Several Viking football players earn All-District honors
WAUSA — Several Viking football players earned spots on the recently released All District football teams.
When a team goes from 1-7 to 4-5 and a playoff berth, a lot of players clearly had to step up their play and it was no different for the Vikings who were well represented on the D2-3 All-District team released this week.
Earning accolades were senior Jarret Andersen and junior Josh Wattier, who made the first-team offense, and junior Jaxon Claussen and sophomore Cashe Carlson, who were tabbed for the first-team defense and junior Tug Dawson and sophomore Tucker Wright who collected honorable mention.
“It was my goal since the beginning of the season to get first-team defense, because I have never been very good at defense and I wanted to prove I was a little bit better this season,” Claussen said. “We are starting to figure out how to win, so everyone wants to win. Winning felt weird at first, but now it’s starting to feel more natural and what we are doing is paying off.”
Several athletes from Hartington-Newcastle, Randolph and Wynot were also rewarded for their efforts in eight-man play this fall.
WYNOT
Making the D2-3 All-District list for the Blue Devils were junior Colin Wieseler and sophomores Dylan Heine and Carson Wieseler (first-team offense), seniors Tate Guenther, Charlie Schroeder and Zach Foxhoven (first-team defense) and seniors Jack Kuchta and Tyler Nicke (honorable mention).
Hartington
The D1-6 All District team offered a bit of solace for Hartington-Newcastle’s Wildcats.
Seniors Carson Sudbeck and Jake Peitz and junior Lane Heimes earned First Team honors, while senior Parker Hopping and sophomores Seth Pinkelman and Riley Sudbeck earned spots on the Honorable Mention team.
“The guys who were chosen to be a part of the All-District team are all players who worked extremely hard this season and had leadership roles in one way or another,” HNS head coach Corey Uldrich said. “Jake Peitz and Carson Sudbeck were named to their third-consecutive All-District team. That’s a huge honor for those guys, and it shows their consistent body of work over their high school careers.”
Their graduation next spring will leave a big hole for the Wildcats to fill, he said.
“It’s never easy to replace three-time All-District players, and that will definitely hold true for Jake and Carson,” Uldrich said.
Carson Sudbeck said the selection was a satisfying one after working so hard to perfect his game.
“I pushed myself a little bit harder and I got after it and my teammates to get the job done better,” he said. “I feel like my last year went pretty well even though I would have liked to make the playoffs. We got a lot better throughout the season.”
Uldrich said he was happy for Hopping who finally got a chance to take his game to the next level in his final year.
“He is a senior who had to wait his turn, develop and improve over his career, and then when given the chance, he took it and ran with it,” Uldrich said. “Parker was a really good leader for us this year with our line play, and his efforts were noticed.”
Heimes was an “ultimate team leader” according to his coach and his even-keel demeanor came in handy during a competitive 3-5 season.
“There’s no doubt that he will be a leader for us going forward,” Uldrich said.
Uldrich also noted the inclusion of his two sophomores.
“They’ve been thrust into the spotlight at big positions - Riley at quarterback and Seth at middle linebacker - and they have done very well for being such young guys,” Uldrich said. “These are players we are counting on to lead us on the field in the coming years, so to be honored at this time is a big deal for them.”
RANDOLPH
The Cardinals may have had a tough year on the field, but that didn’t preclude some of the Cardinals play to stand out.
Senior Collyn Beal led the way as a first-team D2-3 All District headliner for the program as a first-team selection while junior Andy Hausmann and sophomore Aiden Gubbels earned honorable mention.
“Collyn was our leader in stats and our leader on the field,” Randolph head coach Mark Lech said. “He was a team captain that kept the team playing hard regardless of the situation or the score of the game. Collyn really progressed as a player through the years and was a help to the coaching staff this year, as he willingly volunteered to help play where we thought we needed him week to week.
“He really excelled this year in the punting game often flipping the field with his punts and often under duress.”
Lech was also pleased with the selections of Hausmann and Gubbels.
“Andy and Aiden played well on the line,” Lech said. “Andy played strong on the offensive line and Aiden disrupted the opponent from the nose guard position. Both missed a couple of games due to injuries or I believe their season would have been even better. We look forward to coaching them in the future and having them lead us on and off the field.”
LCC
District D1-6 honors were in abundance for the Bears as five players were tabbed for the first team.
Seniors Evan Haisch, Deagan Puppe and Evan Schmitt and juniors Sutton Ehlers and Daniel Puppe all made the first team while honorable mention went to senior Lucas Rasmussen and juniors Kolby Casey and Jake Rath.
Ehlers led the Bears with 102 tackles, Haisch ran for 1,500 yards, the Puppes provided strong defensive presences while Schmitt threw for 800 yards and eight touchdowns.
