The “Newsom” Award
Libertyville High School’s Outstanding
Senior Male and Female Athletes

Near the end of the school year, the Libertyville High School Coaching Staff votes on the male and female athlete that they feel contributed the most to our athletic department from the senior class.

The process begins with the Head Coaches being able to nominate one of their athletes for this award.  After the list of nominees is selected, they are put on a ballot listing all of their credentials including athletic achievements, their character, their sportsmanship, their coachability, their work ethic, their team commitment, their mental toughness.

All coaches, all sports, and all levels are given a ballot. The coaches vote, then send the ballots to a Coaches’ Committee. Although the vote has merit, the committee does research of the candidates that finished near the top of the vote.  An athlete could conceivably not win the vote, but still be named the Newsom Award winner if the committee feels that during their search one athlete proved to have a lot more of the intangibles that should earn him/her the Newsom Award.

The athletes’ academic achievements is considered as is their behavior in the classroom/athletic field.  Athletic Code violations would obviously be considered in this award’s determination.

Libertyville Wrestling Newsom Award winners

Here are the wrestlers who have won the Newsom award since Roger Evans became the wrestling program's first winner in 1958 .  .  .

2023: Cole Matulenko. 

   Another clear cut winner, Cole was a three sport athlete, wrestling being his #1 sport.  He earned his second trip to the state tournament this season and won the 195 pound state championship, pinning his opponent in the finals in :31.  This is tied for the third fastest state finals pin of all time.  Cole was a three year varsity starter with a career varsity record of In addition to his state title, Cole was named the team's Most Valuable Wrestler, the Most Exciting Wrestler, the Mental Toughness Award winner, the Team Commitment Award, and the team's North Suburban Conference Sportsmanship Award winner.  His senior year record was 44-4, 95-25 for his career.  He set a program record for pins his senior year with 30.  He had 51 career pins, 8th overall.

   In addition to his wrestling, Cole was an All-Conference Defensive end for the football team.  He won the Track and Field Conference Championships in the Shot Put and Discus.  Cole will be attending UW-Eau Claire next year and will compete for their wrestling team..

2019: Brandon Murphy

   Like Charlie Schmidt before him, Brandon was the clear favorite in that he was the only three sport athlete nominated.  And his sports were sports where there is very little carryover.  It is rare for a soccer player to wrestle, rare for a wrestler to play tennis, at least at a competitive varsity level.  Brandon was a four-time varsity letter in wrestling and a two-time state qualifier, finishing with a career record of 105-43.  Brandon didn’t come into highschool with a tremendous amount of strength.  But with four years of serious CrossFit working out, he became a very strong wrestler.  He was a two-time Frosh-Soph All-Stater.  He was a two-year letter winner in soccer and tennis.  He attended UW-Lacrosse and was a two-time NCAA D-III National Qualifier and a D-III Scholastic All-American graduating in Exercise Sport Science.
 

2018: Charlie Schmidt

.  Charlie was the clear favorite in that he was a 3-sport athlete with tremendous accomplishments in all 3 sports.  In wrestling, Charlie was the 3 year varsity starter at 285.  He was 3-time All-Conference, a 3-time Sectional Qualifier, and qualified for state his senior year.  He finished with a career record of 98-25 with 41 pins.  He took 2nd in the Frosh-Soph State his sophomore year.

   Charlie was a very serious practice wrestler, a great sport in competition, and a very good teammate.  He was voted the “Mental Toughness” Award his senior year.

In football Charlie was a three year starter, two-time All-Conference, and an All-State player his senior year.  He earned a football scholarship to play offensive line for Northwestern University and was a two year starter at center.  In Track, Charlie was a two time All-Conference shot putter.  

2015: Mark Dunsing

   Mark was clearly a leading candidate for this award in that he not only did 3 sports, he was a major impact player in all 3. He was a starting defensive tackle for the football team. He was one of the top discus throwers for the track team. 

