By Tim Cigelske

A record-setting school year for athletics rooted in mission and community  

It was clutch time. 

The Hilltoppers were clinging to a narrow 3-point lead over Kettle Moraine in the state semi-final, playing for the opportunity to reach its first ever WIAA basketball championship game. 

With 24 seconds left, head coach Casey Kowalewski ‘98 put in Peter McDevitt ‘24, who up until that point had seen limited minutes in the game. 

McDevitt was immediately fouled and sent to the line for a 1-and-1. If he missed the first, Kettle Moraine would get the ball back with plenty of time to win. The TV announcers questioned why McDevitt was even in the game as a role player in crunch time. 

McDevitt then sunk two free throws to seal the victory. Nothing but net – like he knew how to handle a pressure-packed situation. 

In fact, he had been in a similar situation just months before. McDevitt was the starting quarterback of the Marquette University High School WIAA championship football team.

In 2023-24, MUHS became the first school in WIAA Division 1 history to win football and basketball championships in the same school year. It was football’s first gold ball since 2009, and the basketball team’s first WIAA title. 

Overall, the Hilltoppers took home nine WIAA sectional championships last school year – a school record. MUHS also claimed state championships in doubles tennis, wheelchair track and club rugby. The victories fostered pride for the entire school and alumni community. 

This year, all four fall sports finished with conference championships and are building on last year. 

The success demonstrates the special brotherhood and selflessness of the MUHS teams – who compete together as Men for Others. 

'We're not walking out of here without a gold ball' 

It was halftime at Camp Randall Stadium in the state championship game. 

As the underdog against undefeated Franklin High School, the Hilltoppers found themselves in a defensive battle and a 10-10 tie. It was a lot closer than many outside observers expected, just looking at their records. Marquette High was 11-2 and Franklin was 13-0. Franklin had blown out the team that had previously humbled Marquette High with a homecoming blowout. 

But they weren’t done yet.   

“I told them at halftime, you’ve come this far,” Coach Keith Klestinski remembers. “We’re tied. We have a half to play. Twenty-four minutes. 

“We’re not walking out of here without a gold ball.” 

The Hilltoppers went on to dominate the second half. The team reeled off 17 unanswered points and pitched a shut-out to win 27-10. 

After the season, Klestinski announced that 2024 would be his final season after 35 years at the school. His legacy isn’t finished, but he is also proud to achieve a championship team like his football coach mentors Dick Basham and Terry Kelly.  

The seeds of the championship season began much earlier. Klestinski points to the team’s commitment to leadership training, working out and practicing in the offseason. 

“If you win something like this, you have to do all the little things when no one is looking,” Klestinski says. 

Klestinski remembers early in the season going into the locker room and seeing it in disarray. He called a meeting with his seniors to talk about “elite behavior” and paying attention to details, including cleaning up after themselves. 

“I go in the next day, and it’s pristine,” Klestinski said. “That locker room was clean the rest of the year. It leads to a microfocus on what’s important.”

Throughout the season, the team had a lot of success, including holding opponents to eight shutouts, seven of which were 35-point plus margin running clocks. But they also faced setback losses against Arrowhead and Sussex Hamilton. Klestinski welcomed the lessons it taught the team. 

“How do you handle adversity? You have to go through that,” Klestinski says. “These guys really responded.” 

The team was confident, battle-tested and ready by the time they got to the championship game. With a stifling defense providing the opening, the offense took over with a balanced air and ground attack. Sophomore standout Tommy Novotny ‘26 – who soon played a key role on the basketball team – took home MVP honors with 167 rushing yards on 36 carries. 

This victory also highlighted a successful fall for all Marquette High athletics. All four fall sports teams at Marquette High including football, volleyball, soccer and cross country finished in the top four in the state, replicating a feat last achieved in 2009.

After the season, Klestinski was asked to be the keynote speaker at a football coach’s conference outside Madison – the same weekend as the basketball state championship. After speaking about the success of his season, Klestinski drove to the Kohl Center to watch the basketball team on their own championship stage.

He thought back to coming in at 6 a.m. for summer practices for the football team, and seeing the basketball team there as well getting in shots. He knew they brought the same talent, drive and commitment to their sport. 

