WINTER COLLEGE ATHLETES, PART 1 - Baumgartner has solid year; smallschool success for Gilman-area players

WINTER COLLEGE ATHLETES, PART 1

Nearly 20 student-athletes with local ties appeared on rosters and/or in competition for colleges and universities of all sizes during the 2024-25 winter sports season.

Once again, an overview of their successes and achievements will be done in two parts, starting this week with reports from the basketball court as well as Medford’s Sawyer Scholl with the Wisconsin Badgers hockey team and Medford’s Logan Kawa, who started his collegiate wrestling career at UWWhitewater.

Men’s hoops

Logan Baumgartner, a 2023 Medford graduate, had a solid sophomore season with UW-Stevens Point’s men’s basketball team, appearing in all 27 games with two starts.

The 6-4 Baumgartner averaged 8.0 points and 2.6 rebounds per game for the Pointers, who went 18-9 overall and 7-7 in the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference, good for fourth place in the final standings. The team reached the semifinals of the WIAC tournament, holding on for an 81-79 win over UWWhitewater in the opening round after the Warhawks rallied from a 58-32 halftime deficit. WIAC regular-season and tournament champion UW-Platteville, who was ranked third in the nation at the time, eliminated the Pointers 83-73 on Feb. 26.

Baumgartner hit double figures in scoring 10 times, including a pair of 17point outings. The first was in Point’s 6562 non-conference win over Trine University on Dec. 7. At the time, Trine was ranked number-one in the country in the NCAA Division III rankings. In 25 minutes, Baumgartner had a season-high four steals and three rebounds, while making seven of 14 shots from the field.

In his second start of the year, Baumgartner scored 17 points on five-ofseven shooting from the field during a 7675 win at UW-Oshkosh on Feb. 12. The Pointers rallied from a 10-point deficit in the last 2:22, winning it on Josiah Butler’s layup with four seconds left. Baumgartner made all five of his free throws and was two of three from 3-point range in that game.

In his first start, Baumgartner scored 14 points and grabbed six rebounds in a 7336 rout of The University of Olivet on Dec. 14. That win made Point 8-0 at the time. He sank three of eight 3s. Baumgartner followed that up with 14 points, three-ofthree shooting from long range and a key basket down the stretch as the Pointers, ranked 11th at the time, beat 18th-ranked Christopher Newport 70-68 in the first round of the Jay Bilas Classic in Charlotte.

Baumgartner scored 14 points in an 8783 overtime home win over UW-Stout on Jan. 18. He had season-highs of four blocked shots and three assists along with nine points in an 86-67 win at Whitewater Jan. 8. He grabbed six rebounds and had 11 points in a 65-62 win over North Central (Ill.) in Minneapolis on Nov. 22. Baumgartner averaged 7.6 points per game in WIAC play.

Andy Hecker, who starred at Gilman High School in the 2019-20 and 2020-21 seasons, averaged 6.7 points and 2.6 rebounds in his senior season with the Faith Baptist Bible College mens basketball team. The Eagles went 14-16 overall during the 2024-25 season, including a 6-6 mark in the Midwest Christian College Conference. The school is located in Ankeny, Iowa.

Hecker missed a stretch of games in the middle of the season but still appeared in 18 games and earned All-Region honorable mention for his efforts during the season. He scored a season-high 17 points in Faith Baptist’s 100-67 loss to Kuyper on Dec. 13 and scored 15 points in another loss to Kuyper, 92-73, on Nov. 22. He hit double figures six times during the season, including 14 in a 90-69 loss to Manhattan Christian College on Dec. 7 and 12 points in an 81-80 win over Union College on Nov. 19 and in an 82-73 loss to Maranatha Baptist University on Nov. 21.

Hecker had a season-high eight rebounds in a 71-60 win over Calvary University on Jan. 10 and season-highs of three assists and three steals in the loss to Maranatha Baptist.

The team finished third in the conference tournament, beating Central Christian College of the Bible 76-61 in the Feb. 22 third-place game. Hecker had five points in the win. The season ended March 3 for the fifth-seeded Eagles with a 68-66 loss to fourth-seeded Providence University College in the National Christian College Athletic Association’s North Region quarterfinals.

Bryson Keepers, who played football for Gilman in the 2018-21 seasons, averaged 6.7 points in 26 games played for the Oak Hills Christian College men’s basketball team. The small school is located in Bemidji, Minn.

The Wolf Pack went 11-16 overall, but were a solid 10-6 in the Northern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference.

Keepers, a junior, finished the season on an offensive tear with two 18-point games and a 19-point outing in the sixthseeded team’s finale, an 87-70 loss to third-seeded Trinity Bible in the same North Region quarterfinals Hecker and Faith Baptist hosted in Ankeny, Iowa. Keepers also had 10 rebounds in the loss. He was five of 10 from the field and eight of 10 from the free throw line. His two 18-point games both came at the University of St. Boniface Feb. 14 and 15 in Winnipeg. In the first game, a 73-57, Keepers was nine of 10 from the field and had seven rebounds in 25 minutes. In game two, he was five of nine from the field, eight of 10 with free throws and had 13 rebounds for his first doubledouble of the season. He also had five assists in 28 minutes.

Keepers had 10 steals and eight points in a 90-26 win over Free Lutheran Bible College on Dec. 13.

Women’s hoops

Freshmen Tshiya Keepers and Esther Hecker, sisters of Bryson and Andy, were part of a historic season for the Faith Baptist Bible College’s women’s basketball program. The Eagles won their first Midwest Christian College Conference Tournament championship since the 1996-97 season and also broke that team’s school record for wins during their 25-5 season.

Keepers, who played volleyball for Gilman during the 2022 season, appeared in 27 games with three starts and averaged 5.8 points and 4.4 rebounds per game. She hit double figures in scoring four times, including a 15-point outing on seven-of-11 shooting in a 70-66 win over Providence University College on Nov. 16 and 15 points on seven-of-eight shooting from the field in a 79-44 win at Union College on Jan. 14. She had 13 points and seasonhighs of eight steals and four assists in an 82-61 win over Emmaus University on Jan. 21 and 12 points in an 85-56 win over Free Lutheran Bible College on Jan. 17. Keepers had 10 rebounds, three assists and three steals along with six points in a 62-54 win at Crown College Nov. 15.

Hecker appeared in 19 games and averaged 1.9 points and 1.6 rebounds per game. She had season-highs of nine points and seven rebounds in 13 minutes during a 90-38 win over Union College on Nov. 19 eight points and five rebounds in 11 minutes in a 92-66 win over Central Christian College of the Bible on Jan. 28. Twice she had three steals in a game.

As the two-seed in the MCCC

Andy Hecker, who played two seasons with the Gilman Pirates, averaged 6.7 points per game in his senior season at Faith Baptist Bible College of Ankeny, Iowa. SHON LUNDBERG/FAITH BAPTIST ATHLETICS

Bryson Keepers