (in alphabetical order):
Bode Brokopp, So., 195 pounds, Iowa–Grant/Highland wrestling
Brokopp notched a second-period pin over junior individual state qualifier Brady Lehner (15–4) at 220 pounds, the final match of the dual, to lift Iowa–Grant/Highland to a dramatic 38–34 victory over #2-ranked La Crosse Aquinas in a semifinal at last Tuesday’s WIAA Division 3 Cashton Team Sectional. The #5 Panthers (11–4) went on to lose the Team sectional final 66–9 to top-ranked SWAL rival Fennimore, but Brokopp was back in action Saturday at the WIAA D3 Richland Center individual sectional. Brokopp (32–18) scored a dramatic 2–0 overtime victory over Lancaster senior Ryan McCartney to place second at 195 to earn his first trip to state. Brokopp was pinned by top-seed Tyson Martin (38–4) of Aquinas in the semis, but rattled off three-straight wins, including the overtime win against McCartney to finish second at 195.

Carver Fitzsimons, Sr., F, Darlington boys basketball
Fitzsimons posted a strong double-double of 14 points and 14 rebounds (both team highs), along with four blocks, to lead Darlington to a 55–53 victory at Mineral Point (18–4, 10–3 SWAL) last Tuesday to help the Division 4 #5-ranked Redbirds (21–2, 12–1) clinch this year's SWAL title. The senior forward then 15 points, eight rebounds and three blocks in 67–53 SWAL win over Fennimore Friday night. Fitzsimons is averaging 14.1 points and a team-high 9.5 rebounds for Darlington.

Heath Poppy, Jr., G, Shullsburg boys basketball
Poppy scored a game-high 30 points in a 67–59 loss to Potosi last Friday night to join Shullsburg's 1,000-point club. Poppy, who is now averaging 21 points per game, has topped 30 points in five of his last eight games for the Miners, who finished the regular season 10–14 overall and 5–7 in the Six Rivers West. “Heath started the night needing 14 points, and going into halftime, he had 16 points,” said Miners head coach Pete Poppy. “He finished the night with 30 points, 7 rebounds, 4 steals, 3 assists and 1 block. Heath puts a lot of time and effort into the game and tonight was a night where he received the benefits of all the hard work he puts in. As his coach and father, I am extremely proud of him and excited to watch his game grow.”

Brooke Von Glahn, Sr., all-around, Platteville/Belmont/Lancaster gymnastics
Platteville/Lancaster/Belmont senior Brooke Von Glahn won individual conference titles in the all-around SWC (36.1), balance beam (9.25) and uneven bars (8.875) to lead the Hillmen to a season-best team score of 137.075 and the team title at Monday night's SWC Championships at Prairie du Chien. She also  finished third on the floor exercise (9.4) and fourth on the vault (8.575). The Hillmen had to wait an extra four days to win their SWC title after the meet was originally postponed last Thursday due to snow.

Titus Wunderlin, Jr., sprints, Platteville/Lancaster boys swimming
Platteville’s Titus Wunderlin closed out his sensational junior season Friday night at the WIAA Division 2 Boys Swimming and Diving State Championships at Waukesha South High School. Wunderlin swam to a 10th place finish out of 16 in the 50-yard freestyle with a lifetime-best time of 22.27 seconds. Two events later, Wunderlin returned to the starting blocks and swam to a 13th-place finish in the 100-yard freestyle with another lifetime-best time of 48.67 seconds.

“We knew going into the meet that Titus could improve his times,” said Platteville/Lancaster head coach and Titus’ father Matt Wunderlin. “We found a couple of tenths in his start at practice on Monday and worked to make them a habit all week. There were a couple of other things we discovered but trying to implement them at a state championship would have been too much mentally. We’ll hopefully have another opportunity next year.”