NMU Sports Information noted they are annual “awards presented to student-athletes, coaches and teams demonstrating excellence throughout the season.”

Today’s in what will be a three-part series, we’ll look at several awards available throughout the Wildcats varsity sports program that any athlete could have won, each having a men’s and women’s recipient.

Gildo Canale Outstanding Senior

Right away, we see student-athletes who have been honored multiple times, including one who received his latest award on June 24.

Northern Michigan University’s Dylan Kuehl, left, makes a move to the net while closely guarded by Saginaw Valley State’s Jovantae Ross during their GLIAC men’s basketball game played at Vandament Arena in Marquette on Feb. 5. (Photo courtesy of Cara Kamps)

Graduate student Dylan Kuehl of the NMU men’s basketball team was named the men’s winner of the Gildo Canale Outstanding Senior award, named for the 15-year Wildcats athletic director in the 1970s and ’80s who spent more than four decades at Northern.

Kuehl capped one of the most decorated seasons and careers in Wildcats history last winter, combining dominance on the court with a 3.65 grade-point average in construction management to earn Northern’s first-ever Male Scholar-Athlete of the Year plaudit from the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference.

The Iron Ridge, Wisconsin, native’s most prominent awards were being named both Player of the Year and Defensive Player of the Year in GLIAC men’s basketball.

He also earned national recognition as a First Team All-American and Midwest Region Player of the Year from the Division 2 Conference Commissioners Association.

That came from averaging 21.3 points and 6.4 rebounds per game and shooting 55.2% from the floor in his final season at NMU, which led to the Wildcats’ 28-7 overall record and league regular season title, the fourth straight year Northern won either the conference regular-season or tournament crown.

Northern Michigan University’s Dylan Kuehl looks like he’s putting up a shot, but he actually would pass the ball to teammate Jackson Dudek under the basket during a GLIAC men’s basketball game played against Roosevelt at Vandament Arena in Marquette on Thursday, Feb. 26, 2026. (Photo courtesy Cara Kamps) 

He also finished with 2,197 career points, No. 2 on NMU men’s all-time list.

Soccer team captain Hannah Kastamo claimed the women’s Gildo Canale Outstanding Senior prize after earning a GLIAC First Team honor that began a series of awards for her, too.

The downstate Hartland native led Northern women’s soccer scorers with 16 points, tying for the most goals on the team, six, and also sharing top assist honors with four after she started all 20 Wildcats games.

The Wildcats finished at 7-8-5 overall and 6-6-2 in the GLIAC, winning its conference tourney opener before falling to national No. 6 and tourney top seed Grand Valley State in the league tourney semifinals.

Also leading the team in game-winning goals, Kastamo earned a D2CCA Midwest Region Second Team honor, United Soccer Coaches’ All-Region Second Team pick, along with three all-region awards.

In four years at Northern, Kastamo ranks top 10 after playing 86 matches, also making the top 10 in several career scoring categories.

Ironcat of the Year

Recognizing the athletes with the best leadership, grit and competitiveness within the strength and conditioning program, this year’s honorees were naturals by playing in sports with those traits inherent in how they play.

Sophomore women’s wrestler Sophia Bassino was a standout, earning Second Team honors in the new Great Lakes Valley Conference at 160 pounds.

The Sun Prairie, Wisconsin, native posted a 4-1 record to place third at the NCAA single-division regional tournament, achieving a bid to the NCAA Championships.

She was named a Scholar All-American by the National Wrestling Coaches Association.

And after earning a spot on the Brazilian World Team with a 10-0 technical fall victory at the Under-20 World Team Trials, Bassino will compete at the U20 Pan American Championships in Rio de Janeiro in July.

The men’s Ironcat of the Year is junior linebacker Jax Hertel of the Wildcats’ football team. Setting the standard for attendance and effort, he anchored an NMU defense that struggled early last fall before breaking through to win three of their final five games with several record-breaking performances.

The Walworth, Wisconsin, native started all 11 Northern games, leading the way with 101 tackles, which also ranked No. 3 in the GLIAC, and pacing the conference with 14 1/2 tackles for loss.

He was named to D2CCA Super Region 3 and also earned GLIAC First Team honors.

Scholar-Athlete of the Year

Even while Kuehl was named GLIAC Male Scholar-Athlete of the Year, it was a graduate student teammate Jackson Dudek who was named NMU’s Scholar-Athlete of the Year.

The Kimberly, Wisconsin, native was completing his master’s of business administration with a 3.95 GPA, earning Academic All-District recognition from the College Sports Communicators for the second straight year.

Dudek earned GLIAC Second Team honors last season after starting all 35 games and averaging 11.8 points and 5.1 rebounds a game as he shot 53.3% from the field, including 41.9% on 3-pointers as he made 49 of those long-range shots.

He put up a career-high 29 points against Marian on Dec. 14.

The women’s Scholar-Athlete of the Year is women’s nordic skiing junior Henriette Nilssen of Nittedal, Norway, combining a phenomenal year on the trails with a 4.00 GPA majoring in economics and enrolled in a business analytics program.

She won both events at the Central Collegiate Ski Association conference championship meet, also winning twice at the NCAA regionals, and was named CCSA Female Skier of the Year, All-Region and CCSA First Team.

Nilssen advanced to represent the Wildcats at the NCAA Championships.

Story contents based on a Northern Michigan University Sports Information press release reviewing the awards. Journal Sports Editor Steve Brownlee’s email address is sbrownlee@miningjournal.net.