MarshfieldAreaSports.com
Recent Spencer High School graduate Hunter Luepke put together one of, if not the best, athletic careers ever at the school.
After earning Cloverbelt Conference Offensive Player of the Year honors in football and baseball, and winning his second-straight WIAA state title in wrestling during his senior year, Luepke has been named the WDLB-WOSQ Radio & MarshfieldAreaSports.com High School Athlete of the Year.
The Athlete of the Year announced culminates the 2017-18 school year in which 10 area athletes won Athlete of the Month awards via monthly voting at MarshfieldAreaSports.com.
The High School Athlete of the Month and Athlete of the Year awards are sponsored by Cost Cutters Family Hair Care and Burt Trophy & Awards.
Varsity athletes from the following high schools are eligible to be nominated for the award: Abbotsford, Athens, Auburndale, Colby, Columbus Catholic, Edgar, Granton, Greenwood, Loyal, Marathon, Marshfield, Neillsville, Owen-Withee, Pittsville, Spencer, Stratford and Thorp.
Luepke was named Cloverbelt Conference Offensive Player of the Year and was a first-team pick after rushing for 1,870 yards and 40 touchdowns, averaging 11.1 yards per carry for Spencer/Columbus, which finished 9-2 overall and 7-1 in conference play. He added 10 receptions for 233 yards and three more scores.
Luepke, a North Dakota State football recruit, was also a first-team all-conference selection at running back in 2015 and 2016, and was Offensive Player of the Year in 2015.
Luepke capped an undefeated 49-0 season on the mat with a 9-3 win over Jack Dietzen of Omro to capture the Division 2 220-pound championship at the 2018 WIAA State Individual Wrestling Tournament in Madison in February.
The state title was the second in a row for Luepke, who finished 39-2 in 2017 in capturing the 195-pound title in Division 2. He placed fifth at the state tournament as a sophomore. He also won Cloverbelt Conference, and WIAA regional and sectional titles this past season.
Luepke capped off his brilliant career by being named the Cloverbelt Conference Baseball Player of the Year, earning first-team all-conference honors for the third year in a row.
The winners of the Athlete of the Month awards for the 2017-18 school year were: Columbus Catholic boys soccer player Nadim Torbey (September), Marshfield cross country runner Joseph McKee (October), Marshfield boys basketball player Seth Anderson (November), Auburndale boys basketball player Cale Jacoby (December), Marshfield boys hockey player Ryan Krueger (January), Owen-Withee girls basketball player Jennifer Wendler, Marathon boys basketball player Nathan Stoffel (March), Marshfield softball player Megan Donahue (April), Marshfield track athlete Meg Bryan (May), and Thorp baseball player Reece Drost (June).