With the final Luther Football game wrapping up on Legacy Field on November 11, the 2023 fall sports season for Luther Athletics is officially over. Although that means the start of winter sports, Luther’s fall sports teams also deserve some recognition for the success they’ve had this season.
Going sport by sport, this recap will highlight each fall sports final record and standings, standout performances, key players and provide a look into the future.
Football
Notable statistics:
Rushing Yards: Vershon Brooks (235)
Passing Yards: Beau Cornwell (1009)
Receiving Yards: Samuel Zegler-Evans (277)
TDs: Beau Cornwell (8)
Interceptions: Jayden Byrd-Alexander (2)
Luther Football’s schedule was not easy, as they faced Coe and Wartburg, two teams that qualified for the NCAA tournament. They had close battles with Buena Vista (losing 10-17) and Lyon College (losing 21-28). Despite not winning a game, they had plenty of individual players who had good seasons.
Levi Wolter (‘24), Brayden Daly (‘26) and Sean Medcalfe (‘27) were named to the American Rivers Confernce (ARC) All-Conference Team. Walter won the honor for the second time and became the tenth all-time leader for number of sacks. Daly had 91 tackles, two sacks, one interception and forced two fumbles. Medcalfe went four for five as Luther’s lone kicker, with his longest field goal at 41 yards. Those three were joined by running back Vershon Brooks (‘25), who ran for 235 yards on 104 attempts this season. As one of Luther’s primary running backs, Brooks will be returning to a team that will be looking toward next year.
Men’s Soccer
Notable statistics:
Goals: Raul Ferrandez, Ramzi Ouro-Akondo (5)
Assists: Ricardo Crisanto (4)
Saves: Jack Bell (47)
Men’s soccer’s season was highlighted by a 3-3 victory over Simpson in the first round of the ARC Tournament. Their season came to a close on November 1, after falling to Loras in the ARC Tournament semifinals (0-3).
Goalkeepers Kai Haroldson (‘24) and Jack Bell (‘25) earned ARC Defensive Player of the Week Honors and Ramzi Ouro-Akondo (‘26) won the award for offense. Additionally, Bell, Ouro-Alondo, Raul Ferrandez (‘25), Hernan Manzanet (‘25), Felipe Alvarez Casaro (‘24), Jose Gimenez (‘25) and Will Valentine (‘24) earned ARC All-Conference Honors.
Next fall, the team will be returning five of their seven All-Conference players as well as seven of their ten goal contributors. The team was without Javier Pastor Valls (‘25), who was injured this season. In 2022, Pastor Valls scored 11 goals and started in all 26 games. With the team returning many of their goal scorers, as well as skilled defenders, the team is hoping to be more experienced in 2024.
Women’s Soccer
Notable statistics:
Goals: Maggie Haller (8)
Assists: Maggie Haller (10)
Saves: Ken Vavrichek (41)
After beating Wartburg for the first time in seven years on October 28 in the first round of the ARC Tournament, the women’s soccer team saw their season end on November 1 when they fell to Simpson College in the Semifinal Round.
Ken Vavrichek (‘25) won the ARC Defensive Player of the Week Honors. Vavrichek was joined by seniors Emma Lin (‘24), Maggie Haller (‘24), Makayla Haddorff (‘24) and Kaitlyn Bebensee (‘24) as the team’s All-Conference Players.
The team won their final regular season game against Dubuque University on October 24, which allowed them to earn the four seed heading into the ARC Tournament. Their loss to Simpson is the second consecutive season they were eliminated in the semifinals. As they look to break through and reach the ARC Final next season, they will have to look to underclassmen to lead the way. Four of their five All-Conference players are graduating, along with 11 total seniors. They did have four first-years score their first collegiate goals, and will be returning eight of their thirteen goal scores. Cassiah James (‘25) had three goals and four assists and will be returning as a senior next season.
“We are really sad about losing our senior class,” James said. “But I am looking forward to next year as it is my senior year and the memories we will make as a team.”
Volleyball
Notable statistics:
Kills: Sarina Stortz (354)
Blocks: Sarina Stortz (83)
Aces: Gabbie Schei (44)
Digs: Kyah Olson-Sola (400)
Assists: Emma Kowalczyk (745)
Emma Kowalczyk (‘25) and Sarina Stortz (‘24) both earned ARC Offensive Player of the Week. Stortz led the team in kills (354) and was joined with Zoe Verhey (‘26) who had 215, Emily Hagen (‘25) with 189, and first-year Haley Gossman (‘27) who had 157. Senior Gabbie Schei (‘24) had 44 service aces and will graduate with 105 in her overall career.
Juniors Kowalcyzk and Kyah Olson-Sola (‘25) will be key to the team next year. Olson-Sola led the team in digs (400), achieving over 400 digs for a second consecutive year. Kowalcyzk has 1559 assists in her career, which places her at tenth in Luther’s history. Kowalcyzk believes her team has a good foundation and looks forward to continuing to build the program’s success.
“As a team we have discovered that we can be a great team and beat great teams,” Kowalcyzk said. “I’m excited to keep growing and advancing Luther College Volleyball as a program.”
