Keep an eye on these 25 Mid-Penn boys in 2025

Out with the old year, in with the new.

As we say goodbye to 2024, we wave hello to 2025, as well as all the returning talent in the Mid-Penn Conference spanning the entire calendar.

This past year ended strongly for the Mid-Penn with five fall PIAA champions in Bishop McDevitt football, Cumberland Valley boys soccer, Trinity girls volleyball, West Perry field hockey and Mifflin Countys Carter Smith as a cross country state gold medalist.

Sign up for PennLives daily high school sports newsletter Thats a lot of success in in just the last couple months alone.

And with the new year brings a slew of standouts from those programs and more.

As we settle into 2025, we take a look at 25 male athletes in the Mid-Penn who can very well find their way to making plenty more headlines, and perhaps lead their teams to success this year.

Camden Baum School: Bishop McDevitt Sport: Wrestling Class: Junior Buzz: Baum, a Purdue University commit, came within a hair breath of a state wrestling title in 2024 as a sophomore, taking returning state champion Brandt Harer of Montgomery into overtime in the 133-pound championship final before falling in the second tiebreaker.

Baum is a big favorite to return to compete for the 139-pound state crown in 2025 with a 14-2 record to date.

Jimmy Bell School: James Buchanan Sport: Baseball, Basketball Class: Senior Buzz: The Campbell University signee was the Mid-Penn Colonial MVP this past spring after leading the conference with a .517 batting average.

Bell homered nine times, scored 30 runs and drove in another 30 runs to power the Rockets to their first District 3 victory since 1986.

Kevin Brown School: Harrisburg Sport: Football Class: Junior Buzz: While the Penn State recruit was out with injury for most of the 2024 season, Brown returned to action in the postseason and made an immediate impact at offensive tackle to help steer his Cougars to a fourth straight District 3 6A title.

As the the top-ranked recruit in Pennsylvanias Class of 2026 per Rivals.com and No.

67 on the ESPN Junior 300, Brown is one of the top players in the country and is every bit determined to remind the masses when he returns for his senior season.

Nolan Buzalka School: Cumberland Valley Sport: Basketball Class: Senior Buzz: Buzalka averaged 13.4 points per game last year as he spearheaded the Eagles efforts to the Giant Center where they hoisted their first District 3 6A trophy in program history.

Having led the Mid-Penn in rebounds and finishing third in assists last year, the time to check out Buzalka in his senior campaign is now, especially with Cumberland Valley all but guaranteed a postseason berth once more.

Nico Chirieleison School: Trinity Sport: Lacrosse Year: Senior Buzz: Chirieleison, a Mount St, Mary's University commit, is one of the strong leaders of the Trinity boys lacrosse program.

Chirieleison was named a 2024 Central PA lacrosse All-American and PennLives 2024 Boys Lacrosse Player of the Year after a junior season that saw him score 157 total points 113 goals and 34 assists.

Elias Coke School: Harrisburg Sport: Football Class: Junior Buzz: Theres no doubt what Coke can do lined up at receiver, having pulled down 50 catches for 968 yards and 10 touchdowns this season, averaging 69.1 yards per game.

But as a defensive back, Coke was in on 47 tackles and five interceptions to help lead the Cougars to a fourth straight District 3 6A title.

With a deep offer sheet that includes Penn State, Florida State, Kentucky, Pitt and much more, Coke is one of the top prospects in the country, being ranked 149 overall in the country on the ESPN Jr.

300.

Asher Cunningham School: State College Sport: Wrestling Class: Senior Buzz: Cunningham, a Penn State University commit, fashioned a 37-1 record as a junior and won the PIAA state wrestling championship at 160 pounds.

Cunningham is off to a flying start in his bid to repeat atop the GIant Center podium with an 18-2 mark and has not lost to a Pennsylvania-based wrestler in two seasons.

Wayne Fletcher II School: Central Dauphin Sport: Basketball Class: Senior Buzz: With the Rams sitting at No.

1 in the District 3 6A power rankings, now is as good a time as any to go watch Fletcher II do his thing.