   His top sport was wrestling where he finished his senior year with a 38-9 record winning the Harlem Invite, the Conference, the Regionals, taking 3rd in Sectionals to qualify for the State where he placed 4th, earning All-State. He became a varsity starter from halfway through his sophomore year. He went 16-9 as a sophomore 220 pounder, taking 2nd in the Conference and Regionals. In the Sectionals he won 3 matches and finished one match short of qualifying for state. His junior year he was the starting 195 and had a 20-4 record before a staph infection kept him out of the State Series.

   Mark was very active in off-season wrestling, even getting a few tournaments in during the track season. He qualified for the Fargo Greco-Roman Nationals twice, qualified in Freestyle once, winning matches each time there.  He placed 7th in the Pre-Season Nationals before his junior year. He placed 3rd in the Frosh-Soph State Tournament his sophomore year, 8th in the State his freshman year. He was on the All Off-Season Commitment 1st Team all 3 years he was eligible. He was named one of the “Outstanding Off-Season Wrestlers” after his junior off-season.

Mark wrestled his freshman year at Ohio University.

2010: Matt Bystol

.  Matt was the third Newsom winner in a row that was a wrestler. The difference is Matt did it while only being involved in one sport his senior year, a very unusual Newsom winner. The thing Matt had going for himself was tremendous accomplishments in his only varsity sport. He did play 3 years of soccer but that isn’t taken into much account, it is the varsity sports that are factored in. But no other 2010 Newsom candidate was out for 3 sports. And no one out for two sports had the kind of numbers Matt had in their two sports that Matt had in one.

Matt was a 3 year varsity starter. He won 4 varsity matches as a 95 pound freshman at 103. He went 43-7 his sophomore year as our starting 103 and qualified for State. He went 45-6 his junior year and placed 3rd in the State. He went 43-5 his senior year and placed 5th in State, his second All-State finish.  He finished his career with a 135-21 record. He had 53 career pins which puts him in the #3 position in Libertyville Wrestling Career Pins. He was the Pin/Extra Point Chart winner all 3 of his varsity season. He won 3 Conference Championships, 3 Regional Championships, and 2 Sectional Championships.

In the off-season, Matt was very active. He was named an All Off-Season Outstanding Wrestler in all 3 of his off-seasons. He won 3 Greco-Roman State titles and one Freestyle State title. He earned spots on the Illinois National Team that competed in the Fargo Summer Nationals, all 3 off-seasons, in both sports.

Matt was always willing to help his teammates out, treating all of his teammates the same, endured himself to them as shown by his winning the team’s “Most Valuable Wrestler” award his junior and senior years.

Character is a big part of the Newsom award. And Matt was at the top of the list in this category. He was the move demonstrator every day in practice for two years, always without hesitation. He was one of our best drillers as well as live wrestlers. And like his two wrestling Newsom predecessors, he mopped the mats before practice more times than he didn’t. Mopping mats doesn’t win you the Newsom award. But the selfless attitude of being willing to mops the mats shows itself in many other areas. His willingness to go whatever weight we wanted him to, anywhere from 125 to 135, was another sign of his selflessness.

Another factor in Matt winning the Newsom was his character in competition. He was humble in victory, gracious in losing. No better example than how he responded in losing in the last 5 seconds of his State Tournament semifinal. After his semifinal loss in the ultimate tiebreaker, Matt calmly shook his opponent’s hand, then the Glenbard North coaches’ hands. In an hour and a half, he had to come back for a consolation semifinal which he lost 3-2 dropping him into the 5th place match, that being after a 3rd place finish his junior year. But again, after the match, no emotional display, just another calm handshake with both his opponent and the opposing coaches. Despite losing those two state matches, the University of Illinois coaches called the next week, impressed with his great character displayed in losing.

Matt graduated from Columbia University in New York, was a 3 year starter, and an NCAA Division 1 Qualifier his junior year.  Beginning in the 2021 season, Matt has taken an assistant coaching position for LHS Wrestling.

