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

Griffin Wineski, So., 106 pounds, Iowa–Grant/Highland wrestling
MADISON — Iowa–Grant/Highland had another standout weekend at the annual WIAA Individual Wrestling State Tournament at the Kohl Center this past weekend.

Junior Brock Hinderman opened Saturday night’s state finals with a dominating 5–0 victory over No. 2 seed Seth Race to win the Division 3 175-pound state title. Less than an hour later sophomore Griffin Wineski completed his incredible run through the 106-pound bracket with a 7–0 shutout of top-seeded Shiocton sophomore Tucker Keberlein.

Hinderman’s and Wineski’s state championships were titles number 19 and 20 for the Iowa–Grant/Highland program. Cade Sarbacker (2006, 07) and Rory Edge (2006, 07) remain the only two-time individual state champions for the Panthers. 

This year’s state finals began at 175 pounds this year, to end the night with Dodgeville senior Haakon Peterson’s final prep match. The University of Michigan recruit defeated Mount Horeb/Barneveld freshman Easton Kammerud 15–4 to win a fourth state title and end his career with a perfect 174–0 record.

As the No. 6 seed, Wineski (39–10) shocked everyone — but himself — by beating the top three seeds in his bracket to win the Division 3 106-pound state title. 

Wineski opened with a 12–3 major decision over Kewaunee sophomore Samuel Kraynik (34–11), then upset No. 3 Ozaukee freshman Sterling Schanen (47–6) Thursday night, 8–3. He continued getting stronger as he pinned No. 2 seed Edgar freshman Dakota Kraft (47–5) in Friday night’s semifinals, before blanking top-seeded Shiocton sophomore Tucker Keberlein (46–2) in Saturday’s finals.

“Griffin has really had a phenomenal season,” said Allen. “It was a rough start at 120 pounds, but he worked his butt off and dropped to 106 and it paid off big time for him. The amount of work he put in this year really made losing hard to come by for him. I’m very proud of him and the way he wrestled this weekend.”

Lexie Olmstead, Fr., PG, Lancaster girls basketball
LANCASTER — Just nine days after missing three free throws in the final 17 seconds of a 49–48 loss at Platteville, Olmstead scored 17 of her game-high 31 points in the final four minutes to lift the No. 2 seed Flying Arrows to a 67–64 victory the No. 3 Hillmen in Saturday night’s WIAA Division 3 regional final at LHS. 

Olmstead scored 17 of her team’s final 19 points (and made nine straight free throws during that span) after Platteville took a 49–47 lead on a 3-pointer by sophomore Quinn Temperly with 5:44 left in the game.

“Lexi is a special talent and her athleticism is next level,” said Platteville head coach Brandon Temperly. “When she gets going downhill, she is difficult to stop.  We were trying to keep the ball out of her hands but she was able to find a way, and once she had it, we couldn’t stop her. She is a good player and a good kid.”

Platteville and Lancaster shared this year’s SWC title after splitting its two regular season meetings with Lancaster winning 70–63 at home Jan. 16.

After a short hook shot by Lancaster sophomore Brooklyn Crubel on the very next possession, Quinn Temperly scored five straight points on a layup and a 3-pointer to give Platteville a 49–47 lead, its first of the game since the opening minutes of the game.

Lancaster senior Kylie Olmstead split a pair of free throws to, then Lexie Olmstead scored six straight points before Temperly buried another 3-pointer to trim the Lancaster lead to 54–52 with 3:29 left.

The younger Olmstead made two more free throws to make it a four-point game before picking up her fourth foul with 2:29 to play. But that didn’t faze Lancaster standout one bit. Olmstead answered a 3-pointer by Kinley Bendorf with a 3-pointe play to make it 61–57 with 1:08, then answered a nifty floater by Temperly with two more free throws at the 52.6-second mark.

Platteville freshman Soraeya Stone drilled a clutch 3-pointer moments later to make it a one-point game and the Hillmen called their final time, but Olmstead scored on an inbound play with 34 seconds left to again make it a 3-point game.

Platteville missed a potential game-tying 3-pointer and a putback before Lancaster forced a jump ball with 14.9 seconds left on the clock. Olmstead then made two more clutch free throws to push the lead to five and put the game out of reach with just 13 seconds left. She finished with 31 points, 10 rebounds and six steals in Saturday's win.

Olmstead also had 32 points, 10 rebounds, six steals and two assists in Lancaster's 64–48 regional semifinal victory over Evansville Friday night.

HONORABLE MENTION (in alphabetical order):
Brock Hinderman, Jr., 175 pounds, Iowa–Grant/Highland wrestling
Junior Brock Hinderman opened Saturday night’s state finals with a dominating 5–0 victory over No. 2 seed Seth Race to win the Division 3 175-pound state title. Less than an hour later sophomore Griffin Wineski completed his incredible run through the 106-pound bracket with a 7–0 shutout of top-seeded Shiocton sophomore Tucker Keberlein. Hinderman’s and Wineski’s state championships were titles number 19 and 20 for the Iowa–Grant/Highland program. Cade Sarbacker (2006, 07) and Rory Edge (2006, 07) remain the only two-time individual state champions for the Panthers.

Branko Garcia, Fr., 113 pounds, Cuba City/Southwestern/Benton wrestling
Garcia (44–5) stunned defending state champion and top-seeded Evansville junior Evan Frey (57–2) in the Division 2 113-pound quarterfinals at last week's WIAA Individual Wrestling State Tournament. The 8th-seeded Garcia went on to finish second at 113 pounds after a 1:18 semifinal pin over Coleman sophomore Bently Nowak (42–3) in Saturday night's semis, before falling to No. 2 seed Trennon Holzer (43–2), a senior from Saint Croix Central, in Saturday night's finals.

Haakon Peterson, Sr., 165 pounds, Dodgeville wrestling
Peterson, a WIAA Division 1 Michigan recruit, capped an undefeated 174–0 prep career by winning the WIAA Division 2 165-pound state title Saturday night with a 15–4 major decision over Mount Horeb/Barneveld freshman Easton Kammerud (24–5). Peterson cruised through his bracket with a first-round bye, a 19–4 tech fall over GET/Melrose–Mindoro sophomore Merek Windsor (37–17) in the quarterfinals, and a 21-6 tech fall over Saint Croix Falls senior Isaac Briggs (44–9) in Friday night's semifinals.

Toay Ragatz, So., 215 pounds, and Nolan Hanke, Sr., 190 pounds, Lancaster wrestling
Ragatz (41–5) won the WIAA Division 3 215-pound state title with a dramatic 3–2 triple overtime victory over Prairie du Chien senior Jack Simmons (51–9) in last Saturday night's finals at the WIAA Individual Wrestling State Championship. Ragatz reached the finals with a pair of pins and a 10–1 major decision over No. 2 seed Jabin Lawson (23–5), a senior from Markesan. Hanke (44–6) went 3–1 and finished second at 190 pounds in Division 3. Hanke reached the finals with a bye and back-to-back pins before a 14–5 loss to top-seeded Michicot junior Owen Schacht (55–1).  

Dylan Weigel, Sr., 144 pounds, Belmont/Platteville wrestling
Weigel went 3–1 and finished second in Division 2 at 144 pounds after a narrow 8–6 loss to Kewauskum senior Ethan Immel (51–1) in last Saturday night's finals of the WIAA Individual Wrestling State Tournament. Weigel also lost to Immel in the Division 2 138-pound state championship match a year ago as a junior. Weigel (58–2) finished his amazing prep career was Belmont/Platteville's all-time winningest wrestler at 205–27.