Ray Hamill/HumboldtSports.com
By Ray Hamill — Del Norte senior Colton Schaad had worked hard for years for this moment and he wasn’t about to let it slip away without a fight.
Competing in the 167-pound division of this year’s North Coast Section Wrestling championships, Schaad lost his quarterfinal matchup to James Emery of James Logan High on the opening day, but would battle his way back through the consolation bracket with four straight wins on day two to place third in the bracket.
That set up a showdown against Easton Hearne of San Leandro in the true-second matchup, which allows a third-place wrestler to face the second-place wrestler for the second and final state berth in the division, providing they had not faced off earlier in the tournament.
Schaad would win that match, his fifth victory of the day, to qualify for the state tournament through the back door.
The senior closed out his high school career a week later with a top-16 finish at the state meet, going further than any other Del Norte boys wrestler since the legendary Bronk McCovey won back-to-back state titles in 2009 and 2010.
It was that sort of determination, as much as anything, that separated Schaad from the field in the race for this year’s Humboldt Sports Big 5 Boys Athlete of the Year award.
Well, that and an inspirational fall season on the football field, where the standout linebacker was named co-Defensive MVP of the Big 4 and was arguably the most complete football player on the North Coast.
And that’s not all for the 4.0 GPA student-athlete, who is also a two-time recipient of the prestigious Army Reserve National Scholar Athlete Award.
Schaad was an inspirational leader on both of his high school teams this past year, setting the tone with his actions and performances and leading the Warriors to a pair of league championships.
During his time at Del Norte High, he enjoyed tremendous team and individual success, and he leaves a legacy that will be tough to top, including an NCS title on the wrestling mats as a junior.
Colton Schaad and teammate Custis Bartley
For good measure, his Del Norte boys wrestling team was also named the 2025 Humboldt Sports High School Team of the Year, and his father and wrestling coach, Clinton Schaad, is the 2025 Humboldt Sports High School Coach of the Year.
The younger Schaad will now take his talents to the collegiate mats, where he will compete for Division-II University of Jamestown in North Dakota.
He could easily have played at a high level in college football as well, had he chosen that path, but wrestling has long been his sport of choice and anyone who has watched him compete over the past four years can see why.
Congratulations to Colton Schaad, who will begin the next exciting chapter in his athletic and academic career as the 2025 Humboldt Sports Big 5 Boys Athlete of the Year.
And congratulations to all of this year’s finalists for the award for what they each achieved this past school year.
As always, a big shout out and thank you to this year’s award sponsors, a group that includes The Humboldt Fence Company, DelReka Distributing, Mendes Supply Company and Bode Construction, all of whose support will help to pay for the award trophies.
Submitted photo – Colton Schaad, center, and some of his senior teammates from this year’s Del Norte wrestling team.
Submitted photo – Colton Schaad, left, along with his fellow Del Norte senior athletes of the year, Tsinte Steinruck and Aidan Rice.
