Steele Crissman Named USA Lacrosse High School Boys' Midwest Player of the Year

The end of June is approaching and lacrosse season in Missouri has been over for a month.

Don’t bother telling Steele Crissman that.

As MICDS coach Andy Kay talked on the phone one summer evening, he guessed Crissman was probably still on his high school field, refusing to take a break after winning a third straight state title.

“If you were to drive up to MICDS right now, there’s a 90-percent chance that he’s at the field,” Kay said. “He is there all day, every day. Really, it’s an obsession.”

The Denver commit has an array of impressive stats. He had a 46-goal, 47-assist senior season, marking the third straight year Crissman topped 90 points. He also set the Rams’ all-time assists mark, passing 2018 Midwest Player of the Year Graham Bundy Jr.

Crissman is the USA Lacrosse High School Boys’ Midwest Region Player and Attacker of the Year — and his most impressive stat might be the one very few people see.

“His film study is elite,” Kay said. “When I go into Hudl to see how many hours of film the guys are watching on a week-to-week basis, his number is oftentimes higher than my number and it forces me to sit down and make sure that I’m watching more film than he is.”

Perhaps Crissman had to be that way given he first took the field for MICDS as a 5-6, 135-pound freshman. When you’re playing in the state title game at that height and weight, you have to figure out other ways to survive. So, he developed his left and right hand. And he became the kind of savvy player that delivered in all sorts of big games for the Rams.

That included seven points apiece against Lacrosse Association of Kansas City champion Shawnee Mission East and longtime rival John Burroughs. It also included five goals, 13 assists and seven ground balls over the Rams’ state quarterfinal, semifinal and title game wins.

“Steele is just very fluid,” Kay said. “He plays like Pat Spencer. He can throw skip passes with his left hand. He can throw skip passes with his right hand. He’s very much a hesitation kind of dodger. He’s deceptively fast, but he finds a way to manipulate the defense to get to the goal, and that’s just really unique, so he’s a funky kid to watch. He’ll shoot off screens. He has everything in the bag.”

— Jonah Rosenblum

Boys’ All-Midwest Team

Attackman of the Year: Steele Crissman, Sr., MICDS (Mo.)

Midfielder of the Year: Luke Backes, Sr., Upper Arlington (Ohio)

Upper Arlington’s Luke Backes is one of the more remarkable stories in Midwest lacrosse. After not playing lacrosse as a freshman and sophomore (due to an ACL tear), Backes, better known as a quarterback to that point, turned into a leader for one of the region’s top lacrosse programs. As a senior, the Cornell commit scored a team-high 57 goals to go with 14 assists, earning Ohio Midfielder of the Year honors. That included hat tricks in the regional finals and state semifinals.

Defender of the Year: Aiden Zimmerman, Jr., Farmington (Minn.)

A two-time captain and two-time All-American, AJ Theodorakakos was a “generational talent,” according to Penfield head coach John Schembri, a player lauded as much for his physical strength and skill on the field as his ability to lead by example. The Army commit was the No. 1 ranked defenseman in the Class of 2026 by Inside Lacrosse. Theodorakakos, who was selected to the New Balance All-American games, had four goals and two assists, while scooping up 21 ground balls.

Goalie of the Year: Cole Narkiewicz, Jr., Western Reserve Academy (Ohio)

Western Reserve Academy keeper Cole Narkiewicz turned in a stellar season. Facing some of the top competition in the country, the University of Richmond commit stopped 54 percent of the shots he faced (80 of 148). He set the tone with an 83 save percentage as the Pioneers held Archbishop Spalding to a single goal in mid-March. His finest moments came in the Midwest Scholastic Lacrosse Association Tournament when he saved seven of nine shots against The Kiski School (Pa.) in the first round and nine of 14 against Culver Academy (Ind.) to win the championship.

Specialist of the Year: Gentry Curtis, Jr., Western Reserve Academy (Ohio)

Western Reserve Academy’s Gentry Curtis has been one of the Midwest’s best for a long time. As a freshman, Curtis won 120 of 158 faceoffs for Rockhurst Jesuit (Kan.). Curtis has continued to excel at WRA against a loaded schedule. Indeed, the Syracuse commit snagged 94 of 134 faceoffs this past season. That included winning 16 of 18 faceoffs in a 15-13 win over Hill Academy (Ont.), 11 of 15 in a victory over Delaware power Salesianum and 10 of 18 (with eight ground balls) in the Pioneers’ MSLA title game win over Culver Academy (Ind.).

