Gilman’s Kroeplin, Ustianowski, Tallier in All-Star football game Friday night

A busy summer of all-star appearances by 2023 Taylor County graduates continues Friday at the Wisconsin Football Coaches Association All-Star Charity Football Games benefiting Children’s Wisconsin.

The Gilman Pirates will be well-represented in the Eight-Player All-Star Game, which kicks off at 6 p.m. on Friday night at UW-Oshkosh’s Titan Stadium.

Grady Kroeplin and Branden Ustianowski are among the 22 players on the North team, while Tom Tallier is an assistant coach on the North staff for the second straight year. The staff is led by Clayton head coach Jordan LeBlanc and includes Thorp’s KD Stokes, Wild Rose’s Matt Havlovitz and Clayton’s Dan Gilbertson.

The North’s roster also includes players from nearby eight-player squads such as Aiden Janke of Athens, Nathan Zarins of Owen-Withee, Aiden Rosemeyer of Thorp, Cole Abraham, James Bruhn and Kye Tingo of Phillips and Thomas Bates, Owen Sullivan, Eli Gustafson and Conner Krach of 2021 and 2022 state champion Newman Catholic.

Kroeplin is listed as a linebacker on the North’s roster, while Ustianowski is listed as a defensive back. Both were first-team defense choices on the 2022 Central Wisconsin East Conference team. Ustianowski also was a first-team pick at receiver, while Kroeplin got honorable mention at quarterback and was the league’s second-team kicker.

Tallier has long been head coach Robin Rosemeyer’s top assistant, working primarily with the Pirates’ defense and special teams.

The Charity Football Games continue Saturday with the Divisions 4-7 game at noon and the Divisions 1-3 game at 4 p.m. The games are an annual fundraising effort for Children’s Wisconsin that has raised more than $4.7 million since its inception. This year, players and coaches from the six teams have raised nearly $380,000 as part of their commitments to play in the all-star games.