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
Kalie Davis, Sr., Belmont/Platteville girls wrestling
LA CROSSE — Senior Kalie Davis won the girls’ 235-pound title, becoming the first female in program history to win gold at Bi-State.
Freshman sister Jaycie Davis went 5–1 and advanced to the semifinals at 152 pounds in the girls 77-team tournament before finishing third. The Davis sisters combined to score 80 team points, which was good for 20th place out of 77 teams in the one-division girls’ tournament.
Kallie Davis (12–0, #2-ranked Girls 285), last year’s 165-pound WIAA Girls state runner-up, remained unbeaten this year with a dominating run to the 235-pound title at Bi-State. Davis went 5–0 and won all five matches by pin, including a 2:58 fall of Eau Claire North’s Rainie Yang in Saturday night’s championship match.
Jaycie Davis (9–2) bounced back from an 8–3 semifinal loss to Wausau West’s Lana Borchardt (12–2) with back-to-back wins to place third with an 8–1 victory over Eau Claire North’s Aubrey Hilton (16–6).
“Kalie and Jaycie wrestled an incredible tournament from start to finish,” said BP girls coach Travis Droessler. “Kalie has continued her success and determination from last season. She showed again she is one of the top girls in the state going 5–0 with all pins and taking home her first Bi-State title.
Bode Brokopp, Sr., Iowa–Grant/Highland wrestling
LA CROSSE — The Iowa–Grant/Highland wrestling team continued its outstanding start to the 2024–25 season with an outstanding performance over the weekend at the 42nd annual Bi-State Classic at the La Crosse Center.
Senior Bode Brokopp won the 285-pound title to lead the Panthers to a third-place finish in Division 3 (out of 19 teams) and a fifth-place overall finish among 70 boys’ teams.
IGH piled up 203 points to finish behind overall champion Chatfield (Minn.) (257) and La Crosse Aquinas (213.5) in Division 3. Only Division 1 champion Holmen (214.5) and D2 champion Evansville (215.5) finished higher than the Panthers in the overall standings.
Brokopp (19–1) dominated the 285-pound bracket with a bye, four-straight pins to reach the finals and a dominating 11–4 victory over Eastview’s Jack Bauer (14–3). He pinned Stanley–Boyd’s Willy Graham (12–4) in just 1:04 in the semifinals. Brokopp scored 50 team points, which tied for the most among all wrestlers in all divisions, and his four pins tied for seventh in the entire tournament.
HONORABLE MENTION (in alphabetical order):
Rianna Dye, So., C, Platteville girls basketball
Sophomore Rianna Dye posted her third-straight double–double (and fourth of the season) with a game-high 23 points, 10 rebounds, three blocks and three steals to lead the Platteville girls to a 62–40 non-conference victory over Evansville Friday night at PHS. The Division 3 #10-ranked Hillmen used a 25–5 run to turn a one-point lead into a 31–10 advantage just 11 minutes into the game.
Dye scored 13 of her 23 points in the first-half as the Hillmen built a 40–14 comfortable halftime lead and never looked back in the first game of Friday’s girls–boys doubleheader. Dye, who made 11 of 16 field goal attempts in Friday’s win, is now averaging 13.8 points, 10.4 rebounds, 2.9 blocks and 1.5 steals per game, and shooting 58.2 percent from the field and 71 percent (22 of 31) at the free throw line.
Lucas Ludlum, Sr., G, Platteville boys basketball
Platteville senior guard Lucas Ludlum continues to be ungaurdable early this season. Ludlum matched his career high with 31 points to lead the Hillmen to an 84–72 win over the Evansville Blue Devils in the nightcap of Friday’s girls–boys non-conference doubleheader at Platteville High School. Ludlum, who is averaging 25.5 points per game this year, now has 939 career points, 61 shy of the 1,000-point milestone and 258 behind Platteville’s all-time scoring leader Jim Lawinger (1,197) with 18 regular season games left in the season.
