KFBCA Top 11: Wyatt Pedigo

The Kansas Football Coaches Association picked their All-State teams December 8th and 9th, including their Top 11. Kansas Pregame is providing capsules for each of the Top 11 selections.

Check out Hoisington senior Wyatt Pedigo's capsule below:

Wyatt Pedigo, RB/LB, 6-1, 215, Hoisington

Hoisington’s Wyatt Pedigo will go down as one of the most decorated two-way players in Kansas high school football history. 

His incredible numbers speak for themselves. In his four-year career, Pedigo rushed for 5,171 yards and 74 touchdowns. At linebacker, Pedigo recorded 348 tackles. Pedigo’s senior season was just as special as the rest of his career. On offense, Pedigo rushed for 2,352 yards and had 37 touchdowns. Defensively, he recorded 115 tackles.

In 11 of 12 games, Pedigo eclipsed the century mark rushing. Four times Pedigo ran for over 200 yards, including a season-high 290 rushing yards on Oct. 25 in a win at Norton. Pedigo led Hoisington to the Class 2A Semifinals and an 11-1 record his senior season.

Pedigo’s success on the football field, and on the wrestling mat, where he is a two-time state champion, can be correlated to his success in the weight room. Pedigo has a max bench of 300, a max clean of 345, and a max squat of 430.

After receiving offers from Fort Hays State, North Dakota, South Dakota, Bethel, and Dodge City CC, Pedigo will continue his football career at North Dakota next year. 

Hoisington coach Zach Baird on Pedigo: “Wyatt is a great athlete, but he has a work ethic that separates him from most kids. He works his tail off in the weight room every day. He's a three-sport kid that is always competitive, and has a drive to be successful no matter what sport he is in. But on the field he is a kid that has a high football IQ. He is extremely coachable and is always working to improve. He was a great leader for us. Defensively, he is tough to block and is a kid that plays with his hands and will make plays all over the field. Offensively, he has a rare combination of size and speed. He runs with great vision and does a great job of setting up blocks. Since we got Wyatt as a freshman, you knew he was going to be special, and we're going to miss everything he did for us."

Check out a few of Pedigo's senior highlights below:

Pedigo was also featured on the cover of this year's Winter Edition. Find his "In The Spotlight" feature by Conor Nicholl below:

Hoisington senior Wyatt Pedigo said he “was always confident,” even earlier in his career. As a freshman, he finished 33-9 and was a state qualifier at 170 pounds on a team that finished second in Class 3-2-1A.

“I had a great 2016 class to lead me, show me basically how it’s done,” he said.

The next year, Pedigo picked up his first state championship with a 38-3 mark and state title at 182 pounds. Last year, Pedigo was the heavy favorite at 195 pounds and finished 39-1. He and Hoxie 160-pound senior Dayton Porsch were the only 3-2-1A champions to pin their way through the bracket. Porsch, a four-time state champion who is now at Northern Iowa, and Pedigo led the classification with 30 state points.

“The next year sophomore year, it was a little bit of a struggle, lost a lot of seniors, had to kind of step up a little more, and stepping up my sophomore year really helped out my junior year, becoming a leader,” he said.

The confidence helps Pedigo to stay calm and composed before matches, including state. Pedigo doesn’t really get nervous. In his four state matches, he won by fall in 1 minute, 2 seconds, 1:26, 5:44 and 1:39 in the final versus Colby’s Hagan Booi.

Pedigo credited multiple coaches with his development, including veteran Cardinal head coach Dan Schmidt and assistant Zach Sanders, a military veteran. Sanders wrestled at Ottawa after he was a two-time state wrestling participant for the Cardinals.

“He’s really good, he’s really strong, really quick,” Pedigo said. “He was in the Army.”

Pedigo has also benefited from Joshua Ball and Riley Philbern, who each took fifth at 170 and 285 pounds, respectively. Philbern is likely to miss all or most of wrestling this winter after a knee injury from football.

“It’s really nice, having a lighter guy that is quicker that can get me in different situations and having a heavier guy that can hold me back with his strength,” Pedigo said.

Pedigo has enjoyed great success on the gridiron, too. He recorded back-to-back 2,000-yard rushing seasons and led Hoisington to two straight state semifinal berths, tying for the best finishes in school history.

Pedigo is the Cardinals’ all-time leading rusher and has committed to play football at University of North Dakota. Pedigo met the ND coaches at a camp in Wisconsin.

“Just kind of shifted toward football more,” Pedigo said.