Wheatland – The Wheatland High School football team which faced a lot of adversity this season had three players who earned postseason awards.

Running back and linebacker Aric Suko won a spot the All-Conference list with teammates Ryland Petroski (running back and linebacker) and Drew Smialek who played on both the offensive and defensive line. Smialek was also chosen to the All-State team.

“We wish the season would have gone a little differently than it did but it was still fun to go out and play for the last time,” said the three seniors. “We had a ton of letdowns early and it set the course for the season. We thought that we could have gone to the second-round of the playoffs, but people didn’t really believe and they didn't show up. Football this year was a little different. We had a lot of younger players that had to step into some roles that were previously filled by some really good players. We had some good players and the postseason accolades showed that. We can confidently say that if Maxx wouldn’t have got injured he’d be on this list too.”

Head Coach Cody Bohlander at the winter awards banquet spoke candidly about each of his players.

“As a coach when go to an all-conference/all-state meeting you come with the guys that you feel contributed to your team the most and in your eyes deserved the honor of being selected,” Bohlander said. “Once you get there though the process for which of your players gets picked is out of your hands and in the other coaches from the conferences hands with how they vote. We had a lot of guys that I feel could have earned these accolades, but the 3 that were picked definitely deserve the selection they have done a lot for us of the years and played key roles for us this season.”

“It was my first year making All-Conference,” said Suko. “Last year I got Honorable Mention All-Conference. It feels good to be selected for this and to know coaches voted me in.”

“I was awarded All-Conference my sophomore, junior and senior years of football,” Smialek said. “This year I was also selected for All State. It was an honor playing for my coaches and representing Wheatland.” 

“All-conference is an honor and I’m thankful I got nominated for it,” said Petroski.

“Drew, Aric and Ryland are some of the best guys in the conference and I was glad to see other coaches recognized that and pick them to earn the all-conference honor,” Bohlander said. “They worked hard to get to where they are. These 3 did a lot all season to help our team in games and were definitely leaders in our program. Drew was able to get recognized again as an all-state pick which an even fewer amount of kids in 2A get chosen for. Drew has been one of our best big guys we have had over the last few years and it continued this season. He is a solid lineman that did everything we asked and more throughout the season. It was good to see him finally get all-state, after being just an all-conference player his junior and sophomore year.”