Poll results: State College soccer player named boys athlete of the season for fall 2023

A State College soccer player is the boys athlete of the fall sports season, as selected by readers of CentreDaily.com.

More than 11,400 votes were cast in the poll, which featured nominees submitted by the athletic directors of each Centre County high school — State College, Bellefonte, Saint Joseph’s Catholic Academy, Philipsburg-Osceola, Penns Valley and Bald Eagle Area.

Will Kogelmann won the poll with 53% of the vote, with 6,146 votes. During his season, Kogelmann scored 24 goals and added 18 assists. He was a first team Mid Penn all-conference selection and was named to the PIAA 4A All-State team.

Here’s a look at other nominees for boys athlete of the season:

Colin Simander, Saint Joseph’s Catholic cross-country: Simander was captain of the cross-country team and has had four straight appearances at the PIAA state championships, setting a school record. Simander, a senior, placed ninth at District VI championships with a time of 17:36.80 and placed 58 of 272 at PIAA state championships with a time of 18:04.

Kyle Yangula, Saint Joseph’s Catholic soccer: A starter for the past four years, Yangula was captain of the soccer team and scored 14 goals and 2 assists this season.

Carson Long, Philipsburg-Osceola soccer and football: During his soccer season, Long scored 41 goals, setting the single season scoring record at P-O, and had eight assists. As a kicker on the football team, Long connected on 17 of 18 possible extra points and three of four field goals, along with one touchback as kickoff specialist. Long was named all-state by the Pennsylvania Soccer Coaches Association and first team all-conference for soccer in the Laurel Highlands Athletic Association.

Long came in second in the poll, with 3,669 votes.

Jakodi Jones, Philipsburg-Osceola football: Jones had 139 carries for 629 yards and eight touchdowns. He also had nine grabs for 99 receiving yards and one touchdown reception. Throughout the season he had 34 tackles, two tackles for loss and blocked two field goals.

Ty Watson, Penns Valley football: Watson led the Laurel Highlands Athletic Conference with 1,483 rushing yards this season, and became the all-time Centre County scoring leader this year. This season brings his career rushing total to 3,505 yards, averaging 6.5 yards per carry and setting the school records for career rushing yards, career points scored and career rushing touchdowns. Watson scored 16 touchdowns and 131 total points as starting running back and kicker for the Penns Valley Rams. In his three years as starting running back for the team, Penns Valley has gone 22-13.

Ty Salazer, State College football: Setting the record for the most yards in a single season, Salazar made 66 catches for 1,079 yards in 11 games and scored 12 touchdowns. Salazar averaged 98.1 yards receiving per game and 16.3 yards per catch. He is State High’s all-time leading receiver with 94 catches for 1,681 yards and 19 touchdowns throughout his career. On defense, Salazer made 47 tackles (33 were solo tackles), collected three interceptions for 107 yards and two touchdowns, while adding 11 pass deflections. He has been a Mid Penn Conference Commonwealth Division All Star the last two years.

Isaak Bloom, Bellefonte golf: Bloom was the medalist in all matches this season except for one match where he placed second. In addition to being a two time state qualifier, Bloom is a leader on the team, described as a “second coach” and mentor to the younger golfers.

Owen Pettina, Bellefonte football: Pettina had 56 tackles this season with 16.5 TFLs, nine sacks and 14 quarterback hurries. He also blocked one field goal and caused four fumbles. Pettina was captain of the team and voted as senior representative for the school’s leadership council by his coaches.

Carson Nagle, Bald Eagle football: As Bald Eagle’s quarterback and captain this season, Nagle threw for 3,569 yards and 38 passing touchdowns, completing 72% of his passes and finishing with a quarterback rating of 127. He also had 145 rushing yards and two rushing touchdowns on 20 carries.

Kahale Burns, Bald Eagle football: Burns, a receiver and captain, had 94 catches this season, leading to 1,161 receiving yards and 14 touchdowns. He added one completed pass on his lone attempt for 14 yards and a touchdown.

Voting for this poll ended at noon Thursday. As a reminder, the poll is not scientific and just for fun. In fact, we invite readers to vote as many times as they’d like. Look for future polls at CentreDaily.com.

This story was originally published December 7, 2023 at 9:00 AM.