Tag: Hunter Wohler

A future Badger named to the 2020 All-USA high school football preseason team

USA TODAY released its annual 2020 All-USA high school football preseason team yesterday and included in their first team is…

USA TODAY released its annual 2020 All-USA high school football preseason team yesterday and included in their first team is future Badger four-star safety Hunter Wohler.

Wohler is the only Wisconsin native on the first team and the only current Wisconsin commit, with five-star offensive tackle Nolan Rucci on the team but still undecided about where he will play his college years.

The safety is currently ranked as the No. 191 recruit in the class of 2021, the No. 10 safety, and the No. 2 player from the state of Wisconsin. He is also one of the key parts of the Badgers’ impressive class of 2021 that, with a commitment from Rucci, would likely become the best recruiting class in program history.

The Muskego, Wisconsin native, as of today, will be playing his final high school season this fall as the Wisconsin Interscholastic Athletic Association still plans to hold a fall athletic season.

Where the Badger defense ranks among the Big Ten’s best over the last three years

The Big Ten conference is most commonly known for its old school-style play, cold weather and stellar defensive units…

The Big Ten conference is most commonly known for its old school-style play, cold weather and stellar defensive units.

The Wisconsin football program is probably the perfect embodiment of all three, finishing near the top of the conference in nearly every defensive category year after year.

On average over the last three seasons each Big Ten team has allowed 671 points. The Wisconsin Badgers? 492.

As seen above that mark is good for second behind Iowa’s 476 and ahead of Penn State’s 494, Michigan State’s 524 and Michigan’s 552.

What’s crazy to think about is that the best years may be yet to come for Jim Leonhard’s unit, as the program has landed commitments from top defensive prospects including Braelon Allen, Hunter Wohler and T.J. Bollers.

What we do know at this point, though, is for however long Leonhard stays around on Paul Chryst’s staff the defensive unit will be one of the best in the conference and in the country. After his time in Madison is done? Who knows. But the unit right now has been great and seems to be only getting better.

2021 Wisconsin commit Hunter Wohler ready to form an in-state partnership at safety with ‘unreal potential’

The Wisconsin football community was filled with excitement when 2022 S Braelon Allen, a four-star Fond Du Lac product, committed to the Badgers on Wednesday. Staying home. Committed pic.twitter.com/BvK8KxvSe9 – Braelon Allen (@BraelonAllen) July …

The Wisconsin football community was filled with excitement when 2022 S Braelon Allen, a four-star Fond Du Lac product, committed to the Badgers on Wednesday.

Perhaps nobody was as excited, however, as Hunter Wohler, the highest-ranked safety commit in the modern history of Wisconsin football.

Wohler, a 2021 in-state product out of Muskego High School, is ready to form one of the most talented safety duo’s in the history of Badger football.

What was the Muskego High School star’s immediate reaction to the Allen news? “I was stoked. This is huge for us,” Wohler told BadgersWire yesterday. “He’s a stud and has unreal potential at the next level and is only a junior this year.”

The future of Wisconsin’s defensive backfield is already taking shape off the field. Two of the hardest hitting Wisconsin high school football safeties have been in communication well before Allen became the first Badger commit in the class of 2022.

Allen made sure to tell Wohler he was ready to be a Badger before his commitment was announced on Twitter. “Yeah me and Braelon talk a decent amount,” Wohler told BadgersWire when asked about their relationship. “He reached out to me before committing saying he’s in and he wants to be in the family and here he is.”

When you watch the two future Badgers on film, there are many similarities in their style and their ability to deliver massive hits. Wohler immediately saw how similar their games were on film, and how they would be able to complement each other in Jim Leonhard’s defense.

“Me and him both have a very similar style in that we both like to play the run,” said Wohler when asked about Allen’s style as a safety. “He’s a heavy hitter and can play down in the box very well. I think we can compliment each other really well at the next level.”

Allen is the first in a group of the top six 2022 Wisconsin high school products  to commit to the Badgers. The 2022 in-state top six, who have been given the nickname “the super six,” consists of OT Joe Brunner, DT Billy Schrauth, OG Carson Hinzman, DE Isaac Hamm, and TE/WR Jerry Cross. Allen is the first of the six to commit to any school, and the Badgers are certainly not done trying to reel in 2022 in-state talent to join him.

For Wohler, who grew up a Badger fan and lives just a short drive away from Camp Randall, adding a highly-ranked player from the state of Wisconsin to team up with him in Madison has added meaning.

