Northwest Wayne News

The Wayne State University football team is set to play its second consecutive road game as it travels to face the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse at Veterans Memorial Field Sports Complex. After two losses to start the season, the Warriors are seeking their first win.

This marks Wayne State’s first trip to Wisconsin since 1972, when the then-Tartars lost to Wisconsin-Milwaukee. The last time WSU played at Wisconsin-La Crosse was in 1967, a game highlighted by quarterback A.J. Vaughn’s 555 yards of total offense.

Wisconsin-La Crosse began its 2025 campaign ranked ninth in Division III and opened with a 38-14 victory over No. 18 Carnegie Mellon. Head coach Matt Janus is in his sixth year with a record of 38-11 and has twice been named WIAC Coach of the Year. Quarterback Kyle Haas led UWL in its opener with 272 passing yards and three touchdowns, completing 75 percent of his passes and adding 40 rushing yards.

UWL’s top receivers include Jack Janke, who had seven catches for 107 yards and a touchdown, and Keaton Arendt, who added six receptions for 70 yards and one score. Running back Gabe Lynch carried the ball for 69 yards against Carnegie Mellon after earning First Team All-Region honors last season with over 1,000 rushing yards.

On defense, senior Tate Pitcher is UWL’s leading returning tackler. Seven Eagles recorded three tackles each in their opening game; Sal Balistrieri led with three solo stops. Three players—Sam Baumgard, Henry Walsh, and Trent Mullen—each had an interception against Carnegie Mellon.

Special teams duties are handled by Michael Stack (PATs/kickoffs) and Maddox Pratt (field goals), while Ethan Tranel averaged nearly 42 yards per punt in the opener.

Wayne State fell to UWL at home during their only previous meeting in 2022 by a score of 28-21. In that contest, current Warrior captain Elijah Fowlkes recorded two interceptions, returning one for a touchdown.

Redshirt freshman Drew Hickmott leads Wayne State receivers through two games with eight catches for 115 yards and one touchdown. He ranks among conference leaders in both receptions per game and receiving yardage per contest.

Defensively, redshirt junior Will Fennema has collected nine tackles so far this season—including four-and-a-half tackles for loss—and ranks fourth in the GLIAC for tackles behind the line of scrimmage.

Linebacker Logan McGraw has made an immediate impact since joining WSU this year; he registered twelve tackles against Tiffin along with multiple forced fumbles and continued strong play at Findlay. His average tackles for loss rank second nationally among Division II players.

Senior safety Elijah Fowlkes secured his fifth career interception last week at Findlay while also contributing six tackles and a pass break-up.

Of the fifty-eight players who saw action in Wayne State's season opener versus Tiffin, twenty-eight were returners from previous seasons while seventeen made their collegiate debut that day; five more debuted at Findlay.

The Warriors’ roster includes seventy-five newcomers this year out of a total squad size of one hundred twenty-seven athletes from fifteen states plus Ontario. The coaching staff features seven new hires including four full-time coaches; Mustafa Khaleefah was promoted to Tight Ends Coach from graduate assistant status.

Wayne State games will be broadcast on FloSports as part of the new Warrior Sports Network initiative featuring veteran broadcaster Sean Baligian as play-by-play announcer alongside analysts Brady Beedon or Kevin Brechmacher depending on schedule; Tony Ortiz will serve as sideline reporter during home games. This Saturday's matchup can be streamed via wiacnetwork.com/uwlacrosse.

According to the GLIAC preseason coaches' poll released ahead of this season, Wayne State was picked sixth out of eight teams.

Last year WSU played what was considered one of Division II’s toughest schedules based on opponents’ winning percentages—a trend continuing into this season as they again face several highly-ranked squads including Ferris State (No.1), Grand Valley State (No.3), Saginaw Valley State (No.31), Findlay (No.38), Davenport (No.40), plus Division III No.10-ranked Wisconsin-La Crosse.

Family connections run deep within this year's team: there are three sets of brothers currently on roster along with several players whose parents have notable football backgrounds.

Head coach Tyrone Wheatley hosts “Weekly with Wheatley,” a podcast taped before each home game featuring interviews with assistant coaches and student-athletes; episodes are available on the Wayne State Athletics website.