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Kevin Stemke Award Finalists for top senior kicker/punter

11/01/2015, 2:00pm CST
By Travis Wilson

The Kevin Stemke Award is presented annually to the state's top senior kicker or punter as part of the WSN Senior Football Awards. The award is named after former Green Bay Preble and University of Wisconsin standout Kevin Stemke. At Wisconsin, Stemke was presented with the Ray Guy Award as the nation's top punter and holds UW records for highest punting average in a career (43.5) and total punting yards (10,660).

The pre-season watch list was trimmed down to 15 semi-finalists, and five finalists for the award have now been selected. Winners are announced the week of the state finals.

Kevin Stemke Award Finalists:

Alex Bray, Catholic Memorial – Also an outstanding quarterback for the Crusaders, Bray set new school records with the best punting average in Catholic Memorial history, averaging 46.8 yards per attempt. Eight of his punts were downed inside the 10-yard line.

Nathan Gennrich, Franklin – Gennrich is outstanding as both a punter and a kicker, though he didn't get a chance to punt very often in Franklin's powerful offense. On just 5 regular season punts he averaged 40 yards per attempt. He booted 8 of 35 kickoffs into the end zone, averaging 55 yards per kickoff. Gennrich connected on 4 of 7 field goals and 37 of 39 extra points.

John Mack, Arrowhead – Handling kickoffs and kicking for the Warhawks, Mack has been outstanding all season. On 51 kickoffs he has 37 touchbacks, with an average kickoff of 63 yards. He finished 8 for 10 on field goals, including a 51-yarder. Mack connected on 34 of 36 extra points.

T.C. Swittel, Brookfield East – Swittel earned some form of All-Conference recognition at four different positions, including First Team honors as a punter. During the regular season he averaged 43.5 yards per punt on 16 attempts. He also served as the team's kicker.

Garret Wegner, Lodi – Wegner is the latest in a long line of successful kickers at Lodi that includes 2012 Kevin Stemke Award winner Donnie Manke. He averaged 40.5 yards per punt this season for the Blue Devils, as well as 60 yards per kickoff. Of his 56 kickoffs, 31 were touchbacks. He went 6 for 10 on field goals, with two made field goals of more than 40 yards. He was 39 of 40 on extra points. In the playoffs, he made 5 field goals in a Level 3 win over Columbus to tie the state record, including the game-winner. His 12 made field goals this year is in the top ten in state history.

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