SOUTH WAYNE – Belmont/Platteville senior Dusty Jentz placed himself in rare company on Saturday after winning the 170-pound weight class to become a four-time champion at the 25th Annual Black Hawk Wrestling Invitational held at Black Hawk High School on Saturday, Dec. 3.
    Jentz, who won at 171 as a freshman and a junior and at 160 as a sophomore, joins Mineral Point’s Kevin Kinch (1991-94) and Dodgeville’s Bobby Wunnicke (2004-07) as the only other four-time champions at the annual early-season tournament featuring plenty of stiff competition.
    Jentz also earned Most Valuable Wrestler at the meet for the third year in a row after notching a 42-second pin over Darlington’s Slade Norton and technical fall wins of 25-10 over Merrill’s Ben Hintze in the semifinals and 26-10 over Mt. Horeb/Barneveld’s Tristian Luther in the finals to claim the 170-pound crown.
    Adam Niehaus (120-lbs.), Vinny Anderson (182) and David Stoney (220) each placed second for the Braves, who finished sixth overall in the final standings with 112 team points.
    Niehaus followed an opening round bye with a pin over MH/B’s Chase Zimple (1:28) and a 6-5 decision over Middleton’s Nick Widman to make the finals at 120. In the finals, the senior dropped a 15-0 technical fall to Merrill’s Scott Arneson.
    Anderson was busy for the Braves, notching decisions over Merrill’s Jacob Tessmer, 7-3, Darlington’s Tyler Black, 5-3, and Stoughton’s Mac Shumaker, 10-6, to advance to the finals at 182; but the junior’s day came to an end with a 20-4 technical fall loss to MH/B’s Quinn Faust.
    Stoney also opened with a bye, then pinned Pecatonica/Argyle’s Nick Gilbertson (4:28) and posted a 7-4 over MH/B’s Jacob Wright to earn a trip to the finals at 220. In the finals, the senior was pinned in 50 seconds by Merrill’s Tyler Schmidt.
    Lucas Stoney added a fourth at 285, and John Hentrich placed seventh at 138 for the Braves.
    “The best thing about Saturday is everyone on our team did something positive, and with the little experience we have those small victories are something we can build upon,” said Belmont/Platteville head coach Dane Droessler. “Dusty received a third Most Valuable Wrestler award, which is a great accomplishment that comes from hard work. Vinny stepped it up and has really looked fantastic all around so far.
    As for David and Adam, they have picked up right off where they ended last year and then some, which is good to see considering they started very slow last year. Lucas and John were our other place winners. Both wrestled with a lot of intensity. We will need that to continue from them to get them where we want them.” 
    Darlington also participated in the tournament, finishing eighth in the team standings after placing 10 of their 13 wrestlers at the tournament.
    Bo Brunkow (132), Eli Humphrey (220) and Hayden Black (285) each finished fifth in their weight class to lead the Redbirds, while Brady McDaniel (145) and Richie Ubersox (195) took sixth on the day.
    Norton (170) and T. Black (182) added sevenths, and Brandon Aardahl (106), Scott McDaniel (152) and Alex Schulte (160) placed eighth for the ‘Birds.
    Host Black Hawk finished 13th at the 16-team meet with 37 team points after earning two fifths and two sevenths on the mats.
    Dakota Meier (138) and Kory Costa (145) placed fifth on the day to lead the Warriors, while Colin Novak (106) and Jared Pickett (113) took home sevenths.
    “The invite was very tough on the smaller schools, but some of the individuals did great. It was an eye opener for a lot of young wrestlers, who got a chance to see some of the best wrestlers in the state,” said Black Hawk head coach Jim Seffrood. “It is an honor to be able to host a tournament like this one. The small schools fans got to see some great matches as well.”
    Merrill made it a decade of dominance at the Black Hawk Invitational by capturing the team title for the 10th consecutive year with 310 points.
    The Bluejays sent 10 team members to the finals with six of their wrestlers winning titles (120, 126, 152, 160, 195 and 220).
    Stoughton, a late addition to the tournament this season, sent six to the finals and nabbed four titles (106, 113, 132 and 285) to finish as the runner-up with 247.5 points. Westfield was third with 186 points, followed by Mount Horeb/Barneveld at 175.5 and Middleton– another late entry– with 174 in the top five.
    Belmont/Platteville will be busy on the mats over the next week. The Braves will host Dodgeville on Friday, Dec. 9, at 7 p.m. and will be in action at Prairie du Chien on Monday, Dec. 12, also at 7 p.m. in SWC action.
    The co-op will compete at the Raider Invitational in Belleville on Saturday, Dec. 10, starting at 9 a.m. The Braves will also host Boscobel in a non-conference dual meet on Tuesday Dec. 13.
    Darlington hits the road for Riverdale in SWAL action on Friday, Dec. 9, at 7 p.m.
    Black Hawk will participate in the Ridge and Rivers Duals at Patch Grove on Saturday, Dec. 10. On Tuesday, Dec. 13, the Warriors head to Dodgeville for a non-conference match at 7 p.m.
       
