After walking on, Kyler Elsworth is now stepping up.
Elsworth, a 6-foot-1 and 225 pound sophomore linebacker from Goodrich, was named the Big Ten special teams player of the week after a second quarter punt block on Saturday night that was recovered for a touchdown as the Michigan State Spartans went on to slip by then-No. 4 Wisconsin, 37-31.
The 2009 Goodrich High School graduate and wrestling stand-out, whose stellar wrestling career featured a school record 232 wins, along with two individual state titles and two team state crowns, stepped away from his years as a Martian grappler for a shot at Division I college football at MSU in 2009.
Elsworth, who had taken aim at outside linebacker on defense or fullback on offense for the Green and White when he walked on for Spartan Head Coach Mark Dantonio.
Elsworth, who also played linebacker helped stop the Badgers on a key third-and-1 to prevent Wisconsin from getting a first down.
Elsworth was a red-shirt freshman at MSU on the practice teams in his first year then made all the special tems–kick off, kick return, punt block, all the returns. Despite full wrestling scholarship offers at Indiana University, the University of North Carolina, and Michigan State University, as well as a handful of partial scholarships, including the University of Michigan-Ann Arbor, Elsworth opted to step off the mat and onto the green field of Spartan Stadium.
Elsworth played in all the games, mostly on special teams and some at the linebacker position. He was given a scholarship in August.
Kyler is the son of Richard and Rebecca Elsworth of Goodrich.
Michigan State will take on Nebraska on Saturday.