2009: Pat Callan

.  Pat made it two in a row of Newsom winners that came out for wrestling for the first time as freshmen, making their decision on the freshmen football field. He got the starting spot on an inexperienced freshmen team. Unlike Tom Nield, Pat didn’t have immediate success. He lost 9 of his first 11 matches. But he rebounded to win 7 of his last 9 matches to finish the season at 9-13.

   He went 28-7 on JV his sophomore season. He went 18-3 his junior year and took 2nd in the JV Conference. His senior year was his first time in the varsity lineup. He took off right away and finished with a 39-17 record, winning the Conference title, the Regional title, and placing 3rd in the Sectionals to qualify for State.

   In his other sports, he was the top performer on the track team from his sophomore season on, qualifying for State in the high and low hurdles. In Football, he was a defensive backfield starter. So he was a 4 year 3 sport athlete, successful in them all which made him tough to beat for the Newsom award.

   Like all Newsom award winners, Pat’s character had an impact in him winning the award. Pat was always on time, always hard working, always encouraging, never a problem. He always came early to off-day practices and was almost always the pre-practice mat mopper. He was willing to go whatever weight we asked him to go.

Pat went to Augustana College and was a 4 year member of their track team as a hurdler.

2008: Tom Nield

.  Tom came out for wrestling for the first time as a freshman. He was a defensive line starter in Freshmen Football and was looking for something in the winter to help his football. Wise choice! He took the wrestling right away, going 12-4 as the Freshmen 215/285. He went 18-6 as a sophomore and placed 3rd in the JV Conference at 285. His junior year he hoped to go 215 and weighed 220 most of the year. But he was the only 285 we had so that’s where he went. He finished 25-17, earned All-Conference and qualified for Sectionals.

Tom’s senior year was also successful as he was a leader of a team that went 22-4 and placed 4th in the State, the farthest any Libertyville Wrestling team has gone. He went 36-10, placed 2nd in the Conference, and won the Regionals to qualify for his second Sectional Tournament.

On the football field, Tom was an All-Conference Defensive Tackle. He earned an All-Conference finish as a Discus thrower in Track. Tom was also an All-Conference Academic team member and a member of the National Honor Society. These are important honors for a Newsom Award winner in a highly competitive year.

Also figuring into his being named Newsom winner, the fact that all 3 of his coaches attested to his commitment to the team and his coachability. Tom made huge sacrifices to his wrestling team, his willingness to go 285 as a junior, his working with younger upper weight wrestlers when it would limit the kind of workout he could get, and his mopping the mats before just about every practice (unless someone else was doing it due to punishment). Tom went on to play  football for the University of Chicago for a year before transferring to Notre  Dame but not playing football.

2005: David Moosman

.  David was the JV starter at 285 as a freshmen. He got the starting position as a sophomore and ran off a 39-5 record in his first season of varsity wrestling.  He won the Conference, Regional, and Sectional. He matched his sophomore success his junior year, then went on and placed 4th in the State, our first 285 All-Stater in 31 years. His senior year, he injured his shoulder late in the football season and needed to have reconstructive surgery just before the winter break. It was going to keep him from participating in wrestling from that point on.

   But even though the football team’s season went through the first week of the wrestling season as they won the State Championship, David was in practice the next Monday ready to go. We had Stevenson in a dual that Thursday and he wanted to be in the lineup. As it was, he couldn’t get the doctor’s clearance and never got to wrestle a match. But he kept practicing up to his shoulder surgery, helping Jack Danilkowicz who would take his 285 spot. After the surgery, he continued to come in to practices to give support to the upper weight wrestlers and always supported us in the meets.

   As a football player, David was an All-State offensive tackle. He earned a football scholarship to Michigan. He was a top shot putter for the Track team although he wasn’t able to compete his senior year because of the shoulder injury. He went on to play 4 years for Michigan, plus a redshirt year. He was a two year starter at guard and center.

His benefit to the Libertyville Athletic program went far beyond just his success. He was a great teammate, always supportive, always hard working. He was very coachable as well as a good sport while competing. He was a great role model for how younger athletes should carry themselves.

