MIDDLEBURG - A third football playoff berth, a shortened defense of a state titles in both volleyball and softball, and a possible state wrestling title coming highlighted the athletes signed by Middleburg High School ato National Signing Day on February 5.
Led by football defensive tackle B.J Carter's signature on a national letter of intent to play at Iowa State University next fall, the Broncos program has blossomed into a factory of next-level athletics behind a plethora of coaches that have pushed their sports to believing in state titles on campus. Iowa State football finished at 11-3 in 2024 with a Pop Tarts Bowl win over Miami, 42-41.
Also for football coach Ryan Wolfe, all around athlete Jaden Boyd, a defensive back and running back for the Broncos, signed to NCAA Div. I University of Tennessee-Martin, a team that made the second round of playoffs and finished as 17th and 18th in two final rankings for the NCAA Football Championship Subdivision.
Carter and Boyd as his two major signees, Wolfe was not finished as wide receiver Joel Lowe is headed to Stetson University in Deland with multiple position athlete Mason Zwilling headed to Monmouth College in NCAA Div. III in Illinois.
Wolfe's prowess in landing major football scholarships is evident with two running backs playing big college football; West Florida's T.J. Lane and University of Utah's Mike Mitchell.
As one of the more prominent athletic programs in all of Florida, Middleburg's volleyball team now has a handful of volleyball standouts to go NCAA Division I in the past two years as 2024 state champion coach Meredith Forkum had the distinct honor of watching her daughter, Brooke, accept a scholarship to play at Troy University next fall. Forkum's championship pedigree already has the two Rahn sisters; former standouts and also state champion team members with Forkum, Connor and Camden, at the college game.
Forkum's excitement maker on the court; setter and banger Olivia Callipo, signed to go to University of South Carolina-Upstate University.
For softball coach Ashley Houston, the architect of Middleburg's first state title team in 2022, the winning keeps coming and the athletes keep getting better with senior K.K. Hagan, an infielder with a big bat, earning a close-to-home scholarship at Jacksonville University and senior pitcher Lily Bennett set to play at also-nearby Florida State College-Jacksonville.
Just north of the border, powerhitter Kerra Clarida is set to play at Georgia Southern University while speed-merchant Mika Wesley, a centerfielder, signed to Bethune Cookman University in Daytona Beach.
Houston has a handful of NCAA Division I players including last year's top pitcher, Morgan Beckham, currently at Bowling Green University.
In wrestling, where coach Coll Robertson put the Bronco wrestling team into the region duals finals just two weeks ago, a first for the program, senior Wyatt Leduc is considered a top contender for a state title run in a month and, as such, earned a scholarship to wrestle next fall at Arcadia University in Pennsylvania and in NCAA Div. III. Arcadia just hired a new coach this past summer.
In baseball, Michael Gunson signed with Owens Community College in Ohio with teammate Nathan Austin traveling north to New Hampshire Concord Technical Institute.