Churchill County High School Athletic Director Brad Daum reads the bios for, from left, Cameron Kissick, Cody Stadtman, Nathan Heck, Joe Pyle, Ali Tedford and Evan Matheson on Thursday at the Elmo Derrico Gym. The seniors will all compete in their sports in college next year.
Once again, Fallon’s best are moving on the next level of athletic competition.
On Thursday, six Greenwave seniors took part in Churchill County High School’s annual college signing celebration at the Elmo Dericco Gym.
In front of friends, family and teachers, the six student-athletes participated in a mock signing as Athletic Director Brad Daum announced their new destinations.
Nathan Heck, who signed a scholarship with Idaho State in November, will compete in track and field.
In addition to Heck, a pair of Fallon stars will move on the Division I level, both at the University of Nevada. Ali Tedford and Joe Pyle are preferred walk-ons for the Wolf Pack’s women’s basketball and football programs, respectively.
Also moving on to the DI level is Justin Hatfield, who is also a preferred walk-on at the University of Idaho. Hatfield holds the career-record for sacks in the history of the Nevada DI-A level with 33.
Cameron Kissick will run track at Division III Whitworth University in Spokane, Wash. Cody Stadtman will play football at DII Malone University in Ohio, while volleyball player Evan Matheson is headed to Lourdes University, a NAIA school, in Ohio.
Austin Bischoff, who was not present, will compete in soccer for Trevor Valley Community College in Oregon, Daum said. Also not present were Tyler Bagby and Dalton Frank, who are expected to play baseball in college.
Matheson came on strong for the Lady Wave this season and was selected to the all-state team. She was Fallon’s best player and became a leader on the court.
Matheson’s resurgence on the court re-established her confidence giving her the knowledge she can compete in college.
“For school, I felt like I could be a leader there,” she explained. “It should me I had what it took to play at the next level.”
Her journey led to four schools, then to two as she choose Lourdes over University of Pikeville in Kentucky. Even though she will move about 2,000 miles from home, Matheson said she is excited for the challenge.
“I think going far away will give me a different experience,” she said. “When I walked around campus at Lourdes, it just felt right. I am so excited to go there. They carry a big roster, so I like that I will have to push myself.”
Kissick, meanwhile, has had an up-and-down career on the track and cross-country course due to injury. He’s finally on the mend in time for today and Saturday’s regional meet in Fernley, but is thankful his persistence and work ethic paid off.
“When I met the team, it felt like a perfect match,” Kissick said of Whitworth. “It feels really good being able to finish my senior year because my junior year was just a wreck. They were still really interested because of my work ethic.”
Typically injuries are a sure-fire way to scare off recruiters, but over the past year Kissick developed a relationship with the Whitworth staff. It also helps one of his new head coach also is a professor in Kissick’s soon-to-be major — kinesiology.
Whitworth’s interest and academics won out over such suitors as Humboldt State, Western Oregon and several others.
“I want to stay injury free and make it to nationals,” he said of his goals. “They stress teamwork there and I like that.”