So did he expect the basketball team to bring home the school’s next gold ball?  

“It didn’t surprise me at all,” he said. 

'They were starting to play together' 

Mere hours after the football season ended, the Marquette High basketball season kicked off in a Kettle Moraine gym with an early Saturday morning scrimmage. 

In attendance were football team members that just played the games of their lives the night before. 

Coach Kowalewski recalls the message that sent to the whole team. 

“I told them how much this means that you are all here and the tone that it sets for our season,” he said. “They’re coming off one of the most remarkable achievements, and being there the next morning had us hitting the ground running.” 

In all, seven Hilltoppers played on both the championship football and basketball teams, including McDevitt, Novotny, Andrew Allen ‘24, Thad Hoffman ‘24, Josh Nacker ‘24, Mitchell Nigro ‘25, and Joe Kanter ‘25. There was no rest as they embarked on another season with high expectations. 

The previous year, the team lost in the sectional playoff round to eventual undefeated state champion DePere. Most players on that team returned and looked to the next year with lofty goals.  

Nolan Minnesale ‘24 came into his senior season as the reigning Greater Metro Conference player of the year. He already set the Hilltoppers’ single-season scoring record his junior year, and before the season was out he would shatter the career school scoring record set by Damon Key ‘90. The team also returned sharpshooting guards Jeremiah Johnson, Ryan Meehan ‘24, TJ Adams ‘24, and Cade Kohnen ‘24. 

After playing together for multiple seasons, the team continued to gel and gain confidence in each other. Kowalewski knew the team was maturing to a championship level when they started averaging more than 20 assists a game, an extraordinary milestone for sharing the ball. 

“They were starting to play together – taking better shots, finding the open guy – more often than we were earlier,” he said. “They would go out of their way to find who has just buried a couple, let’s try to continue feeding them the ball.” 

The team was tested early in their sectional playoff game when Minnesale dislocated a finger on his shooting hand, and others had to step up. Meehan then exploded for five 3-pointers and 21 points. 

“Our goal is to win a state title,” Meehan said in a post-game interview. “(The football team) set the standard for us, and we want to finish it.” 

After outlasting close games against West Allis Central and Kettle Moraine, the Hilltoppers entered the championship against Arrowhead. It was an opponent who beat them on a last-second shot earlier this season, and who had knocked off defending state champion DePere. 

The Hilltoppers came out of the gate playing their signature uptempo pace and never looked back. Minnesale led the way with 29 points and multiple highlight reel dunks. They also spread the ball with a state championship record 12 3-pointers. 

In the end, Marquette High claimed the title with a 22-point victory, and just one assist shy of the record for most assists in a state championship game. It was a fitting way to go out on top for a team that showed their commitment to each other all season. 

The Hilltopper Journey 

The connections that Hilltopper teammates forged started years before they culminated in championships. 

Speaking with The Catholic Herald during the football season, senior quarterback Peter McDevitt talked about the special bond with his teammates, especially after playing with many of them from a young age in the Junior Hilltopper program. 

“We have a lot of lofty goals," he said. "It’s exciting, too, because these are guys I’ve been playing with my whole life through junior programs. We get one last shot at it. It’s exciting.”

Pat Foran serves as the football team’s public address announcer and historian, and he sees leadership parallels between the 2023-2024 state teams and previous Hilltopper champions.

In particular, he remembers a championship football game against a favored Green Bay Notre Dame team. In what ended up a close 24-20 victory, Casey Kowalewski made a game-saving interception. 

After the game, coach Dick Basham told his students to treasure the moment. 

“Dick’s wisdom was this is something you’ll never forget,” Foran said. The latest group of Hilltopper state champions certainly made their own memories.

However, the fanfare at school of winning the basketball state championship had to wait. Seniors were out of the building volunteering at sites as part of Senior Shared Life the week leading up to the championship and the week after. 

For Kowalewski, it represented a way for the team to demonstrate the mission of being men for others through challenges or success.  

“Something like the Shared Life project and serving others and being part of the community is the bigger picture,” Kowalewski said. “That keeps us grounded and humble.” 

Klestinski also echoed that sentiment for his team, especially after sharing many of the teammates in common.  

“To a man, 100% didn’t care who got the credit,” he said. “They are about our team.”