2002: Mike Lopez

.  Mike was a 4 year varsity starter in wrestling. He was the starting 103 his freshman year, 112 as a sophomore, 119 as a junior, and 130 as a senior. He was a 4 time Regional Champion. He was 4 time All-Conference, winning the title 3 times. He went downstate 3 years, winning the Sectional title as a Senior. He finished in the final 8 of the state his senior year, missing All-State honors by one match. He won the Mental Toughness Award his junior and senior years.

   Mike was very active in off-season wrestling. He was named either the “Outstanding Off-Season Wrestler” or “Co-Outstanding Off-Season Wrestler” in each of his 3 high school off-seasons. He placed 4th in the Frosh-Soph State Championships as a freshman.

   Mike¹s freshman year in school he was also a football and a baseball player. He gave up football his sophomore year but ran 3 years of Cross-Country. He didn’t go out for Baseball any more as he was so active in Spring Wrestling. But his Freshmen year “Outstanding Off-Season Wrestler” award came while he played Freshmen Baseball.

   Although just out for two sports, and not being a starter in cross country, Mike won the award because of the admiration everyone had for his work ethic, because of the sacrifices he made in wrestling with his weight to make our teams tougher, and because he was such a good teammate.

He went to Luther College and wrestled for their team. He was a 3 time NCAA Division III Qualifier, 4th as a junior, and National Champion as a senior. He coached for two years as a volunteer on the LHS Wrestling staff. He is currently coaching with Concordia University (WI) while working as an accountant.

2000: Chris Heerdegen

.  Chris got a late start to high school athletics. He didn’t go out for a sport during the first two sport seasons his freshman year. He wasn’t very physically developed and didn’t think he would have any success. He went out for track (shot and discus) in the spring, mostly to help build himself up physically. It was there he found out how good it felt to a) get stronger, b) get in shape, c) be on a high school team. The weight lifting he did in track freshman year became a passion. He didn’t skip another weight workout the rest of his high school career. And by his senior year, it showed (actually sooner).

   He went out for Football his sophomore year. He had some success and figured he’d try wrestling as well. Again, he did have some success, winning 6 JV matches. Had he not developed so much physically, he would have had a tough time winning anything. Before graduating, he became an All-Conference Center in Football. He was an All-Conference and Sectional Qualifying 189 pounder in Wrestling. Track actually became his 3rd sport as he didn’t make the Regional starting lineup.

   The Class of 2000 had some outstanding one or two sport athletes. Although Chris’s two All-Conference performances would have put him in contention, the fact that he had developed himself so much, he was such a hard worker, and he was a contributing team member in his 3rd sport (Track) even though he wasn’t a varsity starter is what put him over the top.

1991: Mike Baumann

.  Mike was a 3 sport athlete his entire high school career. He played Freshmen Football and started as an A team Defensive back. But at 5’4”, his future in that sport didn’t look good. He was one of the top freshmen wrestlers his first year but didn’t get any varsity time. He ran the mile in track in the spring.

   He eventually switched to Cross Country in the fall and was one of the top 7 varsity runners the next 3 years, All-Conference twice. He was a three-time wrestling starter, three-time All-Conference, a three-time Sectional Qualifier, a two-time State Wrestling Qualifier while winning the 119 pound State championship his senior year.  Track was his 3rd sport but he was always one of the starting milers. He won the Newsom going away considering all his accomplishments, competing in 3 sports, being a great teammate in all of his sports, as well as being a top student.

   Mike wrestled for a year at Northwestern University. He became a college professor in Psychology. He is currently teaching at the University of Texas-San Antonio.

1988: Brian Paramski

.  Brian was a top notch grade school athlete in Football, Basketball, and  Baseball. In high school he did 4 years of football, switched from junior high basketball to wrestling as a freshman, and played two years of baseball.

He had 4 very good years of LHS Football and was two-time All- Conference. He switched to Wrestling because of his obvious talent and the fact that his older brother Walt was a 1976 State Qualifier. Brian was a 3 year Varsity starter, two time State Qualifier, and an All-Stater placing 4th his senior year.

