Jim Leonhard Award Pre-Season Watch List
The Jim Leonhard Award is presented to the top senior defensive back as part of the WSN Senior Football Awards. The award is named after former Flambeau High School and University of Wisconsin athlete Jim Leonhard, who has gone on to great success in the NFL with the Baltimore Ravens, New York Jets, Buffalo Bills, Denver Broncos, New Orleans Saints, and Cleveland Browns. In 2016 he returned as an assistant coach at Wisconsin.
The pre-season list will be trimmed down to 25 semi-finalists halfway through the year, with five finalists chosen at the start of the playoffs. Winners are announced the week of the state finals.
JIM LEONHARD AWARD PRE-SEASON WATCH LIST
| First Name | Last Name | Team |
|---|---|---|
| Brandon | Anderson | Waupaca |
| Jaeden | Banda | Brookfield Central |
| Erik | Bauer | Turtle Lake |
| Charlie | Biolo | Kimberly |
| Brody | Bouras | Winneconne |
| Grant | Brown | Shorewood/Messmer |
| Titonaro | Bumpus | Racine St. Catherine's |
| John | Chenoweth | New Glarus/Monticello |
| Noah | Coughlin | Columbus |
| Nathan | Coy | Sun Prairie |
| Xavier | Cummings | Hayward/LCO |
| Tyler | Curtis-Dupuis | Beloit Memorial |
| Joe | Duty | Adams Friendship |
| Patrick | English | Marquette |
| Jackson | Erickson | Edgerton |
| C.J. | Fermanich | Middleton |
| Riley | Geiger | Loyal |
| Jake | Goodman | Menomonie |
| Beau | Goudreau | Sheboygan Falls |
| Justin | Grimes | Columbus |
| Brady | Hanson | Kewaskum |
| Cole | Hau | De Pere |
| Ben | Hauser | Sun Prairie |
| Ryan | Hubbell | Sussex Hamilton |
| Taishi | Ikeda | Oconomowoc |
| Zak | Ingersoll | Stanley-Boyd |
| Wil | Jessup | Madison Memorial |
| DeAndre | Johns | Kenosha St. Joseph |
| Andrew | Johnson | Omro |
| Chase | Katzenmeyer | Evansville/Albany |
| Michael | Kirkendoll | Whitefish Bay |
| Mitchell | Knapp | Whitnall |
| Connor | Kuhn | Hilbert/Stockbridge |
| Cade | Kunferman | Eleva-Strum |
| Dane | Lew | Elk Mound |
| Joe | Ludwig | Middleton |
| Jarrett | Maier | Monona Grove |
| Tyler | Mais | Waunakee |
| Tommy | Matoska | Kenosha Tremper |
| Calvin | Matthew | Milwaukee King |
| Braden | McDonald | Darlington |
| Tyler | Meixner | Pepin/Alma |
| Adam | Mielke | Lake Country Lutheran |
| Cole | Nelson | Fort Atkinson |
| Cade | Nichols | Mount Horeb/Barneveld |
| Mike | Oechsner | Catholic Memorial |
| Hunter | Peters | Madison Memorial |
| Sully | Phillips | Wausau West |
| Brandon | Powers | New Richmond |
| Donnie | Reasby | Greenfield |
| Hector | Rodriguez | Milwaukee Hamilton |
| Alex | Rogers | Racine Case |
| Johnny | Santaga | Notre Dame |
| Logan | Scharf | Wauwatosa West |
| Beau | Schartner | Southern Door |
| Eric | Schmitz | Winnebago Lutheran |
| Colin | Schultz | Watertown |
| Bryce | Schure | Muskego |
| Ben | Tabor | Merrill |
| Ethan | VandenPlas | Green Bay Preble |
| Jake | Weber | Bay Port |
| Jack | Werch | Berlin |
| Darryl | Williams | Chetek-Weyerhaeuser |
| Nik | Yaeger | Seymour |
| Connor | Zirpel | Kimberly |
Pre-season watch lists are compiled from all-conference teams, stats leaders, film evaluations, WSN Player Rankings, and coach input. Players do not have to be on the pre-season list to be considered for the semi-final or finals list.
Recent Senior Football Award Articles
Sean West of Homestead selected to receive Kevin Stemke Award
- 11/15/2023, 3:00pm CST
Keagan Jirschele of Mosinee selected to receive Jim Leonhard Award
- 11/15/2023, 2:00pm CST
Drew Braam of Oak Creek selected to receive John Anderson Award
- 11/15/2023, 1:00pm CST
Wade Bryan of Waunakee selected to receive Tim Krumrie Award
- 11/15/2023, 12:00pm CST
Nathan Roy of Mukwonago selected to receive Joe Thomas Award
- 11/15/2023, 11:00am CST
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