Inside pressure: Wiskirchen directs the Panthers’ defense

Published 3:41 pm Wednesday, July 22, 2026

CAMP POINT, Ill. — Panthers senior inside linebacker Briggs Wiskirchen had big shoes to fill last season.

Wiskirchen took over for Elijah Genenbacher as Central’s signal caller on defense, and had to take on extra responsibilities.

“Last year, I took a big leadership role,” said Wiskirchen. “I was in the middle of everything. I found out last year that this year is going to be a bigger role than last year was for most seniors.”

Wiskirchen thrived in that leadership role as he became the heart and soul of Camp Point’s defense.

“Briggs had to step up for Elijah (after he graduated),” said Panthers head coach Brad Dixon. “You know, Elijah had played middle linebacker for really three and a half seasons. Briggs had to step up last year and he filled right in. He had a first team All-Conference season at middle linebacker. He knows our defense and kind of became the leader of the entire team.”

Wiskirchen earned All-Conference honors and made 78 tackles, along with six stops for a loss, two sacks and two forced fumbles.

“He’s a guy that had a great baseball season and fought through some injuries, but got back late,” said Dixon. “He’s somebody I think is one of the best linebackers in the WIVC.”

Central’s senior inside linebacker has found himself in the middle of the action.

“Just reading, watching film and knowing what to do when stuff happens,” said Wiskirchen on his strengths. “I just get to the ball.”

Linebacker is a strength for the Panthers, who also bring back juniors Kolin Bockhold (60 tackles), Luke Ippensen (48 tackles), Jackson Fowler (19 tackles) and Grant Hamilton (35 tackles) this season.

Besides his leadership, Wiskirchen’s physical play has been noticed by his teammates.

“(Wiskirchen) plays physical,” said Panthers junior safety Kale Niekamp. “He’s a hard-headed hitter. He loves the contact and he’ll make every tackle he can for us.”

Niekamp leads the secondary

Niekamp brings a similar leadership role to the secondary as Central’s most experienced player in the defensive backfield.

Last season, Niekamp compiled 36 tackles, two interceptions, two pass deflections and one forced fumble.

“I feel like it will be just as good as last year, maybe even a little bit better,” said Niekamp. “We might move people around here and there, but we’ll be fine.”

Central’s secondary took the most losses due to graduation, losing players such as Curtis Rig, Zack Wear, Marco Rodriguez and Dylan Mowen.

The Panthers will plug senior Brady Wittler into its secondary, after he had one interception in part-time duty last season. Central has several younger players that are competing for spots in their defensive backfield.

“Obviously, it starts with Kale,” said Dixon. We have a senior, Brady Wittler, who’s kind of been waiting for his chance. Luke Huston, Jackson (Buehler) and Paxton (Buehler) will play there. We’ve got a lot of good athletes. We’ve got a lot of good athletes in our younger grades, but the defensive backs are definitely the least experienced group on our defense.”

Lots of depth on the defensive line

Most of Central’s defensive lineman return, except for Chase Barner and Kadin Niekamp, who missed much of last season due to injury.

The Panthers bring back two starters — junior Dominick Janssen and senior Paxton Flesner — to its three-man defensive front.

Central will also utilize senior Evan Walker up front, who also is a starter on the offensive line.

“I think we’ll be nine deep there,” said Dixon. “We’ll be able to rotate a lot of different guys in our three-man front through the D-Line. It’s nice to have two starters back that played really the whole year last year.”

The kicking game

Marco Rodriguez was one of the top kickers in the area, putting Central in good field position on kickoffs and able to kick clutch field goals.

Rodriguez has since graduated, with Central moving forward with a couple of candidates to replace him.

“Marco’s just a great kid and a great football player,” said Dixon. “He loved to play and brought a lot of joy to football, on top of all the things he did in the kicking game.”

One of the candidates to replace Rodriguez at kicker is his younger brother, Damian Rodriguez.

“We’re fortunate his younger brother Damian is a freshman, and we got several Rodriguez’ coming through,” said Dixon. “Damian’s been kicking all summer. He’s all in on Panther football too. So we’ll see if Damian’s ready to kick off varsity.”

Central returns Niekamp at punter.

“We’re fortunate to continue with the Rodriguez (brothers), and we’ve got some other options there, too,” said Dixon. “It’s nice to have Kale back punting with his ability to also play quarterback there with the different fakes that we do.”