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
Nolan Wolf, Sr., QB, Lancaster football
LANCASTER — Lancaster sSenior quarterback Nolan Wolf had a night for the record books in the Flying Arrows 48–20 SWC victory over visiting New Glaurs last Friday night. Wolf completing 19 of 21 (90.5%) pass attempts for 330 yards, four touchdowns and no interceptions. He also rushed for 16 yards and one touchdown on four attempts, kicked four extra points on five attempts, and threw a two-point conversion pass to junior Aidan Wilson.
The 90.5 completion percent eclipsed Greg Stephenson's previous record (minimum 10 attempts) of 86.4 percent (19 of 22) against West Grant in 1965. The 330 yards beat Nathan Tranel's previous record of 271 yards set against Platteville in 2013, and the four TD passes tied Wolf with Jacob DiVall (2022), Hayden Knapp (2020), A.J. Day (2012) and Nate Rolland (twice in 2000).
Six different receivers for Lancaster had at lead two receptions, with three different receivers finding the end zone. Wolf threw a 36-yard TD pass to senior Quinton Ploessl on the game's opening drive, then connected on a 54-yard TD strike to junior Taylor Williams late in the first quarter to make it 20–0. Wolf scored on a 2-yard run with 4:30 left in the half and added a 6-yard touchdown pass to Aidan Hauk with 6 seconds left before halftime to give the Arrows a 41–6 lead. Wolft capped his record-breaking night with a 17-yard touchdown pass to Ploessl midway through the third quarter to make it 48–6.
Wolf, who is a two-year starter for the Flying Arrows, has now completed 149 of 242 passes (61.6%) for 2,156 yards, 24 TDs and 9 interceptions this year. He is currently the most accurate passer in school history, ahead of Jason Nihles (54.5%), and has completed the most passes in school history (more than DiVall's 137 completions). He also has a legitimate chance to break Nate Rolland's all-time school records for passing yards (2,710) and passing TD's (39) with six regular season games as well as the playoffs left in his senior year.
Bryar Wayne, Sr., RB/LB, Boscobel football
BLANCHARDVILLE — Six Rivers Conference play opened with a long and competitive game for the Boscobel Bulldogs as they took on the Pecatonica/Argyle Vikings, highlighted by an all-time performance from one of Boscobel’s seniors, Bryar Wayne. In addition to four touchdowns, Wayne, who celebrated his 18th birthday on Friday, ran for 226 yards, scored a two-point conversion, and also caught six passes for 61 yards. The 287 yards from scrimmage are the second-most for a Boscobel player since the 1960’s, according to Boscobel Dial archives, behind a 300-yard performance by Tom Boebel in 1983. Wayne added a career-best 18 tackles, including two for a loss, and 1.5 sacks to pair with his outstanding performance on offense.
Wayne scored from five yards out to tie the game at 6 with 2:17 left in the first quarter. Coming out of halftime, Boscobel was able to cover an onside kick — the Vikings attempted a short or onside kick on every kickoff but one in the game — to set up a short field for the offense. Two Bryar Wayne carries for 47 yards later, and the Bulldogs were back within one score, 18–12 early in the third quarter.
The momentum was short-lived for Boscobel, though, as Ike Waage took the ensuing kickoff from the Bulldogs 75 yards to the house to extend Pec/Argyle’s lead to 26–12. After giving up a big play and playing without its top receiver, Boscobel got to work on the next drive, covering the onside kick and going 65 yards to answer. The 7-play drive was capped off by a 35-yard touchdown pass from Landon Haessly to Sawyer Smith to get the game to one score again with 8:34 left in the third quarter. Wayne scored his third touchdown to tie the game at 26–26 with 2:08 to go in the third quarter.
aThe back-and-forth game then shifted to the Vikings’ favor. A 10-play drive covering nearly four minutes and 60 yards gave Pec/Argyle the lead on McNett’s second rushing touchdown to start the fourth quarter. Then, for the second time in the game, the Vikings were able to recover an onside kick for an extra possession at the Bulldogs’ 40 yard line. Five plays later, Anderson found Luke Leonard on a 6-yard touchdown pass to make it a 42-26 advantage for Pec/Argyle.