“This is exactly what Wisconsin football is about: homegrown kids,” Wohler told BadgersWire. “Having both of us play for the home state is going to be unbelievable and I think with us back there we can really make something happen.”

UW fans should be thrilled that not only is the future of Badger football as bright as ever, but Wisconsin natives are the players who will have the opportunity to take the Badgers to the next level.

 

A way-too-early look at the 2022 Wisconsin Badger defense

Paul Chryst and the Wisconsin Badger coaching staff have been making waves on the recruiting trail during the last few months, landing…

Paul Chryst and the Wisconsin Badger coaching staff have been making waves on the recruiting trail during the last few months, landing big defensive names including Braelon Allen, T.J. Bollers, Hunter Wohler and Darryl Peterson.

Their 2021 class currently stands at No. 14 in the nation and No. 3 in the conference, both marks placing the class as the best the program’s had since the online ranking era began.

Every college football fan knows that the Badgers pride themselves on their defense and they–no matter who is out there on the field–always seem to have one of the conference’s best defensive units.

With all of the question marks surrounding the upcoming 2020 football season I’m looking into the future at the 2022 defensive unit, one which at this point is lining up to be an absolute sight to see.

 

Defensive Line

Syndication: Milwaukee
Badgers nose tackle Keeanu Benton (95) and linebacker Jack Sanborn celebrate a fumble recovery by UW’s defense deep in its own territory during the first quarter against Michigan. Credit: Milwaukee Journal Sentinel-Imagn Content Services, LLC

Defensive end: T.J. Bollers, Ayo Adebogun, Mike Jarvis, Cade McDonald

Nose tackle: Keeanu Benton, Rodas Johnson

 

Keeanu Benton showed crazy potential last season as a true freshman. He will be a senior at this point and the leader of a talented defensive front.

Bollers is a four-star recruit and will be coming to Madison in 2021 as one of the highest-rated recruits in the 2021 class.

This unit will have the skills needed to control the opponents’ ground game but even more significantly they will be an absolute force rushing the quarterback.

 

Next…the linebackers

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Twitter reaction from four-star safety Braelon Allen’s commitment

Four-star 2022 safety Braelon Allen became the first member of the Badgers’ class of 2022 last night as he announced that he was…

Four-star 2022 safety Braelon Allen became the first member of the Badgers’ class of 2022 last night as he announced that he was “staying home” and committing to play for the Wisconsin Badgers.

The Fond Du Lac, Wisconsin native is the No. 166-ranked recruit in his class, No. 6 at his position and the No. 4 recruit from the state of Wisconsin.

Here’s what Badger players, coaches and recruits had to say on Twitter after Allen announced his commitment.

 

First, the introduction of the new class of 2022 hashtag by many of the program’s top recruiters.

 

Next, recruits and underclassmen expressed their excitement to play with the future Badger.

 

Finally, a tweet that warrants speculation as four-star class of 2022 defensive end Isaac Hamm–the No. 12 recruit at his position and the No. 3 recruit from the state of Wisconsin–chimed in on the news.

 

For everything Wisconsin recruiting follow @thebadgerswire, @benzkenney and @alow_33 on Twitter.

 

Wisconsin coach named in 247Sports’ ‘Top 10 recruiters in the 2021 class’

247Sports senior writer Brad Crawford ranked the top 10 recruiters in the 2021 class yesterday and had Wisconsin special teams…

247Sports senior writer Brad Crawford ranked the top 10 recruiters in the 2021 class yesterday and had Wisconsin special teams coordinator and “ace-in-the-hole recruiter” Chris Haering No. 10 on his list.

Haering is in his sixth season in Madison and this recruiting period was the lead recruiter for five members of the Badgers’ 2021 class, two of whom being four-star offensive tackle J.P. Benzschawel and four-star safety Hunter Wohler.

The Badger coach is one of six Big Ten names on the list with No. 1, No. 3, No. 6 and No. 9 all part of the Ohio State Buckeyes’ top-notch recruiting effort.

Wisconsin currently has the No. 12-ranked 2021 class in the nation and No. 3 in the Big Ten, both the highest at this point in program history with more top names yet to announce their commitment decisions.

 

For everything Wisconsin recruiting and their class of 2021 check out the 2021 commitment tracker and follow @thebadgerswire on Twitter.

Where Wisconsin football’s class of 2021 currently stands according to ESPN

Taking a look at current rankings for football classes in 2021

[lawrence-newsletter][lawrence-related id=18482]Wisconsin’s class of 2021 is just beginning to take shape as UW currently has ten commits ready to come to Madison. Those ten commits are highlighted by a pair of top offensive tackle prospects in their respective states with JP Benzschawel out of Wisconsin and Riley Mahlman out of Minnesota.

