By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Washburn Rural star Dylan Willingham has been named the 2025-26 Gatorade Kansas Boys Soccer Player of the Year after helping lead the Junior Blues to the Class 6A state championship last fall.
Dylan Willingham, Washburn Rural
The 6-foot-2, 180-pound senior forward scored 37 goals and recorded seven assists as a senior, breaking the school’s record for single-season and career goals (67).
The two-time Centennial League Player of the Year was the state’s sole 2025-26 United Soccer Coaches All-American in addition to being recognized as the Class 6A forward of the year.
Off the field Willingham has helped to organize and oversee a blood-donation drive on campus while also donating his time as a tutor for district middle-schoolers and as a youth coach at Champions Soccer Camp for the last three summers.
“Dylan is probably the most aggressive and determined attacking player I’ve coached against,” said Blue Valley North coach Skylar Rough in the Gatorade release. “No one exemplifies Washburn’s hard-working style of play better than Dylan.
"Trying to keep him from scoring for 80 or even 100 minutes is nearly impossible. He’s a guy who is going to find his goal (or goals) in any game he plays in no matter the conditions or opponent.”
Also a four-time 6A state medalist in tennis, Willingham has maintained a 4.74 weighted grade point average in the classroom.
He has signed a letter of intent to play soccer at the University of Nebraska-Omaha.
The Gatorade Player of the Year program annually recognizes one state winner from each of the 50 states and Washington D.C., in 12 different sports. A total of 610 high school athletes are honored each year.
From the pool of state winners, one national winner is selected in each of the 12 sports.