BLACK HAWK INVITATIONAL
Team Standings: Merrill 310, Stoughton 247.5, Westfield 186, Mt. Horeb/Barneveld 175.5, Middleton 174, Belmont/Platteville 112, Dodgeville 104, Darlington 88, Parkview 62.5, Kenosha St. Joseph’s 53, River Ridge/Cassville 40, Pecatonica/Argyle 39, Black Hawk 37, Madison East 33, Burlington Catholic Central 24, Madison Memorial 14.5.

Belmont-Platteville Individual Results: 106-pounds- NW; 113- Alex Niehaus, 0-2; 120- 2- Adam Niehaus, 3-1; 126- Cora Cornett, 0-2; 132- NW; 138- 7- John Hentrich, 3-2; 145- Peter Holloway, 0-2; 152- 5- Lucas Hoeper, 0-2; 160- Austin Loeffelholz, 0-2; 170- 1- Dusty Jentz, 4-0; 182- 2- Vincent Anderson, 3-1; 195- Jacob Sheperd, 0-2; 220- 2- David Stoney, 3-1; 285- 4- Lucas Stoney, 2-2.

Darlington Individual Results: 106-pounds- 8- Brandon Aardahl, 0-3; 113- NW; 120- Kyrin Halvorson, 1-2; 126- Michael Sinclair, 0-2; 132- 5- Bo Brunkow, 3-1; 138- Jordan Wang, 0-2; 145- 6- Brady McDaniel, 3-2; 152- 8- Scott McDaniel, 2-3; 160- 8- Alex Schulte, 2-3; 170- 7- Slade Norton, 1-2; 182- 7- Tyler Black, 2-2; 195- 6- Richie Ubersox, 3-2; 220- 5- Eli Humphrey, 4-1; 285- 5- Hayden Black, 3-1.

Black Hawk Individual Results: 106-pounds- 7- Colin Novak, 1-2; 113- 7- Jared Pickett, 1-2; 120- Crystal Novak, 0-2; 126- Beau Holland, 1-2; 132- NW; 138- 5- Dakota Meier, 3-1; 145- 5- Kory Costa, 4-1; 152- Zach Sigafus, 0-2; 160- NW; 170- NW; 182- Dean Schlittler, 0-2; 195- NW; 220- Patrick Mahoney, 0-2; 285- NW.
   
Dual Meet Results
Lancaster 62, Belmont/Platteville 17
Individual Results: 126-pounds- K. Mezera pinned Cora Cornett, BP, :55; 132- Crosby, L, won by forfeit; 138- Rice pinned John Hentrich, BP, 3:10; 145- Cornell pinned Peter Holloway, BP, 1:46; 152- Slater, L, won by forfeit; 160- T. Mezera tech. fall Austin Loeffelholz, BP, 15-0 (4:30); 170- Dusty Jentz, BP, tech. fall Chadd, 23-8 (4:55); 182- Glass dec. Vincent Anderson, BP, 8-5; 195- Flynn pinned Jacob Sheperd, BP, 2:35; 220- David Stoney, BP, pinned VanDeHey, :52; 285- Olson pinned Lucas Stoney, BP, 1:27; 106- Wolf, L, won by forfeit; 113- Martin pinned Alex Niehaus, BP, 1:55; 120- Adam Niehaus, BP, won by forfeit.
At Lancaster, on Friday, Dec. 2

Boscobel 41, Darlington 25
Individual Results: 138-pounds- Alvin pinned Jordan Wang, D, 4:30; 145- E. Mindham major dec. Brady McDaniel, D, 8-0; 152- Scott McDaniel, D, major dec. Jones, 14-3; 160- Alex Schulte, D, dec. Buehre, 8-3; 170- Groom pinned Tyler Brunkow, 1:23; 182- Tyler Black, D, won by forfeit; 195- Varvil dec. Richie Ubersox, D, 6-4; 220- Fischer dec. Eli Humphrey, D, 8-4; 285- Hayden Black, D, won by forfeit; 106- Kellogg major dec. Brandon Aardahl, D, 16-3; 113- R. Mindham, B, won by forfeit; 120- Cashman pinned Kyrin Halvorson, D, 1:09; 126- Ward dec. Michael Sinclair, 14-9; 132- Bo Brunkow, D, won by forfeit.
At Darlington, on Thursday, Dec. 1
       
Madison East 42, Black Hawk 36
Individual Results: 106-pounds- Colin Novak, BH, won by pin; 113- Jared Pickett, BH, won by pin; 120- Crystal Novak, BH, won by forfeit; 126- Beau Holland, BH, lost by dec., 6-5; 132- Joe Leu, BH, lost by dec., 6-3; 138- Dakota Meier, BH, won by pin; 145- Kory Costa, BH, won by pin; 152- Zach Sigafus, BH, lost by pin; 160- ME won by forfeit; 170- ME won by forfeit; 182- Dean Schlittler, BH, lost by pin; 195- ME won by forfeit; 220- Patrick Mahoney, BH, won by pin; 285- ME won by forfeit.  At South Wayne, on Thursday, Dec. 1