MENOMONIE– Two Menomonie High School graduates have been named captains of the 2026 UW-Stout football team.

Seniors Brooks Brewer and Ben Bystol will will join the Blue Devil crew of 10 captains – five on offense, five on defense.

Brewer, a defensive back, will serve his second season as a team captain. Over his previous three seasons at Stout, Brewer, a mechanical engineering major, has played in 29 games. Last season, Brewer was a first team All-Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WIAC) selection and a D3football.com third-team All-Region pick. As a junior, Brewer recorded 68 total tackles (35 solo), four pass break ups, a tackle for loss, forced fumble and three interceptions, including a 66 yard pick-six against Dubuque in the season opener.

Brewer was named WIAC Defensive Player of the Week and earned D3football.com Team of the Week honors on Sept. 9. He was a CSC Academic All-District selection.

Bystol, an offensive lineman, has started the last 22 games for the Blue Devils over the last two seasons and has seen action in 25 games. A business major, Bystol worked on the offensive line where the Blue Devils averaged nearly 340 yards per game, 5.3 yards per play and 26.8 points per contest. Stout ranked 34th nationally in total touchdowns with 41.

Also named team captains are wide receiver Avron Carter, offensive lineman Andrew David, wide receiver Davonte Evans, tight end Mason Frank, defensive lineman Walker Beyerl, defensive back Jesse Ellis, defensive back Dawson Goodman and linebacker Braxton Munnikhuysen.

Stout finished the season at 6-5 overall and won the 2025 Culver’s Isthmus Bowl 31-23 over Washington University of St. Louis.

The Blue Devils open the 2026 season when they travel to the University of Dubuque, Saturday, Sept. 5. Stout opens the home portion their schedule when they host Augustana (Ill) College, Saturday, Sept. 12. The Blue Devils open the WIAC schedule by hosting UW-Platteville, Saturday, Oct. 3.

Clayt Birmingham begins his 17th season as the head coach of the Blue Devils.

Menomonie Collegians is a regular feature of Menomonie News Net. The column is not limited to student-athletes, but may be a former Menomonie area 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/

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