Brian was a Baseball starter his first two years of high school. But after his junior year, he figured if he was going to ever earn All-State honors in Wrestling, he had to make up experience he lost not being a Junior High wrestler. He decided to not play Baseball his junior year. He got totally involved in Spring Wrestling, competing in around 60 matches his junior spring. He won the State Greco-Roman tournament and won 3 matches in the National Greco-Roman tournament. He wrestled one year at Illinois State University. Brian is the uncle of 2005 Wildcat All-State wrestler Dave Paramski.

1981: Pat Gilmore

   This wasn’t a tight race. Pat was a 3 sport athlete his entire high school career; Football, Wrestling, and Track. He was a two year starter in each sport; a fullback in Football, two time All-Conference in Wrestling and a Regional Champion, and a two time All-Conference sprinter in Track. He was a quiet guy but a very reliable and well-liked team member in all 3 sports.

1979: Dan Shannon

.  Wrestling was Dan’s 3rd sport. He was a runner, one of the teams top runners in both Cross-Country and Track. He went out for Wrestling for a couple of reasons; he liked it and he figured in order to stay in shape for Track, it didn’t matter if he ran or wrestled, they would both keep him in shape.

He was a great teammate and hard nosed competitor in Wrestling despite not having a tremendous amount of talent for the sport. Although he didn’t get All-Conference honors, and he placed 3rd in the Regionals (back when they only took the top 2 placers to Sectionals), his teammates showed their appreciation for his efforts as he was named the team’s “Most Valuable Wrestler” at the end of the season. This was in spite of the fact that there were two State Qualifiers on the team. The Newsom award was a tight race in 1979. A couple of finalists earned All-State honors. The fact that Dan was willing to try wrestling even though he didn’t have the success in it he had in running, that he had a much admired work ethic, and that he was one of the top students in his class was the difference in him earning the award.

1974: Dale Eggert

.  Dale was a 3 sport athlete, competing in football and baseball along with wrestling.

Despite not wrestling until freshmen year, wrestling was Dale’s best sport. He was a 3 year Conference Champion, a 3 year Regional Champion, a two year Sectional Champion, and a state runnerup senior year.  He finished his career with a 96-18 varsity record.

In baseball, Dale was two time All-Conference at 3rd base. He was a backup defensive back in football. All 3 of the teams he played on won the Conference titles his senior year.

He wrestled 4 years for Southern Illinois University-Carbondale.  He became a wrestling coach at Libertyville out of high school, starting his 46th year in 2024, his 37th as head coach.

1971: Dan Holm

.  Dan was a 3 sport athlete, competing in football and baseball along with wrestling.

   Dan became a varsity starter in wrestling halfway through his sophomore year and took 3rd in the conference. As a junior he took 3rd in the state, LHS’s first wrestling All-Stater. He went 37-0 as a senior in winning the 145 pound state champion.

   He was an All-Conference center in football. He played 3 years of baseball but lost his senior year.  He was declared ineligible due to participating in an All-Star wrestlijg meet against Pennsylvania at the start of the baseball season, something that would be fine to do today.

   Dan went to the University of Iowa, becoming a 4 year starter, 4 year NCAA Qualifier, 3rd in the NCAA's his sophomore and junior year, while winning the 158 pound title as a senior.  He was a team captain on the 1975 Iowa team, the first Iowa team of many to win the NCAA title.

1962: Tom Thompson

.  Tom was a 3 sport athlete, competing in football and track along with wrestling. 

   In wrestling Tom was a 3 time Sectional Qualifier. He was a running back in football. In track, Tom was a 4 year varsity letter winner in the pole vault, setting the school record his senior year.

1958: Roger Evans

.  Roger was a 3 sport athlete. He was a running back in football. In track he was the team's top sprinter in the 440 yard dash. In wrestling, he was the 155 pound starter. He finished 3rd in the conference. 1958 was the third year for LHS wrestling. They took last in the conference in 1956 and 1957. Due to the work of Roger and his 1958 LHS Wrestling teammates, they were able to take 2nd in the 1958 Conference.