MINERAL POINT - Iowa-Grant’s ultimate team goal this season is to win a state title at the WIAA state team championships later this month, making this Saturday’s upcoming WIAA Division 3 regional tournament - a de facto team sectional qualifier - the Panthers’ most important tournament of the season to date.
     That being said, last weekend’s SWC-SWAL Clash was the perfect tune-up for I-G’s upcoming postseason run.
     Seniors Logan Bollant and Brandon Pierick each captured individual titles, and five of their teammates joined them in the finals, as the Panthers racked up 304 points and easily outpointed chief rivals Mineral Point (261) and Lancaster (234) to win this year’s Clash team title.
     The Panthers had finished second behind Mineral Point for five straight years since winning the tournament in 2006.
Both the Pointers and Flying Arrows, who won the Southwest Wisconsin Conference regular season dual meet title, will also participate in Saturday’s Darlington regional, with the winner earning a berth in next Tuesday’s Division 3 Lancaster team sectional.
     “We talked about building momentum,” Iowa-Grant head coach Ryan Allen told the Wisconsin State Journal. “This is a tough tournament, great competition, but its about next weekend. It’ll come down to...who’s ready to fight.”
     Bollant (30-4) joined an elite group of wrestlers by winning his third straight conference title with a second-period pin of Lancaster junior Cody Glass in the 170-pound championship. The I-G senior breezed to the title round with a bye and back-to-back pins of Richland Center’s Joshua Kidd and River Valley’s Duane Pretsch.
     Bollant won the 160-pound title a year ago and the 140-pound championship as a sophomore.
     Pierick (21-4), who missed part of the season after injuring his shoulder in late December at the Mid-States Classic in Whitewater, was back at full strength on Saturday. He used a bye, a 9-1 major decision over Belmont/Platteville’s Vinny Anderson and a 7-2 decision over River Valley’s Garrett Reik to reach the 160-pound championship, where he defeated Richland Center’s Darren Mott to claim his first conference title.
     Logan Mills (112), Tucker Sarbacker (132), Blake Welu (182), Cody Rider (220) and Ben McFall (285) each finished second for Iowa-Grant.
     Jacob Yelinek finished third at 145 giving the Panthers a tournament-best eight, top-3 finishers.
     Lancaster crowned three champions and had three runner-ups.
     Cuba City’s Jarod Donar was named the tournament’s Most Outstanding Wrestler after capturing a fourth conference title and running his perfect career recrod to 179-0.

Jentz, Stoney win individual titles for Belmont/Platteville    
     Platteville senior Dusty Jentz captured his third consecutive conference title with a 13-6 victory over Iowa-Grant’s Blake Welu in the 182-pound championship.
     Jentz (31-1), the all-time winningest wrestler in the history of Platteville High School, won back-to-back titles as a sophomore and junior after finishing fourth as a freshman in 2009.
     After a first-round bye, Jentz pinned Mineral Point’s Nate Cody in the quarterfinals, then scored an 11-5 semifinal decision over Fennimore’s Logan Chappell.
     “He is wrestling at a very high level at this time of the year, which is refreshing to see,” said Belmont/Platteville head coach Dane Droessler.
     Belmont senior David Stoney joined Jentz as a champion winning the 220-pound title, his first, with a 7-2 victory over Iowa-Grant’s Cody Rider.
     Stoney (28-6) had a first-round bye, then pinned Elias Cox then defeated Mineral Point’s Brenyn Schmit, 7-4, to reach the finals.
     “David continues to look more and more impressive and I believe the best is yet to come,” added Droessler. “This is the time of the year our seniors have been working towards and they are in great position to achieve their individual goals.  David really has been right there in every match this year, so we our very confident in his abilities to take it to the next level.”
     Platteville senior Adam Niehaus finished third at 120 pounds and joined the 100-win club with an 11-8 quarterfinal victory over Boscobel’s Cyle Ward. He is now 101-54 during his four-year career.
     Belmont sophomore Lucas Stoney finished fourth at 285 pounds.
     Despite having just wrestlers the Belmont/Platteville co-op scored 141 points and finished eighth at the Clash.
     This Saturday the Braves will travel to the WIAA Division 2 River Valley regional.