Midwest Boys' Top 10

1. Western Reserve (Ohio), 14-1

The Pioneers had a tremendous season, beating a number of the nation’s top teams, including No. 3 Culver Academy (Ind.) and five others in the USA Lacrosse rankings (Archbishop Spalding, Loyola Blakefield, Salesianum, Seton Hall Prep and St. Mary’s). They also avenged their lone loss when they topped the Eagles in the Midwest Scholastic Lacrosse Association Tournament title game. Among their impressive achievements, they collected 167 more ground balls than their opponents and shot 43 percent on the season. Previous: 1

2. Culver Academy (Ind.), 14-1

Like the Pioneers, the Eagles ended their season on a high note, venturing over to Massachusetts and topping Deerfield Academy (currently ranked sixth in the nation) by a goal in early May. Culver’s impressive resume also includes wins over No. 2 Western Reserve, No. 7 St. Anthony’s (N.Y.) and No. 16 Delbarton (N.J.). Previous: 2

3. St. Xavier (Ohio), 21-1

Championships don’t come lightly in Buckeye State lacrosse and the Bombers had to beat another of the Midwest’s best, Upper Arlington, in the state semifinals to return to the top. Since falling to Moeller in the 2017 regional finals, St. Xavier has gone to state every year, including six title game appearances and three championships, highlighted by titles in each of the last two years (2025 and 2026). Previous: 3

4. Upper Arlington (Ohio), 19-4

Outside of their state semifinal loss to St. Xavier, the Golden Bears were undefeated against Midwest competition this year. That included handing MICDS (Mo.) one of its two losses and Hudson (Ohio) one of its four losses. As for the Golden Bears, their three regular-season losses came against Salesianum (Del.), New Canaan (Conn.) and Roswell (Ga.) — with the Rams and Sals both receiving consideration in the latest USA Lacrosse rankings. Previous: 4

5. Carmel (Ind.), 17-2

The Greyhounds lost just twice all year and avenged one of those losses when they beat the Culver varsity in the state title game. Five Carmel players topped 55 points, including Ike Stitle’s team-high 66 goals (to go with 21 assists), Evan Coulter’s team-high 44 assists (along with 13 goals) and Luke Shrift’s 43 goals and 29 assists. Previous: 5

6. Farmington (Minn.), 19-0

A year ago, the Tigers brought an undefeated record into June before falling to Lakeville North in the sectional finals. This season, Farmington stayed perfect through the finish line, winning every postseason game by double digits heading into a state championship matchup of undefeated teams, in which Farmington topped Stillwater by one. Caden Hennes had 110 points as one of three Tigers players with 50-plus goals alongside Brooks Furney and Parker Nivala. Previous: 6

7. Detroit Country Day (Mich.), 20-1

The Yellowjackets finished their season on an eight-game win streak, rallying from a four-goal deficit to top Forest Hills Central in the state title game. That marked DCDS’ sixth win by four goals or fewer, with the Yellowjackets also prevailing in close games against Cranbrook (Mich.), Detroit Catholic Central (Mich.), Forest Hills Northern (Mich.), Rockford (Mich.) and Wheaton Academy (Ill.). Previous: 7

8. MICDS (Mo.), 4-1

Utah commit Justin Bishop had a tournament run to remember, scoring four goals in the Rams’ state quarterfinal, semifinal and championship game wins. Denver commit Steele Crissman added five goals, 13 assists and seven ground balls over that stretch, leading MICDS in assists (47) and points (93) this season. Wyatt Giles added a team-high 47 goals for the Rams, whose lone losses came to state runner-up Montgomery Bell Academy (Tenn.) and fellow state qualifier Upper Arlington (Ohio). Previous: 8

9. Shawnee Mission East (Kan.), 10-4

For the second straight season, the Lancers closed with a 7-6 Lacrosse Association of Kansas City title game win over Rockhurst Jesuit. It was quite a turnaround given Shawnee Mission East lost three straight games to end April, including a six-goal loss to the Rams and a three-goal loss to the Hawklets. Two games over .500 at the time, the Lancers ended the year on a four-game win streak. Previous: 9

10. Detroit Catholic Central (Mich.), 17-5

After a 3-3 start, the Shamrocks won 14 of 16 games to end the year, avenging an earlier loss to Brother Rice in the state semifinals and topping Hudsonville in the title game. DCC has now won two state championships in the past three seasons. Previous: 10