Pirates pile up post-season awards after their 10-1 season

GILMAN FOOTBALL

Bryson Keepers, pictured tackling Bruce’s Chris Brockman for a loss on Sept. 24, and Julian Krizan, pictured throwing a pass in the WIAA state semifinal against Newman Catholic Nov. 5, were Gilman’s biggest award winners following the team’s 10-1 season. Krizan was named the Central Wisconsin West Conference’s Offensive Player of the Year, was a first-team All-Region player on both sides of the ball and was named to the WFCA Eight-Player All-State Defensive team. Keepers was named the Central Wisconsin West Conference’s Defensive Player of the Year, was a first-team All-Region player on both sides of the ball and was named to the WFCA Eight-Player All-State Offensive team.

A second consecutive dominant season in the Central Wisconsin West Conference resulted in the Gilman Pirates collecting 10 of 19 first-team spots in the voting for the all-conference eight-player football team.

Not only were seniors Julian Krizan and Bryson Keepers two-way first-team players for the Pirates, their efforts allowed them to also earn All-Region and All-State recognition within the past 10 days from the Wisconsin Football Coaches Association.

Gilman’s awards follow a 2021 season where the Pirates went 5-0 in the CWWC and 10-0 overall under head coach Robin Rosemeyer before a heartbreaking 29-28 defeat to also undefeated Newman Catholic in a WIAA eight-player state semifinal held Nov. 5 at Stanley-Boyd. Newman, the Central Wisconsin East champion, went on to win the state championship Saturday over Luck, 49-6.

Krizan was named the CWWC’s Offensive Player of the Year, while Keepers was voted the Defensive Player of the Year. However, Krizan was named to the five-player All-State Defensive squad, and Keepers was one of six players on the All-State Offensive team.

From the quarterback position, Krizan was a dual threat opponents had a difficult time controlling. In league play, he completed 24 of 34 passes for 442 yards, five touchdowns and two interceptions. Overall in nine games, he was 44 for 65 (65.7%) for 1,005 yards, 16 touchdowns and just four picks.

On the ground, Krizan ran for 1,079 yards on just 92 attempts (11.7 per carry) and 18 touchdowns. He gained 516 of those yards in conference play on only 41 attempts (12.6 per carry) and scored eight touchdowns. His biggest regular-season rushing totals came in a big 42-6 win over Phillips on Oct. 1 where Krizan gained 210 yards on 15 carries and scored four times. He had 99 yards and two scores on 10 carries in the 58-24 conference title clinching win at McDonell Central on Oct. 15.

Krizan was the conference’s Defensive Player of the Year last year and was later named the state Defensive Player of the Year by WisSports.net. He relinquishes the conference award to Keepers this year, but Krizan still put up outstanding numbers and was again named an All-CWWC and All-State linebacker. In five league games, he had 58 total tackles, a forced fumble and a sack. Overall, he finished with 92 tackles in nine games and three sacks.

Recognized as a defensive end, Keepers was an absolute disrupter against most offenses. In 11 games, he finished with 83 total tackles, 11 quarterback

Zack Marion First Team Offense First Team Defense Grady Kroeplin First Team Offense Second Team Defense

sacks, five fumble recoveries and two forced fumbles. He also intercepted two passes. Four of his sacks and 39 of his tackles came in conference play, as did an interception, which came at Mc-Donell.

Keepers had 12 total tackles in the Phillips win and 11 total tackles in a 52-8 win at Bruce on Sept. 24. He had 12 tackles and three sacks in a 53-8 WIAA Level 2 playoff win over Prairie Farm on Oct. 29 and 10 tackles in the loss to Newman.

Offensively, Keepers made the All-CWWC, All-Region and All-State teams as a tight end. In league play, he caught 11 passes for 288 yards and three touchdowns. Overall, those numbers went up to 23 catches for 563 yards (24.5 yards per catch) and nine touchdowns. Of course, he also was a key blocker in Gilman’s run-based offense.

