MCDONALD'S SWNEWS4U.COM GAME OF THE WEEK (Jan. 7–14)
SWC WRESTLING: SWC Duals
By Derick Kelly, Courier Press
Prairie du Chien Wrestling claims sixth straight SWC title
PRAIRIE DU CHIEN — Following a tough 43–35 dual loss at home to Lodi this past Tuesday night, the Prairie du Chien Wrestling team entered the 2025 SWC Duals Tournament looking to earn their sixth straight conference championship.
The Hawks also wanted to extend their conference duals winning streak (dating back to the start of the 2019–20 season) to 30 with a sweep of the tournament. That accomplishment would not be without some challenges.
First up for the Hawks was Lancaster. The Flying Arrows quickly jumped out to a 21–6 lead after five matches. Things started turning in favor of the Hawks in the 138-pound match, when senior Irelynd Cejka pinned Lancaster’s John Muldoon in 3:04 to make the score 21–12.
Prairie du Chien would win the next four matches (including Bryce Lenzendorf’s 100th career victory) to take a 33-21 lead with four matches remaining. The Arrows would get a pin from Nolan Hanke at 175 pounds to make the score 33-27 heading into the final three matches. A major decision by Jack MacEachern at 190 pounds and pins by Blake Thiry at 215 pounds and Jack Simmons at 285 pounds gave the Hawks a 49-27 victory.
Prairie du Chien would earn comfortable wins in each of their next two matches against Richland Center, 54–20l and River Valley, 54–23,. In round four, the Hawks faced their toughest challenge yet against Dodgeville.
Much like the Lancaster dual, the Hawks fell behind quickly as the Dodgers earned wins in each of the first five matches to lead the Hawks 27–0 going into the 150-pound weight class. The Hawks once again turned on the jets as they came firing back with pinfall victories in each of the next seven matches. Picking up pinfall wins for the Hawks were Jackson Perkins, Jake Kramer, Bryce Lenzendorf, Jack MacEachern, Thiry, Simmons and Keaton Achenbach in a pivotal match at 106 pounds.
With defending state champions Shane Rochon and Rhet Spurley waiting in the wings for the Dodgers at 113 and 120 pounds, PdC — leading 36–27 — needed a win with bonus points to guarantee victory. Achenbach gave the Hawks that cushion in his match with Blaek Foust, pinning the senior in 3:58 (after fighting off a pinfall attempt by Foust) to make the score 42-27. The Dodgers got forfeit wins in the last two matches to make the final score 42–39 in favor of PdC. The Hawks also got major help from freshman Landon Thiry in his match at 132 pounds, which kept the Dodgers from earning bonus team points by not allowing Aiden Gipson to win by pin or technical fall.
Awaiting the Hawks in the fifth and final round of duals on the night was Belmont/Platteville, who were also entering the final dual with a 4–0 record.
Once again, the Hawks found themselves trailing after Belmont/Platteville won four of the first five to go up 20–4. The Hawks would win the next two matches before a pinfall victory by B/P at 190 pounds made the score 26-15 with six matches to go. The Hawks got on a roll as they received pins from Blake Thiry, Simmons and Achenbach, as well as a forfeit win by Rosalie Kossman to make the score 39-26 with two matches left.
The two teams exchanged wins in the last two matches as the Hawks earned their sixth consecutive SWC Championship with a 44–32 victory. Lenzendorf, Blake Thiry and Simmons each went 5–0 for PdC, while Hunter Reid finished 4–0. Hawks who finished the night with only one loss were Mason Hird (4–1), Perkins (4–1) and Kossman (3–1).
Prairie du Chien boys and girls wrestling will travel to Mineral Point this Thursday night before traveling to La Crosse Aquinas the next night for a quadrangular meet starting at 4:30 p.m.