Winnecone duo signs with NCAA Division I football programs in Midwest
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WINNECONNE – Winneconne’s Brody Schaffer and Hudson Samolinski have played and won a lot of football games together. That started when they were young, first learning how to put their pads on and button up their chin straps.
Their last game together was the WIAA Division 4 state championship where Winneconne beat Little Chute 28-22. But on Wednesday, Dec. 3, they shared the stage at Winneconne high school’s auditorium and put pen to paper on where they’d play in college.
“It’s pretty amazing considering I’ve played with him like my whole life, since pee wee football. It’s pretty cool that you have two guys going to that level in the same high school especially when I’ve been good friends with him my entire life,” Schaffer said. “It’s pretty cool to have such a special environment for us and express it with each other.”
Schaffer and Samolinski will each be playing Division I football in college and signed their national letters of intent in front of family, coaches, friends, classmates and even some teachers who brought their classes to the auditorium. Schaffer is off to the Big Ten where he’ll play wide receiver at the University of Iowa and donned a yellow sweatshirt with the Hawkeyes logo as he signed.
Samolinski will play defensive line for Illinois State University in the Missouri Valley Conference.
“I’ve had the dream of playing college ball forever,” Samolinski said. “When it came to Illinois State, I kind of just knew that I found what I’ve been looking for.”
Samolinski committed June 30th and picked Illinois State University over Indiana State University and some Division II schools. For Schaffer, he made his commitment on March 5 after receiving offers from Northwestern University, North Dakota State University and others. The University of Wisconsin offered Schaffer after he committed to Iowa, but there was no doubt for Schaffer on where he’d be playing in college.
“Once I committed, I was 110% Iowa and that’s what I wanted to do,” Schaffer said. “They have a great coaching staff and all that stuff and I’m really excited for them to help develop me as a player and hopefully we do great things.”
In college Schaffer will play wide receiver, a position he last played as a sophomore in high school. That year he led Winneconne in receiving with 36 catches for 432 yards and seven touchdowns. The past two seasons, Schaffer has played quarterback and defensive back.
“I would say a lot of quarterback stuff that I worked on translates to receiver. Whether that’s mental reps of the game or even just training my hips and stuff like that,” Schaffer said. "I’m really excited to get in that program especially being able to work on receiver specific stuff all the time and not receiver and quarterback and DB stuff. So, I’m really excited for that part.”
In his senior season, Samolinski had 76 total tackles, 19 tackles for loss, two sacks, two fumble recoveries and even a pair of two-point conversions. He was the Bay Conference offensive and defensive lineman of the year.
Schaffer capped off his senior season with 1,883 passing yards, 20 touchdown passes, 1,198 rushing yards and 23 rushing touchdowns. On defense, he had 40 total tackles and six interceptions. On special teams, he had two kick-return touchdowns and a punt return touchdown. He was the Bay Conference offensive player of the year and defensive back of the year.
But their impact on Winneconne football went beyond stuffed stat sheets and an undefeated 2025 season.
“We truly won’t see it until next season, but I’ve already heard that there’s juniors, seniors upcoming that are already going to play that haven't played for a few years,” Winneconne co-head coach Ryan Krings said. "I don’t ever remember seeing our players have to give autographs after football games and it was non-stop for him (Schaffer) this year.
“That attention to that youth coming up, hopefully it’s going to help drive the program.”
Schaffer and Samolinski will finish their senior years at Winneconne High School. Once on campus for college, there’s lots to look forward to.
“Playing in the atmosphere. The stadium is unreal, the fans are unreal, and it never wavers. They’re always amazing and it’s always a great thing at that stadium,” Schaffer said. “The coaching staff and being able to get in the weight room and develop as a player. Now my only focus is football when I get there and not two other sports (basketball and track and field), so I believe I’ll develop as a player a lot more and hopefully reach my full potential.”
But what can fans at their new schools expect to see that Winneconne fans saw on Friday nights?
“I’m going to work my tail off, I’m going to prove that I’m a good player and I’m going to prove that I can perform at the level that coaches want me to perform at,” Samolinski said. "I want to help the Redbirds in any way I can.”
Schaffer added: “Versatility and being able to do a lot of different things, whether it’s throwing the ball, running the ball, catching the ball and whether that’s special teams or anything like that. I believe I have a lot to offer and I’m excited to give them my all.”
Contact or send game stats/info to Ben Schultz at BSchultz@usatodayco.com. Follow him on X, formerly known as Twitter, @benschultz52.
This article originally appeared on Oshkosh Northwestern: Winneconne's Schaffer, Samolinski sign to play Iowa, Illinois State
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