Eau Claire Memorial forward Jake Bresser wins Wisconsin Player of the Year award

Since the Wisconsin Hockey Coaches Association started handing out the Player of the Year award in 2001, the city of Eau Claire has had more winners than any other area. Eau Claire North's Derrick LaPoint won the award in 2006 and was followed by Memorial's Jefferson Dahl in 2008 and Saxton Soley in 2011.

On Wednesday night at an awards banquet in Madison, Memorial forward Jake Bresser became the fourth Eau Claire native to win the award in the past 14 years.

Bresser, a senior for the Old Abes, had a season for the ages. The 6-foot-2, 195-pound winger led the state in goal scoring with a remarkable 56 goals in just 27 games including playoffs. Bresser added 23 assists to bring his point total to 79 on the season.

The Old Abes are back at state for the fifth consecutive season and take on Notre Dame Academy in a quarterfinal game Thursday at the Veterans Memorial Coliseum at the Alliant Energy Center.

Other finalists for the award this season included Wisconsin recruit Matt Berkovitz (Ashwaubenon), Mason Appleton (Notre Dame Academy), Zed Dietrich (Waukesha), Brett Gruber (Notre Dame Academy), Charlie Parker (Verona), Caleb Schroer (Wisconsin Rapids) and Michael Wilson (Fond du Lac).

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