Men’s Golf
Notable results:
Minnesota Golf Classic: Jay Fjelstul – Tied for 30th, 219
Wisconsin Lutheran Fall Classic: Team finish 2 of 12, Haakon Rustad – 1st Place, 140
Gustavus Twin Cities Classic: Mark Devlin – 9th Place, 218
University of Wisconsin Stout Invite: Team finish 2 of 22, Mark Devlin, Haakon Rustad, Jay Fjelstul – Tied for 5th, 146
Lane Group Las Vegas Open: Jay Fjelstul – 12th Place, 150
The Men’s Golf team competed in five tournaments this fall and had two second place finishes — second of 12 at the Wisconsin Lutheran Invitational and second of 22 at the UW-Stout Invitational. They finished their fall schedule with a trip to Las Vegas, competing in the Lane Group Las Vegas Open.
The team qualified for the NCAA Championships in the Spring of 2023. They had standout performances from Jay Fjelstul (‘24), Haakon Rustad (‘25) and Mark Devlin (‘25). In their five meets, each one of them were the top finishers for Luther, with Rustad winning the Wisconsin Lutheran Fall Classic. The team will look to win their third consecutive ARC championship in the spring.
Women’s Golf
Notable results:
Coe Invitational: Annemarie Schloo – 17th Place, 166
Wartburg Invitational: Teagan Schaefer, Tied 73rd Place, 174
Gustavus Dill Classic: Annemarie Schloo – Tied 60th Place, 173
UW-La Crosse Fall Invitational: Teagan Schaefer, Tied 9th, 165
ARC Conference Tournament: Team finish 7 of 9, Annemarie Schloo – Tied 13th Place, 247
The women’s golf team competed in five meets this fall, wrapping up their fall schedule with the ARC Tournament. scoring a 345 in round one and 344 in round two. Their performances led them to finish seventh place shooting a 1042 overall.
Annemarie Schloo (‘27) had a standout season in her first for Luther. She was the team’s best finisher at three of their five meets, placing tied for 13th at the ARC Tournament. Teagan Schaefer (‘26) was also a strong performer throughout the season, leading the team in two of their five meets. She finished 17th at the ARC Tournament.
“We grew immensely as the season progressed, hitting season lows individually and as a team,” Schaefer said. “We ended the year with an awesome conference tournament, shooting our two lowest rounds of the season and placing two individuals in the top 20.”
Women’s and Men’s Tennis
The Women’s Tennis team had a great fall season, going 8-1 in competition and capping it off with a fifth consecutive ARC Championship. They will compete once again in the spring season where they will look to qualify for the NCAA’s for back-to-back years. Luther went 47-1 in conference singles and 24-0 in conference doubles. Five Norse recieved All-Conference first-team honors: Jay Mascardo (’27), Riley O’Donnell (’25), Abby Ostermann (’26), Sofia Sackett (’24) and Natalia Smith (’24)
The men’s tennis team had 10 players medal in their ARC Individual Tournament. Luke Westholder (‘25) and Max Leon (‘24) made history by becoming the first duo in Luther’s history to win back-to-back A Doubles finals. In A Singles Westholder made history once again, by becoming the second player in Luther’s history to win back-to-back conference singles titles. A week later, in the the ITA Midwest Regional, the doubles team of Eli Young (’25) and Lev van Hemert (’27) made the quarterfinals.
Men’s and Women’s Cross Country
The Men’s Cross Country team had a good season highlighted by a successful 50th All-American Race held at Luther and a fifth place finish at the ARC Tournament. Adam Koller (‘24) placed 15th at Conference, 30th at regionals and qualified for the NCAA Championships. Kaeden Fellingham (‘24) finished 34th at the ARC Tournament and 57th at the Midwest Regional. Justin Reinhart (‘27) was the lone runner to earn ARC Runner of the week. He contributed on varsity all season, posting a season best of 26:36.8. Eli Shubatt (‘25) earned personal best times in the 4k, 5k and 8k events throughout the season. Heading into his senior year, he is hopeful for what his team can accomplish.
“We are losing some key runners, no doubt. But there are a lot of guys on the team that will take big steps forward next season,” Shubatt said. “Everyone knows the goal, we’ll be looking to punch our ticket to nationals.”
The women’s cross country team placed fifth at the ARC Tournament, tenth at the Midwest Regional and sent one runner to Nationals. The team also took first place in the 50th Annual All-American Race, with National Qualifier Teah Miller (‘27) leading the way by running a 19:37.8. Miller led the women’s team all season, placing 13 that the ARC Tournament and 19th at the Midwest Regional. She became the first Luther runner to earn All-Region honors since 2019, qualifying for the National Championships. Alyssa Blankenship (‘25) had good performances as well, and was the team’s second-best finisher at regionals, finishing with a 23:34 6k and 58 place. When reflecting on the season, she feels the team got along well and put in a lot of hard work.
“We had a pretty successful year [and] the team has been running really well together,” Blankenship said. “We all worked hard, crushed out workouts and put in the miles we needed to have a great season!”
For further information and full results visit the Luther Norse Athletics page. To inform yourself about the winter sports at Luther, read the CHIPS Winter Sports Preview!
Editor’s Note: A shortened version of this story was published in print Vol. 149 of CHIPS on December 7, 2023.