The Badgers have commitments from the top three players in the state of Wisconsin according to 247Sports led by Benzschawel who is followed by safety Hunter Wohler and running back Jackson Acker. 

The lone QB in the class so far is Deacon Pe’a Hill, a pro-style prospect out of Santa Barbara, Calif. (Santa Barbara).

So, where does Wisconsin’s class stand so far? According to ESPN’s recruiting nation rankings,Wisconsin has the seventh-best class in the Big Ten conference, but the No. 18 class overall in the country. The rankings within the conference speaks less to any struggles that UW has had early in the process, and more so to how solid the Big Ten has recruited across the board. With only ten hard commits so far, there is still a long way to go for Wisconsin’s class of 2021.

Wisconsin lands commitment from 2021 safety Hunter Wohler

Wisconsin landed a commitment in the 2021 recruiting class from in-state four-star safety Hunter Wohler on Monday evening.

Christmas came a couple of days early for Badger fans, as coveted four-star safety Hunter Wohler joined Wisconsin’s 2021 recruiting class with a surprise commitment on Monday evening.

The first in-state player the Badgers offered in this recruiting cycle, the four-star prospect from Muskego has long been arguably Wisconsin’s top priority in this class. Bucky had been considered the favorite ever since extending the offer, considering Wohler grew up a Badger fan and Wisconsin also rarely loses in-state recruits that it pursues so heavily.

That being said, most expected the nation’s No. 241 overall player and No. 7 safety according to the 247Sports composite to keep his recruitment open a little longer and make the Badgers work a bit harder than they usually would for an in-state prospect. Wohler boasts other offers from Notre Dame, Ohio State, Georgia Tech, Iowa, Iowa State, Michigan, Michigan State and Minnesota, with more almost certainly on the way. The Buckeyes and Fighting Irish, in particular, were thought to be pretty close to Wisconsin atop his list of suitors.

With the addition of Wohler, Wisconsin’s eight-man 2021 class ranks No. 5 nationally and No. 2 in the Big Ten, per 247Sports. The other seven members are three-star inside linebacker Bryan Sanborn (Lake Zurich, Ill.), three-star defensive end/outside linebacker Ayo Adebogun (Thiensville, Wis.), four-star offensive tackles JP Benzschawel (Grafton, Wis.) and Riley Mahlman (Lakeville, Minn.), three-star running backs Jackson Acker (Verona, Wis.) and Loyal Crawford (Eau Claire, Wis.) and three-star quarterback Deacon Hill (Santa Barbara, Calif.).

Wisconsin’s top five remaining targets in class of 2021

With Wisconsin’s 2020 recruiting class finished for the most part, here’s a look at its top remaining targets in the next class.

Wisconsin’s 2020 recruiting class is just about finished after it signed 19 players on the first day of the Early Signing Period on Wednesday, though the Badgers are still hoping to add a running back to the group before National Signing Day in February.

With the 2020 class locked up, Wisconsin can fully set its sights on a 2021 group that is already off to a phenomenal start with seven players committed: three-star inside linebacker Bryan Sanborn (Lake Zurich, Ill.), three-star defensive end/outside linebacker Ayo Adebogun (Thiensville, Wis.), four-star offensive tackles JP Benzschawel (Grafton, Wis.) and Riley Mahlman (Lakeville, Minn.), three-star running backs Jackson Acker (Verona, Wis.) and Loyal Crawford (Eau Claire, Wis.) and three-star quarterback Deacon Hill (Santa Barbara, Calif.).

While the Badgers have already landed some of their top targets in the class, there is obviously much work still to be done. Here are the top five players still left on their board.

Hunter Wohler – Safety

A four-star safety from Muskego, Wohler was the first in-state player the Badgers offered in this recruiting cycle.

Wisconsin was the first school to offer the 6-1, 180-pounder back in January, but he’s since become a hot commodity nationally: now considered the No. 241 overall player in the country per the 247Sports composite, Wohler holds other offers from Notre Dame, Ohio State, Georgia Tech, Iowa, Iowa State, Michigan, Michigan State and Minnesota.

At this point, the Badgers have to be considered the favorites here. Like many in-state kids Wisconsin targets, Wohler grew up a Badger fan, and the staff has made it clear he’s arguably their top priority in the entire class. However, the Buckeyes and Fighting Irish could make Bucky sweat a little.

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