NEW ULM — KNUJ’s 61st annual Player of the Year Event for boys and girls basketball and wrestling took place on Tuesday night at the Best Western Plus in New Ulm.

Four high school athletes in the area were chosen as Players of the Year for their level of excellence during the winter season.

Kadence Hesse of Sleepy Eye High School, who also was the Tomahawk Conference Player of the Year and All-Journal Girls Basketball Player of the Year, took home the KNUJ trophy for girls basketball. Hesse averaged 24 points, 8.6 rebounds, 3.4 assists and 4.3 steals per game during the 2022-2023 season, passing 2,000 career points and becoming the all-time scoring leader for Sleepy Eye basketball.

New Ulm High School’s Colton Benson, who was named the All-Journal Boys Basketball Player of the Year, was the KNUJ Boys Basketball Player of the Year. Benson posted averages of 28.6 points, 8.1 rebounds, 2.6 assists and 1.1 steals per game in his junior season and sits at 1,409 career points, just 34 points from the school record for boys basketball.

Hayden Vandervoort of Hutchinson/Buffalo Lake-Hector-Stewart and Devin Carter of Tracy-Milroy-Balaton/Westbrook-Walnut Grove were KNUJ Co-Wrestlers of the Year. Vandervoort was the second place Class AA medalist at 195 pounds in the state tournament this season, and Carter won the Class A state championship at 126 pounds.