Stewartville's Parker Klavetter poised for a breakout season with Wisconsin-Stout

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Aug. 11—MENOMONIE, Wisconsin — He's been waiting for this.

After four years spent as a University of Wisconsin-Stout football player, Stewartville graduate Parker Klavetter is going to get his shot.

He's been penciled in as a starter for the Blue Devils, at outside linebacker.

Klavetter greyshirted his first year (held back from practices and games), then came off the bench the next three seasons.

Now he's ready to go full throttle as a starter and he can't wait. UW-Stout's season opener Sept. 5 at the University of Dubuque can't come fast enough.

"(Not starting) sucked a lot, especially coming off a nice senior year (at Stewartville, where he was his district's defensive player of the year)," Klavetter said. "Then I got here and I had to wait my turn. You have to have a lot of patience."

And desire. Klavetter has plenty of both.

"I always wanted to play a lot ever since I've been here," said Klavetter, who is 5-feet-11, 195 pounds. "I don't want to just go to school. I want to be the best player I can be."

Klavetter is one of a flock of southeastern Minnesota football players on the UW-Stout roster. He's joined by sophomore defensive back Kyle Nelson (Kasson-Mantorville), senior outside linebacker Connor McGuire (Plainview-Elgin-Millville), junior defensive back Kyler Lamb (Plainview-Elgin-Millville), sophomore outside linebacker Luke Scheuer (Byron), junior inside linebacker Colton Parker (Stewartville) and senior inside linebacker Braxton Munnikhuysen (Triton).

"I think there are a lot of blue-collar kids in that area, and we are a blue-collar school," UW-Stout defensive coordinator Travis Destache said.

This season, Klavetter will be positioned next to Munnikhuysen, a speedy 6-foot, 200-pounder who has been getting ample playing time since he was a sophomore, but for the first time will also begin the season with the first team.

Destache regards Munnikhuysen, who covers 40 yards in a swift 4.6 seconds, in a special category.

"'Munni' is a dude," Destache said. "He is as explosive as all get out. He's a modern-day linebacker, running a 4.6."

Klavetter isn't 4.6, but he's close. He also has so many of the traits that Destache covets.

That includes being fast enough to guard wide receivers, strong enough to take on a fullback at the line of scrimmage, and also able to get around the edge and rush the passer.

Destache also appreciates Klavetter's disposition and how he's handled himself ever since joining the UW-Stout program. Destache knows there's been nothing easy about being a non-starter.

Klavetter is a bright one. He's majoring in mechanical engineering and is looking at the possibility of working at an oil refinery.

Klavetter, whose twin brother Eli was the quarterback when both played at Stewartville, was recruited by a number of Division III schools. But he found that Stout, with its easy access to his favorite pastimes of fishing and hunting, and with a mid-sized enrollment of 6,000 students, suited him best.

"It has been a good fit," said Klavetter, who is already engaged, having dated Violet Nelson since their sophomore year of high school. "I was looking at engineering and football for college and Stout fit that bill. It's been good."

What Klavetter wants now is to win and win big.

The Blue Devils, who play in the toughest top-to-bottom Division III football league in the country, the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference, have been mired in mediocrity in that imposing league. They finished 3-4 in the WIAC last year and 6-5 overall. The season before that they were 4-3 in the WIAC and again 6-5 overall.

They've shown they can go head to head with the big boys, including beating a UW-Oshkosh team 27-16 last year that was ranked 11th nationally at the time. And they just missed against No. 12 UW-Platteville, losing 24-23.

To get to where Klavetter wants this team to go, the Stewartville native knows he's going to have to play his best football and also set an example.

"I want to raise my game," Klavetter said. "In terms of leadership, I want to be more vocal and say my two cents more than I did last year. Consistency needs to happen. Upholding the standards of what we do day to day will be big from our senior class. We need to show the younger players how things are done. Doing the little things is how you develop a winning culture."

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