An all-state honoree last year, Fletcher II led the Mid-Penn in steals with 79 and finished top 20 in rebounding and 3-pointers, and top 10 in blocks to go along with an 18.7 point per game average.

Its that same level of production that has Central Dauphin red-hot this season.

Sam Huggins School: State College Sport: Swimming Class: Senior Buzz: A UNC pledge and reigning PennLive Boys Swimmer of the Year, Huggins was the PIAA 3A runner-up in both the 200 and 500 freestyles and was also the Mid-Penn and District 6 3A champion in both events.

The fourth man in a Little Lions quartet that produced an eighth-place state medal in the 400 free relay, Huggins also posted top-three times in six events throughout the entire Mid-Penn last year: 46.68 in the 100 free (third), 1:38.05 in the 200 free (first), 4:23.95 in the 500 free (first), 24.44 in the 50 back (first), 52.42 in the 100 back (second) and 1:55.43 in the 200 IM (third).

Huggins is the No.

6 ranked swimmer in Pennsylvanias Class of 2025 per SwimCloud.

Nazir Jones-Davis School: Bishop McDevitt Sport: Football Class: Junior Buzz: The 6-foot, 180-pound running back pumped out 1,657 rushing yards and 18 touchdowns en route to a PIAA 5A title for the Crusaders.

Jones-Davis averaged 143.5 yards over six postseason weeks, including 221 against WPIAL champion Pine-Richland in the state semifinals.

As a linebacker on defense, Jones-Davis was in on 94 tackles.

JJ Kelly School: Chambersburg Sport: Basketball Class: Senior Buzz: One of Pennsylvanias top athletes as a multi state champion jumper in track and field who wielded Division I offers for football, the Ohio commit is with his bread and butter on the hardwood.

Having led the Trojans to a District 6 6A runner-up finish last season, Kelly finished fourth in the Mid-Penn in scoring, averaging 21.6 points per game while finishing eighth in the league in rebounds, top 20 in assists and steals and top 10 in blocks.

Oh, and hes a dunk machine, too.

Tyler Merrill School: Cumberland Valley Sport: Football Class: Junior Buzz: Holding 25 Division I offers as the No.

1 ranked recruit in Pennsylvanias Class of 2026 by ESPN and No.

2 per Rivals.com , Merrill puts his nickname Big Oak to good use in the trenches for his Eagles.

On top of his 6-foot-6, 320-pound frame, Merrill is a dominant run blocker with a quick first step as one of the top players in the nation.

Messiah Mickens School: Harrisburg Sport: Football Class: Junior Buzz: The 5-foot-11, 205-pound Penn State pledge rushed for 1,214 yards and 21 touchdowns this past season to go along with 235 receiving yards and two touchdowns, while also emerging as a standout pass rusher with 16.5 sacks, 39 tackles-for-loss and 81 tackles while garnering Pa.

Gatorade Player of the Year and PennLive Defensive Player of the Year honors.

Greyson Music School: Bishop McDevitt Sport: Wrestling Class: Sophomore Buzz: Music fashioned 40 wins as a freshman and made an amazing run to the 121-pound PIAA 2A state championship bout at Giant Center as a freshman and finished runner-up to three-time state champion Aaron Seidel of Northern Lebanon.

Danny Nelson School: Hershey Sport: Baseball Class: Senior Buzz: A Clemson-bound pitcher, Nelson finished 5-2 on the mound last spring, collecting 70 strikeouts over 49 1/3 innings.

While his 0.99 ERA was among the best in the Mid-Penn last year, he was invaluable for the Trojans offensively with a .328 clip, eight doubles, three home runs and 20 runs scored.

Lex Radosavljevic School: Cumberland Valley Sport: Soccer Class: Junior Buzz: Radosavljevic was named PennLives Player of the Year after captaining a defense that held opposing teams to one or fewer goals in 23 of the Eagles last 24 games en route to a PIAA 4A title, the programs first state championship.

In the state final, Radosavljevic made a season-saving play at the goal line against District 11 champion Parkland after being the glue of the state champions back line all year.

