2017-18 Stories of the Year (HM): Individuals athletes honored as the best

2017-18 Stories of the Year (HM): Individuals athletes honored as the best

MEQUON, Wis. – The 2017-18 athletic year was another successful one for the Concordia Wisconsin Athletic Department. The Falcons won and contended for conference championships in many sports and put together an impressive list of great achievements. As in years past, the Department of Athletic Communications tries to sort through all the great moments and give you, the fans, top stories from the past year.

The list of stories was compiled by the Department of Athletic Communications and, like all lists, is subject to debate. The top stories will be revealed over the next three weeks, with a story being released on Tuesdays and Thursdays. The top story will be released on June 21. 

Honorable Mention 

Individuals athletes honored as the best

Concordia Wisconsin saw numerous student-athletes perform at the highest level during the 2017-18 athletic year and as a result, six were named Player of the Year in their respective conference and three were tagged with Freshman of the Year honors.

It all began in the fall with sophomore Leah Wilde (Kewaskum, Wis.) earning Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference Player of the Year honors after finishing as the medalist at the NACC Women’s Golf Championship in early October. She finished with the fourth lowest 54-hole total in program history with a 257 and ended the tournament with a four-hole stretch of 2-over par to come from behind and put her name at the top of the leaderboard. Wilde’s efforts helped the Falcons wins the NACC Championship after turning an eight-shot deficit into a 10-stroke victory.

On the hard court, it was junior Ashley Solberg (Waukesha, Wis.) who controlled her women’s tennis foes in the NACC to earn Player of the Year honors a few seasons after capturing Freshman of the Year accolades. The right-hander was undefeated in league play during singles and had just one loss in doubles action. She posted a combined 37-16 between singles and doubles matches this year.

Senior Kaily (Moegenburg) Erdman had an outstanding season leading the Women’s Volleyball team to another undefeated NACC regular season title, which garnered them the No. 1 seed in the NACC Tournament that they won. She was the conference’s Player of the Year and ranked top-10 in kills and service aces. The four-year standout graduated second all-time in program history with 108 service aces and nearly was a 1,000-1,000 performer with 996 kills and 1,007 digs. She also walked away with AVCA All-Midwest Region Honorable Mention and AVCA All-America Honorable Mention accolades.

The winter season with highlighted by a pair of rookies taking center stage in Jordan Johnson (Cedarburg, Wis.) and Braydon Barker (Red Deer, Alberta), as both were honored with the Freshman of the Year title.

Johnson was Men’s Basketball’s second-leading scorer at 15.1 points per game and was the best free throw shooter in the NACC at 87.5 perfect. He also had a smooth stroke, making 46.8 perfect of his field goals attempts and 40.2 percent of his shots from downtown. The freshman had eight 20-plus point games and drained three 3-pointers in seven games.

Barker made a splash during his rookie season with the Men’s Hockey program, earning Northern Collegiate Hockey Association Freshman of the Year honors. He was eighth in the league with 18 assists, which were a program record, and seventh with a +/- with a +18 total. His efforts helped the Falcons host the program’s first NCHA Harris Cup Playoff series. Barker was also named AHCA/CCM All-America Second Team.

As the school year transitioned into the spring, four more student-athletes put their name in the headlines; with junior Garrett Wohlford (Rochester, Minn.), junior Lauren Paquin (Waukesha, Wis.) and sophomore Sam Schlosser (West Bend, Wis.) all earning Player of the Year honors. As well, Nolan Rademacher (Monument, Colo.) was tabbed as a Freshman of the Year.

Wohlford was again outstanding for the Men’s Lacrosse program, helping them put together a 13-6 overall record and reaching the Midwest Lacrosse Conference Tournament Championship for the fourth-consecutive season. He was a stalwart in goal, as he ranked sixth nationally with a 62.2 save percentage and 19th with a 6.94 goals against average. The goalkeeper made double-digit saves in 12 games and tied the program record for wins (13) and saves (184) in a season.

Paquin was the Midwest Women’s Lacrosse Conference Co-Midfielder of the Year after helping the Falcons win 10 games and make the MWLC Tournament for the sixth-consecutive year. She led the league with 73 ground balls, while also ranking second in caused turnovers (49) and third in goals (57). The midfielder tied the program record for ground balls (10) and caused turnovers (3) in a game this season.

Schlosser found his rhythm during the second half of the NACC Men’s Golf Championship posting a program-record 299 to win medalist honors by a stroke. He began and ended the tournament with a 1-under par round of 71 and had three of his four rounds in the 70s. The righty helped the Falcons finish third as a team and tally a program-record 72-hole score of 1,273.

Rademacher led the Men’s Tennis team to a record-setting postseason, scoring two points in the NCAA Tournament to become the only NACC team to ever do so. He won his No. 1 singles match and partnered with Brad Guendel to win at No. 1 singles against Grinnell in the history-making match. He also won a team-high tying 31 victories combined and won 13 of his last 14 doubles matches to end the year.

In addition, the following mentors were named Coach of the Year in their respective conference Greg Nikolai (NACC Women’s Golf), Tom Saleska (NACC Men’s Soccer), Steve Anschutz (NACC Men’s and Women’s Tennis), Russ DeLap (NACC Women’s Cross Country), Janelle Katz (NACC Women’s Volleyball).

2017-18 CUW Athletics Stories of the Year
HM: Individual athletes honored as the best
No. 5: June 6
No. 4: June 12
No. 3: June 14
No. 2: June 19
No. 1: June 21