Friday night the Belmont/Platteville wrestling team won just two of the 10 contested matches in a 52-28 loss to visiting Dodgeville.
     The Braves did, however, pick up three forfeit wins in the Southwest Wisconsin Conference dual meet at Belmont High School.
     The visiting Dodgers notched four pins and a major decision in the evening’s first five matches to take a commanding 28-0 win. Platteville senior Dusty Jentz and junior Vinny Anderson stopped the bleeding with back-to-back forfeit victories at 170 and 182 pounds.
     After Clay DiCiaula pin at 195 gave Dodgeville a 34-12 lead, Belmont brothers David and Lucas Stoney scored six points apiece to pull the Braves with 10 points at 34-24, the closest they would get all night. David, a senior, received a forfeit win at 220, while the sophomore Lucas scored a first-period pin of Taran Mortimer.
     Dodgeville received a forfeit at 106 and notched another pin at 113 to secure the victory.
     Platteville senior Adam Niehaus scored the co-op Braves’ final victory with a 10-1 major decision over Matt Dougherty at 120 pounds.
     Dodgeville improved to 1-3 overall and 1-1 in the SWC with the win. Belmont/Platteville fell to 0-2 overall and 0-2 in SWC duals with the loss.
     On Saturday Belmont/Platteville coach Dane Droessler only took five of his wrestlers to the eight-team Sugar River Raider scramble opting to send the rest of his team to the Waunakee J.V. Tournament on the same day.
     With just five wrestlers (senior 220-pounder David Stoney missed the tournament to take his ACT) the Braves finished eight with 79 points, but that was too be expected with a slim roster. Brodhead/Juda won the tournament with 178 team points.
     All five Braves, who attended the tournament placed, led by Niehaus (9-1) who went 5-0 and won the 120-pound class with a 5-3 decision over Mt. Horeb/Barneveld’s Jesse Keizer.
     “I was really impressed with the way Adam has been wrestling he’s going to be tough to beat,” said coach Droessler. “Same goes with the rest of our guys, I am thrilled with their competitive nature and excited to build off their nature.”
     Jentz (9-1), who tweaked his knee in practice last week and was limited as far as what he could do over the weekend, finished second at 170 pounds after losing a 9-1 decision to Brodhead/Juda’s Hunter Colden, who is 12-0 so far this year.
Lucas Stoney (5-5) went 3-2 with three pins to finish third at 285.
     Anderson (5-5) went 2-3 and tied for third at 182 pounds. Sophomore John Hentrich (6-4) went 3-2 and placed fifth at 138.
     Monday night the Belmont/Platteville dropped a 57-24 SWC dual meet decision at Prairie du Chien.
     Adam Niehaus  (120), Anderson (170), David Stoney (220) and Lucas Stoney (285) each picked up pins in the loss.
     The Braves (0-3, 0-3 SWC) return to action this Saturday when they travel to the Richland Center Invitational. That will be their final event before the Bi-State Classic in La Crosse on Dec. 28-29.
     “Well it’s definitely early in the season, so we have to be patient. The majority of our team has never ever seen a wrestling match before this year,” added Droessler about the early season adjustments his younger wrestlers are making. “I guess in a way it’s like starting a swim team with a group of athletes that have never swam before. The point is it will happen, but it’s going to take time. Our program is definitely headed in the right direction and the guys are really working their tails off.”

Dodgeville 52, Belmont/Platteville 28
(from Friday, Dec. 9 @ Belmont)
132: Tyler Wunnicke, (D) pinned Scott Wetter, (B/P), 4:46. 138: Jasper Meeker, (D), maj. dec. John Hentrich, (B/P), 12-4. 145: Damon Wilson, (D), pinned Peter Holloway, (B/P), 1:36. 152: Cody Degenhardt, (D), pinned Logan Hoeper, (B/P), 1:39. 160: Brett Binsfeld, (D), pinned Austin Loeffoelholz, (B/P), 1:39. 170: Dusty Jentz, (B/P) won by forfeit. 182: Vincent Anderson, (B/P) won by forfeit. 195: Clay DiCiaula, (D), pinned Zach Hoppenjan, (B/P), 5:13. 220: Dave Stoney, (B/P) won by forfeit. 285: Lucas Stoney, (B/P) pinned Taran Mortimer, (D), 1:11. 106: John Rey Obieria, (D) won by forfeit. 113: Austin DeVoss, (D), pinned Alex Niehaus, (B/P), 3:28. 120: Adam Niehaus, (B/P), maj. dec. Matt Dougherty, (D), 10-1. 126: John Sanders, (D), pinned Cora Cornett, (B/P), 2:24.

Sugar River Raider Scramble
(from  Saturday, Dec. 10 @ Black Hawk)
Team Scores - 1.Brodhead/Juda 178, 2.Mt. Horeb/Barneveld 166.5, 3.Monroe 159.5, 4.Cuba City/Southwestern 125, 5.Evansville/Albany 107, 6.Sugar River 105, 7.Dodgeville 85, 8.Belmont/Platteville 79.
Belmont/Platteville championship matches
120 - Adam Niehaus (B/P) dec. Jesse Keizer (MH/Barn) 5-3. 170 - Hunter Colden (B/J) def. Dusty Jentz (B/P), 9-1.
Belmont/Platteville individual results
120 - Alex Niehaus (9-1) went 5-0 and pleced first. 138 - John Hentrich’s (6-4) went 3-2 and placed fifth. 170 - Dusty Jentz (9-1) went 4-1 and place second. 182 - Vinny Anderson (5-5) went 2-3 and placed third. 285 - Lucas Stoney (5-5) went 3-2 and placed third.

Prairie du Chien 57, Belmont/Platteville 24
(from Monday, Dec. 12 @ Belmont)
120: Adam Niehaus, B/P, pinned Logan Lomen, PDC, 1:13. 126: Brady Powers, PDC, pinned Cora Cornett, B/P, 0:15. 132: Drew Yeomans, PDC, forfeit. 138: Sam Stormoen, PDC, dec. John Hentrich, B/P, 4-2. 145: Ronnie  Hebel, PDC, pinned Peter Holloway, B/P, 0:58. 152: Tim Yager, PDC, pinned Austin Loeffoelholz, B/P, 0:26. 160: Alex Chandler, PDC, forfeit. 170: Vincent Anderson, B/P, pinned Alex  Wasechek, PDC, 3:04. 182: Justin Panka, PDC, forfeit. 195: Aaron Gohla, PDC, pinned Zach Hoppenjan, BEPL, 0:30. 220: Dave Stoney, B/P, pinned Dan Welsch, PDC, 4:33. 285: Lucas Stoney, B/P, pinned Brogan  Riter, PDC, 1:43. 106: Taylor Elliott, PDC, forfeit. 113: Derek Dressler, PDC, pinned Alex Niehaus, B/P, 1:05.