High school football standouts among athletes making college commitments official on signing day
Hayden May was one of the top wide receivers in the area during the past two seasons with the De Pere football team.
His talents were noticed by more than just opponents in the Fox River Classic Conference.
The 5-foot-11, 170-pound May signed a national letter of intent Wednesday to play at Northern Michigan University, an NCAA Division II school in Marquette.
May helped lead the Redbirds to the WIAA Division 1 playoffs as a senior with 54 receptions for 866 yards and 10 touchdowns while also returning eight kickoffs for 181 yards and a score.
He was one of the stars of De Pere’s win over No. 1 seed Milwaukee Marshall in the opening round of the playoffs after he caught three passes for 101 yards and a TD. He followed with nine receptions, 107 yards and a TD in a second-round loss to Fond du Lac.
May had five games with 100 or more yards in 2023 and scored at least one receiving TD in seven games.
He enjoyed his best performances against some of the top teams in the FRCC-North, including nine catches for 157 yards and three TDs against Pulaski and a career-high 171 yards and one score on six catches against West De Pere.
May finished his career with 92 receptions, 1,284 yards and 17 TDs.
“Hayden has been a pleasure to coach over the last two years,” De Pere coach Ben Strickland said in a statement. “He has really grown and developed as a football player and into one of the best wide receivers for his class in the state.
“His route running, hands, how he attacked the ball and his ability to make people miss in space all greatly improved throughout his career. On the football field, he is the type of receiver who can take the top off the defense and stretch the field vertically and horizontally.”
May was one of several local athletes to sign with colleges Wednesday.
Ashwaubenon
Offensive lineman Brady Wilker will play at Northern State University, a DII school in Aberdeen, South Dakota.
The 6-4, 260-pound Wilker was an honorable mention all-conference selection in the FRCC-North in 2023.
Green Bay Notre Dame
Wide receiver-defensive back Micah Marzec signed with Michigan Tech, a DII school in Houghton.
The 5-11, 188-pound Marzec had 17 receptions for 318 yards and four TDs as a senior and was a second-team all-conference selection, helping the Tritons win the FRCC-South championship and reach a D3 semifinal.
He also had 38 total tackles, one interception, one sack and one TD on defense.
■ Offensive lineman-defensive lineman Stanley Smith signed with the University of Minnesota Duluth, a DII school.
The 6-3, 235-pound Smith had a big senior season, finishing with 61 total tackles, seven sacks, two TDs, one forced fumble and one fumble recovery while being named the FRCC-South defensive player of the year.
Green Bay Preble
Gus Counard-Ciechanowski will compete in track and field at Wisconsin on a partial scholarship.
Counard-Ciechanowski had a notable junior campaign with the Hornets in 2023, which included finishing runner-up in the pole vault at the D1 state meet.
He also won regional and sectional championships and was a first-team all-conference selection in the FRCC.
■ Gavin Urben will play soccer at the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay.
He was the FRCC defensive player of the year and a first-team all-conference pick last season and twice helped lead his team to a sectional title game.
Urben’s father, Eric, was a midfielder at UWGB from 1996 to 1999 and was the team MVP as a senior.
His mother, Deborah Kind-Urben, is a member of UWGB’s hall of fame after a standout softball career from 1997 to 2000.
■ Kaitlyn Duchateau will play softball on a partial scholarship at Iowa Lakes Community College in Estherville.
She has been part of a dominant softball program during her career with the Hornets, winning FRCC titles and WIAA regional championships each of the last three seasons.
Iowa Lakes has gone 198-142 in Katie King’s first eight seasons as coach, including 35-19 last season.
Kewaunee
Senior lineman Braxton Riha will play at Minnesota State, a DII school in Mankato.
The 6-7, 300-pound Riha was the Packerland Conference offensive lineman and defensive lineman of the year as a senior, while he was named first-team all-state on offense and honorable mention all-state on defense.
The three-sport athlete helped lead the Storm to a Division 6 semifinal playoff game in 2023.
West De Pere
Standout quarterback Duke Shovald signed with Northern Michigan.
The 6-2, 190-pound Shovald finished his prep career as the most prolific passer in West De Pere history with 6,128 yards, 57 TDs and a QB rating of 110.
He is the only quarterback at the school to ever throw for 4,000 career yards. He threw for more than 2,000 yards as both a junior and senior and helped West De Pere advance to the D2 state title game his junior season.
“I need to work on getting more explosive,” Shovald said after committing. “Getting a little stronger, putting on a little bit of weight. And then just working on my craft. Throwing and all that stuff.
“Just overall, getting better and putting myself in the best opportunity I can to play early there.”
■ Shovald will be joined at NMU by Phantoms teammate Carter Schmitt.
The 6-1, 185-pound defensive back had 47 total tackles and five interceptions as a senior. The FRCC-North all-conference standout produced plenty of turnovers during his career, highlighted by 14 interceptions in three seasons.
■ Andrew Baumgart signed with Lindenwood University, a DI school in St. Charles, Missouri.
The 6-2, 245-pound defensive lineman was the FRCC-North defensive player of the year in 2023, finishing with 43 total tackles, five sacks, two fumble recoveries, one forced fumble, one interception and one TD.
He also was a bruising running back when called on, rushing for 426 yards and 11 TDs on just 36 attempts.
■ Wide receiver Langdon Nordgaard signed with Wisconsin as a preferred walk-on.
The FRCC-North receiver of the year mostly was unstoppable despite missing time with injuries as a senior, setting career highs with 52 receptions, 850 yards and six TDs.
The 6-4, 197-pound Nordgaard had 120 career catches for 1,904 yards and 14 scores and is West De Pere’s all-time receptions leader.
He had more than 10 DII offers along with DI walk-on offers from Western Michigan and Colorado State, but a PWO offer from Wisconsin was too good to pass up.
“I always wanted to play Division I football,” Nordgaard said in November. “Wisconsin was really my only opportunity to do that with the offer I was given, so I just decided to choose that route.”
This article originally appeared on Green Bay Press-Gazette: Green Bay area athletes make college plans official on signing day
