All-league, all-state honors roll in for Wildcat soccer

By Andy Brown
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Updated: November 22, 2017

Andy Brown / Louisburg Sports Zone

Louisburg senior Grant Ryals had a special season for the Wildcats and he was recognized for that as he earned first team All-Frontier League and all-state honors.

Winning its first Frontier League title since 2010 certainly has its perks for the Louisburg High School boys soccer team.

Maybe the biggest for the Wildcats is the recognition they received when the All-Frontier League teams were released earlier this month. Louisburg earned seven spots between the three teams and the Wildcats put four players on the first team.

Seniors Grant Ryals, Ambrose Stefan, junior Brock Bila and sophomore Landon Johnson were all named first team all-league and senior Kris Light was named to the second team. Senior Scott Murphy and sophomore Ryan Haight were selected as honorable mentions.

Although the Wildcats were league champions, De Soto led the way with eight all-league selections and Louisburg followed with seven.

“Being league champions is a fantastic honor,” Louisburg coach Kyle Conley said. “It just shows how good of a team we were, especially because of all the parody within our league. We were consistent and did our job each and every night. They boys worked their butts off and earned this.

“The all-league honors were fantastic. None of those young men though would have earned honors without their teammates. Their teammates made it possible for them to be honored. The boys that were honored did deserve this and had great seasons. I think getting four kids first team all-league shows how special of a season we had.”

Senior goalie Ambrose Stefan was named to the All-Frontier League and all-state first teams after recording 80 saves on the season.

The honors for the Wildcats didn’t stop there as the Kansas Soccer Coaches Association all-state teams were released Sunday. Ryals and Stefan were named to the Class 4-1A all-state first team, while Bila and Johnson were given second team honors. Light was selected to the honorable mention team.

Ryals led the Wildcats from the midfield spot all season. Although he finished the year with seven goals and 11 assists, he did a lot for Louisburg to get the attack started and was a vital player as a defensive midfielder.

“Grant started every game for us this year,” Conley said. “He was our only returning captain from the previous season. He played nearly every minute of every game for us. He is our best player and our leader. He did a nice job of getting our possession started and his vision of the field is exceptional.”

As for Stefan, the Wildcat goalie thrived in the net as he ended the regular season with 80 saves and gave up just 17 goals – five of which were on penalty kicks.

“Ambrose picked up where he left off last year,” Conley said. “He is an individual who would work countless hours to improve his craft. His defense did a fantastic job to limit those opportunities, but he came up big when he needed to.”

Junior Brock Bila led Louisburg with 20 goals on the season from the forward spot and was named all-league first team and second team all-state.

Bila, who transferred to Louisburg last December, made a big impact for the Wildcats at the forward spot as he led the team with 20 goals on to go along with five assists.

Johnson also gave the Wildcats consistent play from the midfield position as he set up a lot of the Louisburg scores. Johnson finished with a team-high 15 assists to go along with six goals.

“Brock was a transfer player that moved in last December,” Conley said. “He struggled at first to figure out our system of play and expectations. He has had a decent year and has a high work rate. Brock is a fantastic young man.

“Landon is a very talented young player with exceptional skill. His vision and creativity is second to none. He replaced Noah Juarez off of last year’s team, and he made us more dangerous as a team with his vision.”

Junior midfielder Landon Johnson had a team-high 15 assists for the Wildcats and was named first team all-league and second team all-state.

Louisburg’s defense also received recognition as Light was second team all-league from his centerback spot, while Murphy (outside back) and Haight (defensive midfielder) found a spot on honorable mention.

It was a defense that allowed just 19 goals on the season.

“Kris was a forward before last year,” Conley said. “I made him a centerback and he had a nice season. This year he was voted captain by his teammates and was our leader in the back. Kris won almost every 50/50 tackle and about every ball in the air. More impressive to me, he would look to find feet with his passes and allowed our team to attack.

Senior Kris Light (12) played a big role on defense for Louisburg as he earned second team all-league and honorable mention all-state for his efforts.

“Ryan is clearly our most improved player. He got on a club team after last season and has gotten 1,000 times better. He plays with the highest work rate of anyone on our team. He was responsible typically for defending your team’s most talented offensive player and he excelled.

“Scott was absolutely a shutdown outside back for us,” Conley said. “He played so hard and bailed us out tremendously on balls played to the side. He make countless goal saving tackles. Of the goals we have given up as a team, Scott was responsible for only three. He did a fantastic job, and I would argue that he could be the best outside back in our league.”