Rylan Kautz is The Herald’s 2010 All-Area Boys Soccer Player of the Year

Rylan Kautz had a simple road to success in front of him. As a sophomore, he was a member of Snohomish High School’s powerhouse boys soccer team.

Then a new school opened across town and Kautz found himself on a different path, albeit one that ultimately led him to the goal he had at Snohomish: a state championship.

In its first season with seniors, the Glacier Peak High School boys soccer team won the 2010 Class 3A state title, thanks in large part to the defense of Kautz, a senior who is The Herald’s 2010 All-Area Soccer Player of the Year.

“Rylan’s a very quiet guy by nature,” Glacier Peak coach Shannon Murray said. “The guys have a nickname for him though. They call him ‘The Hammer,’ and if you watch him play as the central defender for us, you know why. He reads the game extremely well. When he has the opportunity to tackle or win a ball in the air, he rarely doesn’t get it.”

At the end of the 2008 season, after the Snohomish Panthers lost 2-1 in double overtime to Bellarmine Prep in a first-round state playoff game, Kautz faced a difficult decision.

“I got the choice of what school I could go to and that was probably one of the hardest choices I’ve ever had,” he said. “My brother and sister both went to Snohomish. My brother was on the state championship team in 2000. So I had a lot of history back there with Dan (Pingrey, the Panthers’ head coach) and Snohomish.”

Kautz ultimately decided to make the move to Glacier Peak. “It was mainly friends. And new opportunities,” he said.

With no seniors on its roster, Glacier Peak posted a 5-9-3 record in 2009, including a 1-5-3 mark in Wesco South play.

This year — after Murray took over as head coach in October — the Grizzlies posted an 18-5 record (7-2 in the Wesco South) and earned a state berth that culminated with a 2-1 win over Mount Rainier in the title game.

“There was a lot of newness to what was going on,” Murray said of his first season. “No tradition, nothing established to lean on. And for that first year of having a full freshman to senior class, to turn it around and win a state championship, I can’t be more excited for those seniors.”

In the championship game, Kautz defended Darwin Jones, the Rams’ high-scoring forward who tallied 37 goals this season. Kautz rose to the occasion and along with defender Jordan Steranka, shut down Jones, giving the Grizzlies the opportunity to win.

“Rylan’s … contribution to what we did to win a state championship is not because of stats,” Murray said. “If you were to ask myself or any player on the team, he was the most consistent and was the rock and leader of our team. He was phenomenal from start to finish. … That’s why we won a state championship, because of kids like him.”

Kautz sports a one-of-a-kind letterman’s jacket, combining his accolades from Snohomish and Glacier Peak into one garment. The jacket is red (for the Panthers), with white arms and a blue-and-silver collar (the Grizzlies’ colors). It bears both the “SHS” and “GP” letters. The right sleeve belongs to Snohomish awards and a soccer ball with a red No. 4, while Glacier Peak covers the left side.

Finally, right above his name is a hammer head.

“The jacket’s so ridiculous that I thought I’d just put a little bit of fun into it,” Kautz said. “It just reminds me of how each school has helped me out.”

The state title was the second of the year for Kautz. His club team also earned a state championship this season.

“This year was probably the most memorable thing I’ve ever been through,” Kautz said. “I think this would be a pretty good note to go out on. It can’t get much better than this.”

Also a standout in the classroom, Kautz is headed to the University of Washington. He plans to study engineering or something in the field of science, and probably play intramural soccer.

“It was one of the hardest things, leaving Snohomish and Dan, maybe not getting back to that height that Snohomish was supposed to be,” Kautz said. “So it’s pretty cool having Glacier Peak at that same level.”