Four Maumee football players commit to play college football
- Jeremy Schneider
- Mar 14
- 4 min read
By JEREMY SCHNEIDER
IMA SPORTS
Fresh on the heels of the most successful Maumee football season in years, the Panthers are placing four players on college football rosters next year.
Carson Graetz committed to play at the University of Findlay, Cody Wulf will play at Northwood University in Michigan, and Keishon Midcalf and Pierce Simpson committed to Defiance College.
It’s the first time Maumee has had four players from one class go on to play college football since 2012, when current coach Evan Karchner committed to Bowling Green State University, Jake Schneider to Tiffin, Jason Blair to Trine and Brandon Phenix to Lake Erie.
The last Maumee players to commit to a college football team was Ramsey Quinn (Trine University) in 2024 and Zach Harris (Hillsdale College) in 2022. Prior to that was Mikey Haney (Eastern Michigan) in 2017.
“It really speaks to how talented our senior class was last year,” Karchner said of the Class of 2025. “When we got to Maumee, we knew that their class had some really good football players who could help us win.
“Last year was very special for our program and we will never forget what each of them did to push our program forward. It was a lot of fun to watch them play on Friday nights and I am proud to say I had the opportunity to coach them.”
The Panthers went 8-3 last year and 5-2 in the Northern Buckeye Conference. Over the last two years, Maumee went 13-8 overall and 8-6 in the conference, averaging 36 points per game while allowing 26 on average.
Graetz, Simpson and Wulf were all named first team All-NBC and Division III All-Northwest District last season. Wulf made third-team All-Ohio while Graetz and Simpson appeared on the honorable mention list.
Wulf rushed for nearly 1,200 yards and 18 touchdowns as a senior, adding another 229 yards and two scores on receptions. He’ll go to Northwood as a middle linebacker, where he excelled at Maumee as well.
Wulf said the connection he made with the coaches at Northwood made all the difference when selecting a school.
“It means everything to me,” Wulf said of signing to play in college. “Football has been my life for the past 10 years, and it's always been my dream to play football in college.”
Simpson started all 11 games as a senior at offensive tackle and defensive tackle. He committed to Defiance to play on defense. Last year, Maumee’s defense allowed 154 rushing yards and 19 points per game while forcing 18 turnovers.
Simpson called signing to play college football a “dream come true.”
“I have been working towards it my entire life,” he added. “Words cannot describe how excited I am to play at the next level. It has always been in the back of my mind; it is why I do everything.”
Midcalf will also go to Defiance. In his senior season at Maumee, Midcalf rushed for 439 yards and six scores as a change-of-pace back with Wulf. He also started in the Panthers defensive secondary, which allowed 108 passing yards per game last year.
Midcalf’s goals heading to the Yellow Jackets will be to impact the program, whether that’s giving a good look to a player above him in practice or being on the game field himself.
“I plan to go there with a clear vision and the legacy I want to be remembered for,” Midcalf said. “Do I want to be that mediocre player everyone remembers as having done great in some games and even worse in others, or do I want to be that player everyone remembers as a top athlete all the time?”
Graetz goes to Findlay as a wide receiver. As a senior for the Panthers, he led the team in receiving yards (714 yards) and touchdowns (eight) while also scoring twice in the running game.
Like his teammates, Graetz said playing college football has been a dream of his since childhood. He chose Findlay because of the “family environment, winning culture, and its vicinity to home.”
“Being close to home will enable more of my family to come and support me at my games, which has always been a huge part of my football career,” Graetz said. “My expectations for next season are to get bigger, faster and stronger as well as work my way up the roster and compete every day.”
Northwood and Findlay both compete in the NCAA Division II Great Midwest Athletic Conference. Defiance is a member of the NAIA Wolverine-Hoosier Athletic Conference.
For Karchner, having these players commit to play college ball reaffirms the work his players put in at Maumee can pay off with college opportunities.
“This shows that if you are good enough, the college coaches will find you,” Karchner said. “In our program, we do everything we can to put you in spots to be seen and recruited. We believe that it is important to help kids reach their goals and dreams.
“A lot of kids believe that if they want to play a college sport, they need to go to bigger schools or even private schools. This proves that at Maumee, people are watching and they notice our talent.
“It's our jobs as coaches to put them in positions to win, improve their skills and capabilities, and help them get in front of college coaches and recruiters.”
Photo courtesy of Pride of the Panthers
Reach IMA at insidemaumeeathletics@gmail.com
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