Meet a 2024-25 all-Livingston County hockey team loaded with all-state talent
Making the all-Livingston County first team in hockey is right up there with making the first team in wrestling in terms of degree of difficulty.
In both cases, there are all-state athletes relegated to the first team in their own small county.
That’s how strong both sports are in this area.
The all-county hockey team has seven first-team all-staters on the first team and three on the second team. Some players who received all-state mention are on the all-county honorable mention list.
I’m typically pretty strict about keeping each team at three forwards, two defensemen and one goaltender. This isn’t the all-KLAA team, after all, where everybody makes it. But I made an exception with the defensemen, putting all three first-team all-state blue-liners on the all-county first team.
Chad Pietila of Howell separated himself by making the all-state Dream Team, but I couldn’t see Hartland’s Ty Kraut or Brighton’s Ryan Watkins being second-team all-area in any universe, even one as deep in hockey talent as Livingston County.
Luca DiGirolamo
► School: Hartland
► Class: Senior
► Position: Forward
► Accomplishments: DiGirolamo was the fourth-leading scorer in the county with 34 points. He had 13 goals and 21 assists. DiGirolamo increased his production considerably each season, finishing his career with 23 goals and 43 assists in 82 games. He made first-team all-state this season.
► Coach Rick Gadwa: “He’s just such an asset to our program the last few years. He’s offensively gifted and, honestly, he spent the last couple years really learning how to round out his game and take pride in his defensive play. He really turned into a complete player.”
Ian Kastamo
► School: Hartland
► Class: Senior
► Position: Forward
► Accomplishments: Kastamo, a two-time first-team all-stater, was second in the county scoring race with 38 points. He had 13 goals and 25 assists. Kastamo made the all-state Dream Team. As a freshman, he scored the winning goal in overtime in the state Division 2 championship game. He has signed a tender with El Paso of the North American Hockey League.
► Coach Rick Gadwa: “He’s the kind of guy you build teams around. He comes to work every day. He doesn’t have lulls. He doesn’t have down days. He’s consistent.”
Rory Sturos
► School: Howell
► Class: Senior
► Position: Forward
► Accomplishments: Sturos was the leading scorer in the county with 44 points, scoring 15 goals and an area-best 29 assists. In two full varsity seasons, he had 32 goals and 53 assists in 58 games. Sturos was a first-team all-state selection.
► Coach Keith Robertson: “He was a leader on the ice and off the ice. A huge part of our success is our leadership group. Rory was the only senior. The leadership group really came through this year and was a huge part of our success.”
Ty Kraut
► School: Hartland
► Class: Senior
► Position: Defenseman
► Accomplishments: Kraut is a two-time first-team all-state selection who became more of an offensive force from the blue line this season. He was the second-leading scorer among county defensemen and 11th overall with 26 points. Kraut tied for sixth in the county with 19 assists.
► Coach Rick Gadwa: “Ty is the man. He’s cool, calm, collected. You’re not going to get a ton of emotion or even words out of him verbally, but he’s the guy whose speaking is done by the way he plays. You ask a coach what you want in a defenseman — tall, lengthy, long stick that can make plays exiting zones easily and can chip in on the offensive side. Ty does all that.”
RELATED:'It really is a miracle': Hartland's Ty Kraut survived fiery crash to make all-state in hockey
Chad Pietila
► School: Howell
► Class: Junior
► Position: Defenseman
► Accomplishments: You’d never know Pietila was a defenseman by the way he injected himself into Howell’s offense. He was the top goal scorer in the county with 17, was third with 37 points and fifth with 20 assists, all while helping Howell become one of the state’s top defensive teams. He made the all-state Dream Team after making the Division 1 first team last year.
► Coach Keith Robertson: “He jumps into the rush, he’ll start the rush. He plays the ‘D’ side of the puck, but he looks for the right opportunities to jump into plays. He’s a physical presence on the ice. He’s not scared of anything.”
Ryan Watkins
► School: Brighton
► Class: Senior
► Position: Defenseman
► Accomplishments: Watkins made first-team all-state twice after making the second team as a sophomore. He was Brighton’s fourth-leading scorer and third in the county among defensemen with 21 points, scoring six goals and 15 assists. As a sophomore, his overtime goal ended Brighton’s eight-year, 12-game winless streak in its rivalry with Hartland.
► Coach Kurt Kivisto: “He’s been tremendous for us all three years. He’s really steady in everything he does defensively and offensively. Even in the locker room, he’s just a calming, steadying presence. We’re really gonna miss him.”
Henry Lansky
► School: Howell
► Class: Senior
► Position: Goaltender
► Accomplishments: Lansky was chosen as the only goalie on the all-state Dream Team after backstopping Howell to its first state final since 2010. A Milford transfer playing his first season on a high school team, Lansky recorded a 23-4-2 record, 1.52 GAA, .942 save percentage and four shutouts. He allowed more than three goals only twice.
► Coach Keith Robertson: “He showed up every week and bailed us out when the ‘D’ side of the puck let down or someone got by us. He made all the right saves. We were fortunate to get him from the Triple-A world. Right place at the right time and right opportunity. It’ll be extremely difficult to replace him.”
Second team
FORWARDS
Jacob Daavettila, Brighton, Sr.
Ben Huotari, Howell, Sr.
Drew L’Esperance, Hartland, Sr.
DEFENSEMEN
Parker Frantti, Howell, Sr.
Brady Snyder, Hartland, Sr.
GOALTENDER
Vinnie Sabala, Hartland, Jr.
Honorable mention
Brighton: John Benkner (Sr.), Everett Bosak (Sr.), Connor Duffany (Fr.), Reece Hutcheson (Jr.), Freddie Londo (Sr.), Tim Peterson (Soph.), Vince Walkup (Soph.).
Hartland: Ian Evans (Jr.), Drake Fletemier (Sr.), Carson Perkins (Jr.), Braelon Rodriguez (Soph.), Eli Sturos (Jr.), Michael Zielinski (Sr.).
Howell: Daniel Avery (Fr.), Bryce Eskola (Jr.), Lincoln Frantti (Fr.), Bryce Pietila (Fr.), Luke Storm (Jr.), Marco Wolf (Jr.).
Contact Bill Khan at wkhan@gannett.com. Follow him on X @BillKhan
This article originally appeared on Livingston Daily: 2024-25 all-Livingston County hockey team loaded with all-state talent
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