Owen Schlager School: Trinity Sport: Basketball Class: Senior Buzz: After helping the Shamrocks reach the PIAA 3A semifinals as a sophomore, the 6-foot-3 combo guard put together a junior campaign in which he averaged 23.7 points per game and 30-point showings in almost all of his postseason games en route to District 3 final and state second-round appearances.

As PennLives reigning Player of the Year, Schlager is well worth the price of admission during his senior season.

Kaden Schoenly School: Cumberland Valley Sport: Baseball Class: Senior Buzz: A University of Louisville signee, the southpaw went 3-2 and secured a 2.52 ERA and 54 strikeouts in 41 1/3 innings for the Eagles last season.

With the bat in his hands, Schoenly finished with a .394 average with 10 extra-base hits and a team-best 26 RBIs.

He struck out just five times in 81 plate appearances.

Jasper Shepps School: Juniata Sport: Football Class: Junior Buzz: Juniata has pieced together a remarkable stretch of five straight District 6 4A football titles, and Shepps has been a major architect in what the Indians have been building in that time.

This past season, Shepps pulled down 55 receptions for 933 yards and 14 touchdowns as a receiver, and at safety, he was in on 47 tackles with eight interceptions the most in the Mid-Penn.

Carter Smith School: Mifflin County Sport: Cross country, Track and Field Class: Junior Buzz: Smith, PennLives Boys Cross Country Runner of the Year, was already a decorated 800-meter specialist in indoor and outdoor track before deciding to give cross country a shot.

Smith won the PIAA 3A state title over the Parkview Course at Hershey, covering the distance in 15:41.

Smiths triumphs this season included the District 6 championship, the Big Valley Invitational, the Kutztown Invitational, the Altoona Mountain Lion Invitational title and the Paul Short Invitational.

Josh Smith School: Mechanicsburg Sport: Basketball Class: Senior Buzz: A Princeton football commit, Smith still has gas in the tank on the court in his final year of varsity.

Smith became Mechanicsburgs all-time leading scorer during the Clarion Classic, surpassing Talia Gilliards previous record of 1,292 career points.

Having won the District 3 5A title last year and being bumped up to 6A classification, the Wildcats are an exciting group with one of the Mid-Penns top athletes in its nucleus.

Chayse Snyder School: Cumberland Valley Sport: Soccer Class: Junior Buzz: Another major cog in the Eagles state title-winning machine will be returning to the pitch for his senior season in 2025.

The Keystone FC 07B Premier products 18 goals and seven assists led the Eagles scoring department, and he facilitated the PIAA 4A title-winning goal to cap the best season in program history in storybook fashion on their own field.

Hunter Strohm School: Lower Dauphin Sport: Baseball, Football Class: Junior Buzz: Strohm committed to the University of Virginia before the first swing of a bat in his varsity career and this past spring, he hit .420 with a Mid-Penn-best 12 doubles, six triples and four home runs.

He also scored 26 runs and drove in 23.

As a 6-foot-2, 210-pound linebacker on the gridiron, Strohm led the Falcons with a team-high 112 tackles, including 20 tackles-for-loss.

Gavin Tran School: Hershey Sport: Swimming Class: Junior Buzz: Tran nearly earned a PIAA 3A medal last season at 10th place in the 100 breast as the No.

6 ranked swimmer in Pennsylvanias Class of 2026.

He did earn Mid-Penn silver medals in the 100 breast, 200 IM and 200 medley relay, and placed sixth in the Trojans 400 free relay unit.

In the District 3 3A championships, Tran secured bronze in the 200 IM, fourth in the 100 breast and fifth in the 200 medley relay.

Tran currently owns top-three times in the Mid-Penn for the 500 freestyle (4:49.34, third), 50 breast (26.95, first), 100 breast (56.63, first) and 200 IM (1:53.71, first) this season.

Ryland Yinger School: Northern Sport: Basketball, Baseball Class: Senior Buzz: The 6-foot-3 big man has been averaging over 20 points per game for the Polar Bears on the hardwood, so hes been heating up this winter.

But when hes back in the outfield and on the diamond this spring, the East Stroudsburg recruit will look to follow up a super consistent junior campaign in which he hit at a .431 clip and collected 11 runs, 16 RBIs with six doubles and a pair of home runs to go with11 stolen bases.

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