Staff photo by Steve Muscatello Minnesota Valley Lutheran’s Colton Collum was announced as the 2019 All-Journal Defensive Player of the Year on Wednesday. Collum led the Chargers in total tackles this season with 137 and also set the school career tackles record with 422.

NEW ULM — This past summer at an Elite Football Camp at Penn State, Minnesota Valley Lutheran’s Colton Collum raised some eyebrows.

“He went up against some four and five-star players that are playing big-time college football,” MVL head coach Jim Buboltz recalled. “I got a video of him at linebacker going against this big-time receiver one-on-one and he picks off the pass and the kids are going crazy. Because you look at Colton’s height and weight numbers and there are millions of kids with that height and weight. But there are not many of them that have the heart that Colton has.”

Collum, a 190-pound linebacker, carried that over to his high school season on the football field this year, where he recorded 137 total tackles, five sacks, three fumble recoveries and was selected to the All-District team.

Collum, this year’s All-Journal Defensive Player of the Year, set a school record for career tackles with 422. Collum was also named Academic All-State and has been Academic All-District, Student Council and a member of the National Honor Society.

“His numbers only tell half of the story,” Buboltz said. “He is going to leave behind records on the field and in the weight room — his name will be scattered all over our football program for so many years to come. And he is a very humble kid. He is a great teammate and leader. He had a great work ethic. In practice, first player on the field and last to leave. He puts his teammates, his family and his Lord first.”

Collum started his football career at St. Paul’s Lutheran in New Ulm with teammates that he played with this season.

“I started out as a running back (where he also played for the Chargers) then to wide receiver and then to linebacker,” Collum said. “I really liked playing linebacker and getting those fourth-down stops.”

Collum said that over the years, he has put an emphasis on his strength.

“I have had over 400 recorded workouts and lifts (bench pressing 285 pounds) and I have improved on my reading ability on the field — I gained that through experience.”

Buboltz said that he expects Collum to do great things in college.

“He is thankful for every day and every opportunity that he has had to come out and play football,” Buboltz said. “It shows every single day. He will do great things in college.”

Next year, Collum will be taking his talents to play football at St. Olaf College in Northfield.