SWC-SWAL Clash
(from Saturday, Feb. 4 @ Mineral Point)
Team Scores - 1.Iowa-Grant 304, 2.Mineral Point 261, 3.Lancaster 234, 4.River Valley 196, 5.Richland Center 188, 6.Riverdale 151, 7.Prairie du Chien 147, 8.Belmont/Platteville 141, 9.Cuba City/Southwestern 115, 10.Fennimore 112, 11.Dodgeville 88, 12.Darlington 66, 13.Boscobel 56.
Championship matches
106 - Cole Martin, Lan, pinned Taylor Elliott, PdC, 2:53. 113 - J.J. Donar, CC/S def. R. Mindham, B, 7-0. 120 - Kyle Mezerra, Lan, Logan Mills, IG, 4-0. 126 - Austyn Alt, RV, dec. Daniel Rice, Lan, 4-2. 132 - Trevor Spears, RD, dec. Tucker Sarbacker, IG, 9-5. 138 - Jared Donar, CC/S, tech. fall dec. Trenton Cornell, L, 18-1. 145 - Seth Liegel, RV. def. Cody Bertrum, MP, 5-2. 152 - Ethan Soderstrom, Lan, def. Todd Tibbits, MP, 4-0. 160 - Brandon Pierick, IG, maj. dec. Darren Mott, 15-2. 170 - Logan Bollant, IG, pinned Cody Glass, Lan, 13-2. 182 - Dusty Jentz, B/P, dec. Blake Welu, IG, 13-6. 195 - Robbie Chubb, MP, def. Jace Simonson, RC, 1:22. 220 - David Stoney, B/P, def. Cody Rider, IG, 7-2. 285 - Logan Schmidt, RC, pinned Ben McFall, IG, 1:30.
Third-place matches
106 - Suddeth, MP, def. Davidson, Fen, 6-0. 113 - Walrack, MP, pinned DeVoss, Dod, 4:50. 120 - Adam Niehaus, B/P, def. Mewis, MP, 2-1. 126 - Roen, RD, def. Luke Nowak, IG, 2-1 OT. 132 - Crook, RV, pinned Stormoen, PdC, 2:22. 138 - Lechnir, RV, def. Meeker, Dod, 6-1. 145 - Jacob Yelinek, IG, maj. dec. Beckius, RD, 12-0. 152 - Hogan, RV, maj. dec. Cody Belken, IG, 12-3. 160 - Riek, RV, dec. T. Mezera, Lan, 3-2. 170 - Pretsch, RV, pinned Webber, MP, 4:26. 182 - Chappell, Fen, pinned Black, Dar, 2:46. 195 - Schwer, Fen, pinned Koch, RV, 2:59. 220 - Welsch, PdC, def. Schmit, MP, 3-1. 285 - Ashmore, Fen, pinned Lucas Stoney, B/P, 3:42.
Fifth-place matches
106 - Shania Sarbacker, IG, def. Guerin, CC/S, 3-1. 113 - Gander, RC, Wolf, Lan, 7-0. 120 - Dougherty, Dod., maj. dec. Whitney, RC, 14-2. 126 - Riley, MP, pinned Cashman, Bos, 2:07. 132 - Siegenthaler, MP, pinned Theill, CC/S :57. 138 - Portwine, RD, def. Pickel, MP, 9-2. 145 - Yager, PdC, pinned McDaniel, Dar., 1:20. 152 - Banker, RC, maj. dec. Koch, RD, 15-3. 160 - Silvers, RD, maj. dec. Vinny Anderson, B/P, 15-5. 170 - Olson, Dod., pinned Kidd, RC, :40. 182 - Panka, PdC, pinned Coleman, RC, 3:49. 195 - Derek Peat, IG, pinned Wanek, RD, 4:11. 220 - Bangert, RC, maj. dec. Olson, Lan, 13-3. 285 - VanDeHey, Lan, def. Riter, PdC, 3-2.
Other Iowa-Grant results
113 - Jordan Jenks went 0-2, DNP. 138 - Brian Halverson went 2-3, 8th.
Other Belmont/Platteville results
113 - Alex Niehaus went 2-3, 8th. 138 - John Hentrich went 3-2, 7th. 152 - Austin Loeffelholz went 2-3, 8th.