Krizan was one of three eightplayer quarterbacks chosen from the North Region, joining Conner Krach of Newman Catholic and Cooper Diedrich of Athens. Krach also made the All-State team. Krizan joined Newman’s Josh Klement, Prairie Farm’s Quade Larson and Siren’s Taedon Nichols as All-North

Branden Ustianowski First Team Defense Braeden Person First Team Offense Second Team Defense

Region linebackers.

Keepers was the lone North Region defensive end on the list as well as the lone North Region tight end.

Luck’s Wyatt Jensen, who rushed for over 2,400 yards and threw for 435 more but unfortunately missed the state championship game due to injury, was named the WFCA 8-Player Football Player of the Year.

Plenty more awards

Offensively, Gilman wasn’t slowed down until the final game against Newman and averaged 303.6 rushing yards, 104.8 passing yards and 48.6 points per game. The varsity unit did not punt until the state semifinal game.

Much of that success was driven by the offensive line of senior center Zack Marion, senior guard Bryce Chovan and junior guard Braeden Person. Marion and Person were repeat first-team selections from a year ago on offense, while Chovan was a second-team pick.

Junior Grady Kroeplin got two spots on the first-team offense. His main job was to run the ball, which he did quite well. Kroeplin finished with 1,010 rushing yards on 103 attempts for a hefty 9.8 yards-per-carry average. He scored 18 touchdowns. Of his totals, 596 yards came in Gilman’s five conference games, along with 12 of his touchdowns.

Kroeplin had a huge game at Mc-Donell, rushing for 200 first-half yards en route to 250 yards and four touchdowns in the big win at Dorais Field. He had 146 yards and three touchdowns on just nine carries in a 44-6 win over New Auburn on Sept. 17. He also caught eight passes for 115 yards and a touchdown, with six of those receptions coming in league play for 79 yards.

Kroeplin also was voted the conference’s top specialist for 2021. His strong leg produced several deep kickoffs, he had a 79-yard punt in the playoff game with Newman and he made 10 of 13 extra point kicks during the season, including all three of his attempts in a 41-0 seasonopening win over Tri-County and four of five in a 58-24 win over Port Edwards on Aug. 26.

Defensively, Gilman allowed just 11.6 points, 106.1 rushing yards and 123 passing yards per game with Newman and McDonell accounting for the majority of yards and points the Pirates allowed.

Marion, a defensive end, and junior defensive back Branden Ustianowski joined Keepers and Krizan on the All-CWWC first team.

Marion collected 56 total tackles, including a sack. He recovered two fumbles during the season and forced one. Of those tackles, 23 came in league play, along with the sack. He had nine tackles against New Auburn and six against Phillips in conference play. Marion had a part in 11 tackles in the playoff win over Prairie Farm.

Ustianowski had 66 total tackles, three interceptions and two forced fumbles during the season. Thirty-one of those tackles came in the five conference games.

Ustianowski had a season-high 14 tackles in the New Auburn win and nine against McDonell. He added 11 more against Prairie Farm. He had an interception in three of Gilman’s last four games.

Person and Kroeplin made the secondteam defense. Person, an undersized defensive tackle, used his quickness and strength to collect 48 tackles in 10 games with five quarterback sacks. He had 22 tackles in league play. All of his sacks came in Gilman’s three post-season games, including three against Prairie Farm. He had season highs of eight tackles against Bruce and Clayton.

Kroeplin, a linebacker, ranked third on the team with 76 total tackles. He had an interception, a fumble recovery and two sacks during the season. He had 35 tackles in conference games. He had 13 tackles in the homecoming win over Phillips and 17 stops in the playoff win over Prairie Farm. He had a sack at Mc-Donell. His interception came in a 49-0 conference win at Alma Center Lincoln, where he also recovered a fumble.

Sophomore linebacker Troy Duellman got honorable mention for his play at that position. Duellman racked up 74 tackles, an interception and two fumble recoveries in 11 games. He had 36 tackles in conference play and his interception came at Alma Center Lincoln. He had 10 tackles against New Auburn and 10 more against McDonell. He had nine in the Prairie Farm game.

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Bryce Chovan Second Team Offense

Troy Duellman Hon. Mention Defense