Vote: Who was the 2025 Wisconsin High School Football Defensive Player of the Year?

Here are 25 candidates for your voting consideration

Bay Port senior defensive end Brock Gauthier (0) is one of 25 nominees for Wisconsin High School Football's 2025 Defensive Player of the Year. / Dan Powers/USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Each week there were many brilliant, stand-out individual performances on the gridiron throughout the state.

With that said, it is time to take a final look back at some of the best football players from Wisconsinand let you vote on who you think was High School on SI's Defensive Player of the Year from the action-packed 2025 season.

There were hundreds of outstanding players, and these lists are not intended to be comprehensive.

Voting remains open until December 24 at 11:59 p.m. PT.

(Players are listed in alphabetical order and the final 2025 nominees were compiled using information provided by Bound.com, WFCA, and WIAA; the poll is below the list of players)

Adam Anderson, Lake Country Lutheran, senior (DE)

Aziz Ashour, Nicolet, senior (DB)

Cam Davis, Turtle Lake, senior (DL)

Noah Dodds, Mukwonago, senior (LB)

William Flottmeyer, Aquinas, senior (DL)

Brendan Foley, Arrowhead, senior (LB)

Nick Gallagher, Monona Grove, senior (DL)

Brock Gauthier, Bay Port, senior (DE)

Wyatt Graffin, Columbus, senior (DL)

Lamont Hamilton, Racine St. Catherine's, senior (DB)

Tyler Heinle, Grafton, senior (LB)

Connor Kilgore, Kewaunee, senior (DB)

Nathan Makinen, Muskego, senior (DL)

Jack Murray, Brookfield East, senior (LB)

Flynn O' Laire, Laconia, senior (LB)

Henry Quintana, Grantsburg, senior (LB)

Neeko Rodgers Jr., Catholic Memorial, senior (DL)

Xavier Salzman, Seymour, senior (LB)

McCoy Smith, Waunakee, senior (DL)

Braylon Stegall, West De Pere, junior (LB)

Van Volger, Sun Prairie East, senior (DB)

Brock Walser, Badger, senior (DE)

Dominick Walters, Franklin, senior (DB)

Ben Wenzel, Appleton North, senior (LB)

Ryan Zenner, Chippewa Falls, sophomore (DL)

About Our Player of the Year Voting
High School on SI voting polls are meant to be a fun, lighthearted way for fans to show support for their favorite athletes and teams. Our goal is to celebrate all of the players featured, regardless of the vote totals. Sometimes one athlete will receive a very large number of votes — even thousands — and that’s okay! The polls are open to everyone and are simply a way to build excitement and community around high school sports. Unless we specifically announce otherwise, there are no prizes or official awards for winning. The real purpose is to highlight the great performances of every athlete included in the poll.

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-- Jeff Hagenau | jeffreyhagenau@gmail.com