Staff photo by Ari Selvey BOLD’s Hudson Vosika (left), St. Peter’s Iris Elias (middle) and Springfield’s Gavin Vanderwerf (right) were selected as KNUJ’s Players of the Year for the fall season on Tuesday at the New Ulm Best Western Plus.

NEW ULM — The 60th Annual KNUJ Fall Player of the Year Event was held on Tuesday at the New Ulm Best Western Plus, with three area athletes being named as Players of the Year.

Iris Elias of St. Peter was selected as the Volleyball Player of the year. The Saints’ setter recorded 750 set assists this season, along with 233 digs, 60 kills, 23 blocks and 49 aces. For her career, Elias totaled a school-record 2,094 set assists. Also nominated for the award were New Ulm Cathedral’s Shay Wilfahrt, BOLD’s Layla Pfarr, Lake Crystal Wellcome Memorial’s Nettie Parsons, Wabasso’s Audrey Johnson, Cedar Mountain’s Cloey Wildt, Wabasso’s Alivia Olson, LCWM’s Allysen Mann, Buffalo Lake-Hector-Stewart’s Lily Hubin and Cleveland’s Savannah Meyer.

BOLD’s Hudson Vosika was named as the Offensive Football Player of the Year. The Warriors’ running back racked up 2,727 total yards of offense with 39 touchdowns, 29 on the ground. Vosika is also a finalist for the Minnesota Mr. Football Award this season. Also nominated were BOLD’s Jack Gross, Nicollet’s Henry Oscarson, Red Rock Central’s Carter Therkilsen, Cedar Mountain’s Carson Schiller, Cathedral’s Josh Bentler, Springfield’s Parker Kuehn, Cathedral’s Jake Finstad, St. Peter’s Ryan Moelter and New Ulm’s Zach Hubbard.

Springfield’s Gavin Vanderwerf was selected as the Defensive Player of the Year. Heading into the state semifinals, Vanderwerf has 109 total tackles with 16 tackles for loss and three interceptions with four passes deflected. Also nominated were Cedar Mountain’s Blake Steffl, Minnesota Valley Lutheran’s Caleb Hunter, Springfield’s Brayden Sturm, Cathedral’s Joe Gillis, BOLD’s Owen Flann, Cedar Mountain’s Jackson Guetter, BOLD’s Carson Serbus and Springfield’s Aiden Moriarty.