MENOMONIE – In his first year as a starter on the UW-Stout football team, Brooks Brewer, a 2022 Menomonie High School graduate, earned second team All-Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WIAC) defensive honors, was second in the conference in total tackles, led the league in interceptions and saw the Blue Devils advance to their first post-season game since 2000.
As a Stout freshman in 2023, Brewer played in seven games and tallied eight total tackles, five solo. Brewer turned up the jets in 2024, getting in on 103 tackles, 44 solo, a mark that was 35th in the NCAA Division. He led the league with four interceptions, had five pass breakups and 1.5 tackles for loss. Brewer recorded five double-digit tackle games, recording a career-best 13 tackles, nine solo, against UW-River Falls. Brewer was selected second team all-region by D3football.com.
Brewer was a two-way player at Menomonie, earning first-team all-conference honors as a running back and all-region as an outside linebacker. At 6-foot, 195-pounds, Brewer plays defensive back for Stout. The Blue Devils finished the season 6-5, wrapping up the season with a 35-32 loss to Wheaton College Nov. 23 in the Isthmus Bowl.
• Menomonie grads Ben Bystol and Isaiah Giron are also on the Blue Devil roster. Bystol, a 6-5, 280-pound sophomore offensive lineman, started all 11 games on a Blue Devil team that averaged 34 points per game, 124.1 yards rushing and 272.9 passing yards. Giron, a 5-10, 200-pound freshman linebacker, saw action in one game, recording one tackle.
Cross Country
Menomonie graduates Connor Norby, Gaby Skorczewski and Madison Lehman wrapped up their 2024 collegiate cross country seasons last month.
Norby is a sophomore at Winona State University and ran in six meets this season for the Warriors, setting a personal best of 32-minutes, 55.62-seconds in the 10-kilometer at the NCAA Division II Regional at Missouri Southern University, Nov. 8. Norby, who was an All-Big Rivers Conference runner and team captain while at Menomonie, also set a career-best time in the 8-kilometer run of 25:34.4 at the NSIC Championship, Oct. 26 at Minot, N.D.
Skorczenski is a sophomore at Lawrence University in Appleton and competed in six of the Vikings’ seven meets. Skoczenski competed at the Midwest Conference Championship Nov. 2 where the Vikings captured the team title. Skorczenski took 50th individually at the meet with a time of 25:44.3 in the 6K run and set a personal-best of 25:21.0 at the Gene Davis Invitational Oct. 12. Skorczenski is a member of the Vikings’ track and field team and last season ran in the 400- and 800-meter runs and as a member of several relay teams.
Lehman is a freshman at UW-Eau Claire and competed in five of the team’s seven meets, setting a personal best time of 24:34.2 at the Luther College Saga Cup, Nov. 8, in her final meet of the season, placing 12th. At Menomonie, Lehman was a cross country all-conference selection in 2023 and honorable mention in 2022
Layne Pitt is the retired UW-Stout Sports Information director and also worked more than a decade at the Dunn County News.
Menomonie Collegians is a regular feature of Menomonie News Net. The column is not limited to student-athletes, but may be a former MHS student in a play, forensics, music or any type of collegiate competition. If you know of a Menomonie Collegian, please email [email protected].
The column Menomonie Collegians by Layne Pitt is licensed under a CC BY SA 4.0 International license. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/
