Krupp earns all-Ohio honors in football, soccer

Press Contributing Writer
sports@presspublications.com

Being great at one sport in one season is impressive enough, but succeeding at two is quite a unique and meaningful accomplishment.
Oak Harbor junior Fulton Krupp recently accomplished an impressive feat, earning first-team honors as a forward in Division IV for soccer, and being named to the Division V second team as a kicker.
In soccer, he scored 19 goals, good for first on the team, and had three assists.
The Rockets went 11-7 and 4-2 in the Northern Buckeye Conference. Seeded second in the Millbury District, Oak Harbor lost to old Sandusky Bay Conference rival Port Clinton, 2-1, in a shootout, in a district semifinal.
Oak Harbor soccer coach Grant LaPeer talked about Krupp’s play.
“His tenacity to want the ball, his work rate is extremely good,” said LaPeer. “He has good size on him, which helped in the last year. He wants to play the game and has driven his teammates, being a captain.”
No matter how well a team plays on defense, it’s important to have a forward or midfielder who can put the ball in the net.
“We really have always been looking for that one athlete that can pop in a goal or two. He’s come through — he scored a lot of late, winning goals for us,” said LaPeer. “That comes back to his work rate and wanting to win as much as possible. We haven’t had someone score 19 goals in a long time. Most guys that earn All-Ohio honors play year-round.
“He’s an all-around, great kid. He was a captain as a junior, which doesn’t happen very often. They believe he was a great leader for us. I’m pretty sure he’ll get (chosen) as captain again (next year).”
In addition to playing football, Krupp also plays basketball.
“I’ve always played soccer, basically my whole life,” he said. “It’s probably my favorite sport of the three I’ve played; I always liked it,” he said.
As the kicker on the football team, Krupp made four field goals in six attempts, including a 48-yarder in a 31-0 win over Otsego. He made 65 extra points in 68 attempts and was second on the team with 77 points.
Oak Harbor football coach Mike May credited Krupp for all the work he did during the offseason.
“He’s worked as hard as anybody we had on our team. In the spring, he was in the weight room, and his numbers went up (in terms of strength). He hit a growth spurt and got taller and put on some weight,” said May. “He went to quite a few kicking camps. He was our most improved football player from the previous year.
“He’s been a huge weapon for us. He’s been very accurate, and we know that if we get to the 30-yard-line, and the drive stalls, we can get points,” he said.
Krupp also kicked many touchbacks, meaning the opposition had to start its drives at the 20-yard-line.
“That really helps us on defense,” May said.
Krupp talked about attending one of Kohl’s Professional Camps in Cleveland, where he learned how to refine his kicking motion.
“I went (to the clinic) from March to July, every other Saturday, in Cleveland,” he said. “We’d get about two hours of work done, and I’d work on fundamentals, correcting and tweaking (the motion), and that helped me a lot,” he said.
The Rockets had another stellar season, going 12-1 and winning the NBC title — its third consecutive league championship, which had never been done before in program history. Oak Harbor’s season ended in a heartbreaker, a 24-21 loss in a regional semifinal to Liberty Center, which advanced to the state final.
Many of Krupp’s teammates, including QB Michael Lalonde, RB Carson Ridener, OT Isaac Schulte and DE Jacob Ridener, earned first-team honors in Division V, and WR Tyler Thompson was given honorable-mention distinction.
The son of Peyton and Danielle Krupp, Fulton has two older sisters, Elayna and Paige. Paige was a stellar swimmer in high school, and Elayna was a three-time SBC Swimmer of the Year in high school, while also excelling at soccer and track and field. She currently swims at Bowling Green State University.
“My dad, he pushes me to get better and talks to me a lot,” said Fulton Krupp. “And my coaches push me, too.”