By Paul Lecker
MarshfieldAreaSports.com
Neillsville High School senior Emma Moseley and Iola-Scandinavia High School senior Parker Prahl have been named the MarshfieldAreaSports.com & Zaleski Sports High School Athletes of the Year for the 2021-22 school and sports year.
Moseley and Prahl were chosen by MarshfieldAreaSports.com and Zaleski Sports staff for the awards, which are also sponsored by Awards ‘n’ More of Wisconsin Rapids.
The Athlete of the Year announcement is the culmination of our 2021-22 Athlete of the Month program in which 11 student-athletes won voting polls each month.
Varsity athletes from the following high schools were eligible to be nominated for the award throughout the year: Abbotsford, Amherst, Athens, Assumption, Auburndale, Colby, Columbus Catholic, Edgar, Granton, Greenwood, Iola-Scandinavia, Loyal, Marshfield, Mosinee, Neillsville, Pacelli, Pittsville, Port Edwards, Rosholt, Spencer, Stratford, Stevens Point, Wild Rose and Wisconsin Rapids Lincoln.
The monthly winners of the award during the 2021-22 school year were: Mosinee soccer player Toren Holtz (August), Stevens Point football player Riley Warzynski (September), Mosinee football player Keagen Jirschele (October), Stevens Point Pacelli girls basketball player Amelia Jacoby (November), Spencer/Columbus wrestler Treyton Ackman (December), Iola-Scandinavia boys basketball player Parker Prahl (January), Wisconsin Rapids Assumption girls basketball player Ainara Sainz de Rozas (February), Athens boys basketball team (March), Amherst baseball player Ben Lee (April), Neillsville track athlete Taytor Lowry (May), and Amherst baseball player Wyatt Blaskowski (June).
Moseley was named the Cloverbelt Conference East Division Player of the Year for both the girls basketball and softball seasons as the Warriors won conference titles in both.
Moseley averaged 9.5 points. 5.1 rebounds, 4.1 assists and 2.6 steals per game for Neillsville, which rolled to a perfect Cloverbelt East championship season and reached the WIAA state tournament.
Moseley hit .526 with two home runs, 25 RBI and 21 runs scored during the softball season.
Prahl was a first-team selection at both quarterback and defensive back on the all-Central Wisconsin Conference Small Division team last fall after leading the Thunderbirds to a second-place finish in the conference. Prahl passed for 475 yards and four touchdowns, and ran for 779 yards and 15 TDs.
Prahl was named Player of the Year in the Central Wisconsin Conference East Division for the basketball season after Iola-Scandinavia rolled through an undefeated conference season and finished 27-1, losing in the WIAA Division 4 sectional finals. He averaged 19.1 points, 12.3 rebounds, 3.7 assists and 2.4 steals per game for the Thunderbirds.
In the spring, Prahl medaled in two events at the WIAA State Track & Field Championships, finishing second in the Division 3 long jump with a leap of 20 feet, 3¾ inches, and fourth in the triple jump with a jump of 42-6¾.
Previous Athlete of the Year award winners were: Owen-Withee football and basketball player, and track athlete Albert Goerlitz (2014); Athens football, basketball and baseball player Seth Coker (2015); Marathon football, basketball and baseball player Ryan Gassner (2016); Marshfield Columbus Catholic soccer, basketball and baseball player Tyler Fuerlinger (2017); Spencer football player, wrestler and baseball player Hunter Luepke (2018); Spencer football player, wrestler and track athlete Logan Zschernitz (2019); Stratford football and basketball player Ben Barten (2020); and Edgar football, baseball and basketball player, and track athlete Austin Dahlke (boys) and Wisconsin Rapids Assumption cross country runner, girls basketball player and track athlete Ainara Sainz de Rozas (girls) (2021).