County grads play key role in national championship

CL’s Nick Wasko had a pick-six in the playoffs, and NB’s Adam Johnstone had a career high in catches and yards in the title game

When the University of Wisconsin–River Falls football team broke through and claimed the NCAA Division III national championship, the moment reached far beyond the Falcons’ sideline at the Hall of Fame Stadium in Canton, Ohio on Sunday, January 4. It carried back across Lake Erie and Lake Michigan and the St. Croix River and into Chisago County, where familiar names — Nick Wasko of Lindstrom and Adam Johnstone and Tyler Schneidewind of North Branch — stood as hometown representatives on college football’s biggest Division III stage.

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• By Jeff Norton
• January 16, 2026