Maddie Shanfelder follows her grandpa’s path as standout soccer goalie, wrestler

Maddie Shanfelder recalls reading the articles. Her eyes glued to the headlines and pictures. Her mind occupied by the words she was scanning.

As she flipped through the old clips over the years, one thought, one hope remained at the forefront.

“I want to be like him,” she said. “I want to be a multi-sport athlete. I want to do all that. (The articles) sort of inspired me to do all the things I do.”

Maddie is a sophomore at Cedar Crest. She was the starting goalie for the Falcons’ girls soccer program this fall and is a standout on the wrestling mat. She dances, skates, and plays rugby in her free time.

Her inspiration — or “him” — is her late grandfather, Mike Shanfelder, who died in November 2022 at age 72.

Mike was soccer royalty at ELCO. Alongside that prowess, he competed in track and field and basketball, among other activities. While Maddie has carved her own path in various sports, her versatile standing is an ode to him.

“I think that her steadiness and her unwavering confidence is something that he had,” said Pete Shanfelder, Maddie’s father and Mike’s son. “He never got too excited. Not too high or too low about anything. He was very even keeled.

“He never got to watch her wrestle. He would’ve loved that.”

Maddie remembers Mike — or Peepaw, as she called him — as the figure that would help with anything. They enjoyed hiking together, and when Maddie’s mother, Heather, was pregnant, Mike retired and became the “full-time babysitter.”

There wasn’t a moment when Mike wasn’t around. Offering encouragement or watching Maddie pursue her next leisure was a family staple.

“He was a man of very few words, to be honest,” Maddie said. “But through actions of perseverance and not giving up and just continuing to work hard and trying new things, that’s what I want to remember him by.”

Maddie has lived out Mike’s legacy in several branches. She was nervous to embark on high school wrestling, but it’s blossomed into her top trade. When her teammate, then-starting goalie Lily Harchuska, suffered a dislocated elbow this season, Maddie embraced the soccer spotlight.

Maddie made 108 saves in the 6-yard box this fall. On the mat, she collected 27 wins as a freshman and placed third at sectionals at 142 pounds. She won the 2025 Chocolatetown Open in her respective group to kickstart her sophomore campaign.

“We’ve always believed that she could do anything she wanted,” Heather said. “So watching her discover that for herself, I think that has been, for me, the most rewarding part.”

Like Mike’s crossover in athletics, each experience has helped Maddie connect the dots and align the puzzle pieces.

With wrestling, every strength and every fault rests on Maddie’s shoulders and is cast into the limelight. She linked that comparison on the pitch when she was thrust into the starting netminder position.

“I found out that I’m more capable than I thought I was,” Maddie said. “But at first, when I was told I was gonna play varsity soccer, I was terrified. I was like, ‘Oh my gosh, this is not gonna go well for me.’ And I ended up doing a lot better than I expected to do.”

There was no doubt in Heather and Pete’s minds that their daughter would find her footing. Tracing back to Mike’s support, they’ve always noticed a beaming belief, an unrelenting hunger in their multi-sport ace.

“From the first time she walked down that field as a varsity keeper to the end, just her confidence and knowing that she can do it, has been so rewarding to watch,” Heather said. “She’s always kind of had that on the wrestling mat. We always say she kind of has some sass out there when she walks out on the mat. So I think wrestling has actually translated into her becoming a more confident soccer player, too.”

And Maddie’s not focused on individual success. She’s a trendsetter at Cedar Crest, showing fellow female athletes that it’s worth to take the leap of faith.

“I want to set an example of being a leader, someone who welcomes everybody, all that sort of stuff,” Maddie said. “And the imprint that I want to leave is that it continues on for the rest of the years to come when I’m gone. That that sort of idea and attitude stays with the team.”

Maddie is authoring her own headlines, penning her own articles and painting memorable pictures. She’s doing it the right way, something Mike would be proud of.

She’s like “him.”