Boscobel didn’t go down without a fight. In one of the top all-around performances in program history, Bryar Wayne took a handoff all the way to the end zone from 77 yards out, his fourth rushing touchdown of the night, on the next drive. However, the two-point conversion failed, leaving the game at a two-possession margin, 42-32. From there, the teams traded possessions, with the Vikings able to run out the final three minutes and secure the victory.
HONORABLE MENTION (in alphabetical order)
Abe Amundson, Sr., QB, Prairie du Chien football
Amundson completed 14 of 21 passes for a school record 349 yards and another school record five TD passes in Prairie du Chien's 47–15 victory over Richland Center in last Friday's Southwest Wisconsin Conference opener for both teams.
Nora Jillson, Sr., Boscobel girls cross country
Jillson finished second out of 70 runners at last Saturday's Viroqua Invitational with a time of 20:42.7 to help the Lady Bulldogs finish fourth out of seven complete teams. This Tuesday on her home course, Jillson beat a field of 80 to win the girls' individual title at the annual Boscobel Ryan Zimple Memorial Invitational. Her winning time of 19:45.3 was more than a minute faster than runner-up Natalie Horsfall (20:56.4), a sophomore from Fennimore. Fennimore edged Boscobel to win the girls' team title 62–68.
Lucas Ludlum, Sr., WR/DB, Platteville football
Ludlum caught six passes for 137 yards and three touchdowns, and intercepted two passes in Platteville's 49–6 Southwest Wisconsin Conference victory over Brodhead/Juda last Friday night. He also rushed for 14 yards. He intercepted a pass on the Cardinals' first possession, then scored on a 55-yard bomb from classmate T.J. Pink to make it 14–0 with 7:22 left in the first quarter. Ludlum added a 40-yard touchdown catch in the second quarter and added a 10-yard score midway through the fourth to make it 42–0.
Michael Murphy, Sr., MF, Platteville/Lancaster boys soccer
Murphy recorded a hat trick and had three assists in Platteville/Lancaster's 8–0 blowout win over La Crosse Logan last Saturday. Murphy assisted on the first three Hillmen goals of the match, then scored in the 35th (PK) and 38th minutes to give the home team a 5–0 halftime lead. He completed the hat trick on an assist from Leo Moncada Cardona in the 70th minutes. Murphy also had a goal and two assists in a 4–0 shutout of visiting Wisconsin Heights last Tuesday. He is the reigning Southwest Wisconsin Conference Player of the Year.
Owen Seffrood, Sr., RB/LB, Black Hawk/Warren football
Seffrood rushed for 175 yards and a TD, and threw the game-winning touchdown pass with 10 seconds left on a 25-yard halfback option pass to Beau Bredeson to lift Black Hawk/Warren to a 26–20 win over #4-ranked River Ridge last Friday night.
Blake Thiry, Sr., WR/TE/LB, Prairie du Chien football
Thiry was unguardable in the Blackhawks' 47–15 Southwest Wisconsin Conference victory over visiting Richland Center last Friday night. Thiry caught seven passes for a school-record 226 yards and another school record four touchdowns, and rushed for 43 yards and a TD on 11 carries in the blowout win. The 6'4", 215-pound Indiana University recruit also recorded three tackles and half a sack on defense.
Ben Varela, Sr., Fennimore boys cross country
Varlea is off to a spectacular start to his senior season for the Golden Eagles. Last Saturday, he ran to a second-place finish in a field of 109 with a time of 17:56.8 to lead the Fennimore boys to the team title at the 18-team Darlington Invitational. Varela, who helped the Fennimore boys win last year's SWAL title and place fifth in Division 3 at state, won the Boscobel Ryan Zimple Memorial Invitational Tuesday with a time of 17:16.8, as the Eagles (94) finished third behind Richland Center/Ithaca (61) and the host Bulldogs (76).
