NorthWood senior Payton Bear earned a $1,000 scholarship at the Moose Krause Scholar-Athlete Dinner in South Bend Wednesday night.

SOUTH BEND – The best of the best.

That was the case Wednesday night at the Moose Krause Memorial 45th Annual Scholar-Athlete Dinner held at the St. Hedwig Memorial Center.

The annual event, named in honor of the former Notre Dame director of athletics, paid tribute to some of the brightest minds from the high school football fields across the region.

An amazing group of 44 prep senior student-athletes from across the area were saluted with Scholar-Athlete awards for their performances both on the field, but more importantly in the classroom and in their communities.

The list of athletes honored included Warsaw senior Zach Riley, along with the Triton duo of Matthew Hefner and Drew Stichter.

Riley, the son of Tony and Ingrid Riley, was a wide receiver and defensive back for coach Phil Jensen. He had over 500 receiving yards and five touchdowns in his career to go with 10 interceptions and 24 pass breakups. He was a first-team All-NLC pick and a team captain his senior season. He also played basketball for coach Doug Ogle’s Tigers.

Hefner, the son of Jason and Jennifer Hefner, played center for coach Ron Brown. He ranks 10th in his senior class at Triton and plans to study Studio Art at Indiana State University.

Stichter, the son of Tim and Evelyn Stichter, played tight end and linebacker for coach Brown. He had five touchdowns receiving to go with 64 tackles his senior season and was named to the IFCA and AP All-State teams. Stichter, who ranks sixth in his class, also played basketball for the Trojans. He plans to attend Bethel College to study Mechanical Engineering.

Notre Dame Associate Head Football Coach Mike Elston was the Keynote Speaker.

The list of Scholar Athletes also included NorthWood High School standouts Payton Bear and Micah Lehman. Both played for coach Nate Andrews with Bear playing running back and linebacker and Lehman playing offensive tackle. Lehman, the son of Alan and Melissa Lehman, was Al-NLC as both a junior and a senior and a team captain this past season.

Bear, the son of Paul and Lisa Bear, also earned a $1,000 scholarship from the Krause Chapter, which gives out $16,000 annually at the event. Bear, who is also a standout on the NorthWood baseball team, ranks first in his class.

The other Scholar-Athletes included Dominic Appleton (South Bend St. Joseph),  Michael Bocker (Culver Academy), Austin Bontrager (Goshen), Austin Brandenburger (Fairfield), Alec Breiler (South Bend Adams), Kooper Brocker (Knox), Carson Deal (Northridge), Dawson Demien (Concord), Liam Driscoll (South Bend Adams), Isaiah Evans (Mishawaka), Alex Faulkner (Mishawaka), Reese Gardner (Niles), Damon Germano (Mishawaka), Michael Godfrey (South Bend St. Joseph), Jacob Good (LaVille), Tecory Gordon (South Bend Clay), Josh Holsopple (South Central) and Timothy Hostetler (Fairfield),

Also honored were Jacob Kaiser (Ekhart Central), Aiden Kendall (South Bend Riley), William Kuhl (Culver Academy), Nate LaFree (Plymouth), Isaiah McWilliams (South Bend Washington), James Morris (Penn), Jack Murphy (Mishawaka Marian), Carrington Neal (Penn), Patrick Piesyk (New Prairie), Cody Russell (Culver), Grant Seaburg (LaPorte), Tyler Seroczynski (Mishawaka Marian), Michael Shetler (Fairfield), Ethan Shuman (Culver), Kevin Sibal (Concord), Payton Skirvin (Plymouth), Jake Thode (LaPorte), Bryce Track (Jimtown), Mason Troyer (Northridge), Austin Weiland (New Prairie) and Trevor Weiss (John Glenn).

Hostetler of Fairfield earned the largest scholarship from the Moose Krause chapter, a $2,000 one. Hostetler, the son of Trent and Cindy Hostetler, was a linebacker for coach Bob Miller’s Falcons. He ranks first in his class with a 4.0 GPA and led his team in tackles each of the past two seasons and also played golf for four years. He is active in National Honor Society, Student Council, 4-H and plans to attend IUPUI and study Biomedical Engineering.

William Kuhl of Culver Academy and Grant Seaburg of LaPorte were recipients of $500 scholarships from the Krause chapter.

The Keynote Speaker for the program was Notre Dame associate head football coach/defensive line coach Mike Elston. Elston, who played linebacker at Michigan, has been on the Irish coaching staff since 2010.

The dinner was emceed by Bob Nagle, the Sports/Marketing Director for WHME-TV and Lesea Broadcasting. Nagle has emceed the event for more than 25 years.

Matthew Hefner of Triton.

Timothy Hostetler of Fairfield.

Drew Stichter of Triton.

Zach Riley of Warsaw.