CLINTON – Whenever an athlete changes teams, there is usually an adjustment period where both parties acclimatize to the other.
For Clinton’s Ryan Tschirhart, there really wasn’t much from Lenawee’s Christian boys’ football team to Clinton’s after his family moved to Clinton between the 2020 and 2021 school years.
“It was something that I thought was very, very difficult,” he said. “I thought it would be a really tough transition leaving everything I knew because I was at LCS Kindergarten to Grade 10. I thought it would be a tough transition, but from the moment I set foot in Clinton, I was accepted by the coaching staff, my teammates and everyone.
Stepping into his first full-time high school starting role on the newly renamed Redwolves in 2021 in the Lenawee County Athletic Association, Tschirhart found himself a top threat to head coach Marla Erickson as teams had to stop. Tschirhart.
“(Ryan) was phenomenal. Coming from the LCS to play for Clinton, we play differently and have a different style (than the LCS), but he really bonded with the team and they accepted him as family, ”said Erickson,“ c this is how I build my program. He took them that way too and they synced up well. He knows he needs Brandon Mannlein, his defenders, midfielders and outside attackers to actually play, so he’s a good team player.
Although teams had to try and slow him down, it didn’t work out much for most of the season as he was the only player to break the 20-goal mark in Lenawee County in 2021, scoring 30 goals. for the Redwolves in their 19 games played this season.
For his efforts in 2021, Tschirhart was named Lenawee County Boys’ Football Player of the Year, as selected by the Daily Telegram sports team.
“It’s amazing because there are so many deserving people that it could have happened any way,” Tschirhart said. “There are so many great talent in this country, a ton of great people. I knew playing in the LCAA was going to be tough and there wouldn’t be easy games or guaranteed wins.
Entering this year, Tschirhart had to deal with a quad injury, but once he got started, the talent he had demonstrated was revealed.
He has scored multiple goals in games against Blissfield, Columbia Central, Ida, Leslie, Monroe Jefferson, Onsted, Three Rivers and Ypsilanti Arbor Prep, with his most impressive performance of the year in the regular season final against the Wildcats which ended in a 5-3 victory for the Redwolves.
Tschirhart scored all five goals for a best performance of the season, including a hat trick in the first 10 minutes and scored four first-half goals before adding an insurance goal in the second half for bring the score to 5-0 before Clinton fended off a late Onsted rally.
With a season under his belt with Clinton as a full-time starter, as well as the team he has around him coming back, the potential of another solid season for Tschirhart and the Redwolves is a very realistic possibility.
“We’re getting back a lot of guys who are key to our success and I’m really excited to see how our freshmen are developing,” Tschirhart said. “I think playing together this year and playing together at a high level will, overall, be really beneficial for us next year and hopefully we can have a race. We all wished we had a little more success this year given the success we’ve had in the regular season, but it’s just something we’ve learned, and it’s going to push us to be more motivated for next season.
Teams from all counties
First team
Ryan Tschirhart, Clinton
Brennen Goodrow, Onsted
Jacob Buchanan, Onsted
Aiden Smith, Adrien
Joey Spagnoli, Adrien
Jack Stamats, LCS
Cameron Kendall, Adrien
Sam Erickson, Clinton
Jacob McKelvey, LCS
Ryan Somsel, Tecumseh
TJ Rutter, LCS
Second team
Alex Brevoort, Blissfield
Merrik Gibson, Clinton
Cooper Adams, LCS
Alex Slaviero, Onsted
Samson Schaffner, Clinton
Wyatt, Malinczak, Onsted
Lincoln Lipinski, Onsted
Christian Orta, LCS
Max Hampel, Clinton
Brady Griffith, LCS
Brandon Mannlein, Clinton
Honorable mention
Brady Hanosh, Adrien
Gary Kemerer, Adrien
Bryce Holland, Blissfield
Asher Fernandes, LCS
Carter Smith, LCS
Jaxon Niese, LCS
Jaxson Vincent, Onsted
This article originally appeared on The Daily Telegram: Clinton’s Tschirhart Wins Lenawee County Football Player of the Year
