All Decade Team - Football

Man, was putting this team together tough. There were some outstanding football players who suited up for Custer who were left off this team, simply because of the glut of excellent players the Wildcats have had at certain positions. The ’Cats have had a treasure trove of outstanding running backs, linebackers, kickers and return men in particular. But there can only be one starter at each position. Instead of doing specific positions along the offensive line, I just named five lineman, and on defense I took the liberty of going with a 4-4-3 because there have been so many good linebackers and not as many defensive backs. Linebacker was far and away the hardest position to choose. I had to leave off players like David Sigdestad (all-conference in 2014), Jaret Woodward (all-conference in 2018) and Zach Wager (all-conference and all-state honorable mention in 2010) off the team. Heck, I could make a case that current linebacker Daniel Sedlacek should be on the team as an already two-time all-conference selection who will undoubtedly make it a three-time selection (and likely all-state selection) this fall. He’ll be on it next decade, assuming I’m still here.

 

Offense

OL - Jake Thomsen - Class of 2012 - Thomsen was an all-conference tackle for the Wildcats and was named honorable mention all-state his senior year.

OL - Mike Murray - 2014 - Murray was a strong offensive lineman for the Wildcats early in the decade and earned all-conference honors his senior year in 2013.

OL - Ty Cooper - 2011 - Cooper is a two-time all-conference selection and was named all-state right as the decade turned to 2010.

OL - Abram Herman - 2016 - Herman adds more size to our line, and was an all-conference selection himself in 2015. He is currently an assistant coach for Wildcat football. 

OL - AJ Kortemeyer - 2020 - A big tackle who signed to play college football in the fall, Kortemeyer was another two-time all-conference selection for the Wildcats.

WR - Chad Bryant - 2012 - Bryant could have made this team at no less than four positions—corner, receiver, kicker and returner—but I slotted him at receiver. Bryant was a three-time all-conference performer and was also named honorable mention all state.

WR - Erik Hiltunen - 2013 - The second receiver position was really hard to pick because, outside of Bryant, the team didn’t have another “dominant” receiver. I debated between Hiltunen and Israel Parsons here, and even considered putting Wager here, as he played tight end and really deserved to be on this team somewhere. In the end I settled on Hiltunen, who was a tall receiver who could go up and get the ball and made some big plays for the ’Cats in his time at receiver.

QB - Chase Glazier - 2014 - Glazier was a three-year starter for the Wildcats at quarterback, and two of those years he received all-conference laurels. He was easily the best passing quarterback of the past decade.

RB - Micaiah Grace - 2020 - One of the ’Cats’ best running backs of the decade was also its last running back of the decade. Grace used his speed and a mean stiff arm to be named all-conference three times as well as all-state honorable mention this past fall.

RB - Kenneth Myers - 2014 - Myers was no slouch in the backfield himself, and was a solid linebacker as well. He was a two-time all-conference selection and was named honorable mention all-state his senior year.

RB - Brandon Smith - 2011 - Smith was a jack of all trades for the Wildcats, as he also was a pretty good linebacker and was named all-state honorable mention as a punter. He received honorable mention all-conference honors as a running back in 2010.

Defense

DL - Casey Seidler - 2015 - Seidler was a two-time all-conference selection as a defensive end. He was honorable mention in 2013 before being named first team in 2014.

DL - Tanner Eiesland - 2012 - Eiesland was a stalwart on the defenisve line for the Wildcats in the early part of the decade and received all-conference honors in 2011.

DL - Cody Schlechter  - 2012 - Schlecter wasn’t the biggest defensive lineman the ’Cats have had, but he was all-conference in 2011 and made plays with speed and determination. He just flat-out caused problems for offenses.

DL - Angelo Climenti - 2015 - One of my favorite players to play in the last decade, the affable Climenti was a two-time all-conference selection and was named all-state his senior year.

LB - Anthony Jones - 2016 - Jones starts off our linebacking group and had an outstanding senior season when he was named both all-conference and all-state in 2015.

LB - Tyler Schultz - 2012 -  Schultz was better known for his eye-popping throwing ability on the track, but he was a great football player as well. He had one of the plays that most sticks out in my mind over the past decade when he hit a quarterback so hard the quarterback’s helmet flew four feet into the air. In 2011 he was named both all-conference and all-state.

LB - Paul Climenti - 2014 - The older Climenti brother was a big and outstanding linebacker and was a two-time all-conference selection while also being named honorable mention all-state his senior year.

LB - Clayton Wahlstrom - 2014 - This is the first of likely three all-decade teams Wahlstrom will be named to, and this one is because he was a heck of a linebacker who took home all-conference honors in 2013 as well as all-state honorable mention honors. 

DB - Dathon Elmore - 2020 - Pound-for-pound, they don’t get any better than Elmore. You don’t have to be big to want to hit. An absolute missile at the safety position on defense, Elmore frequently flew to the ball in a bad mood and had great ball skills. He was a three-time all-conference selection and a two-time all-state selection.

DB - Jared Thomsen - 2013 - Another of the Thomsen brothers makes the list, with Jared playing in our defensive secondary, where he was named all-conference honorable mention in 2012.

DB - Graysen Trandem - 2016 - Trandem was named all-state honorable mention as a kick returner but makes this team in the secondary, which he played along with linebacker in a hybrid-type role. He was twice all-conference.

 

Special Teams

P - Reed Ashmore - 2018 - Ashmore makes the team as its punter, a position he was named all-state at in 2017.

K - Alex Kortemeyer - 2016 - AJ’s older brother also played quarterback for the Wildcats during his career, but it was kicking where he excelled, earning all-conference and all-state honorable-mention laurels for his kicking prowess his senior year.

Returner - Joel Thomsen - 2015 -You probably read the offense and thought I was crazy for not having Joel as a running back, and you wouldn’t be wrong. A case could be made he was the best running back of the decade when he  made the move from receiver, where he was also all-conference. But I want Thomsen at kick returner, where he was absolutely electric and a touchdown waiting to happen every time he fielded a kick. If I only had a dollar for every time teams just stopped kicking the ball to him. Thomsen was an all-state selection his senior year.