Liberty Alumni in College Athletics
Liberty has always been a sports oriented school and this has set up many athletes to go on and play sports in college.
Kelby Telander, Ben Houselog, and Brylee Klosterman in their college’s sports uniforms.
Everyone always wonders how the people in their high school class will end up after graduation. You know those yearbook questions, “Who’s the most likely to be famous.” Or “Most likely to succeed.” Although in Liberty’s short 4-year history, there hasn’t been enough time to see the full potential of our alumni, I caught up with 3 former liberty student-athletes to see how high school impacted their college athletic careers and what tips they have for aspiring college athletes.
Kelby Telander – Class of 2021
Kelby is a freshman at the University of Iowa. He plays as a linebacker on the Hawkeye football team and was a kid captain for the team in 2009. He graduated from Liberty in 2021.
“My coaches impacted my athletic career by preparing me for the everyday challenges that I face. They taught me how to have an underdog mentality which is very much needed when competing at a Big 10 school as a freshman. I would say calculus set me up the most for the most success because it taught me how to create good study habits in preparation for the difficult tests we had in that class back then which are pretty much faced in every class I now take.”
“One tip I would give to incoming college students is that they need to learn how to schedule their day in advance and know what is on their to-do list every day. It’s really helpful having that written out when there is so much to accomplish between school, work, and sports. If you choose to be a student-athlete in college, you always feel like you’re on the move and there isn’t much time to have a social life, especially during the season.”
“After college, I plan to stick around here and pursue my major as a financial advisor.”
Ben Houselog – Class of 2020
Ben is a sophomore at Upper Iowa University. He plays as a Wide Receiver on the Upper Iowa football team. In high school, he gained popularity on the social media app TikTok, notably collaborating with Charlie Puth and appearing in a Mr. Beast video on YouTube. He now juggles between being a student, an athlete, and a social media influencer. Ben graduated from Liberty in 2020.
“My coaches have impacted my athletic career a lot, I never dreamed of getting to where I am at but all of my coaches have left a positive impact on me and I am grateful for every single one of them, Coach Gordon set me up for a lot of success he always preached about life not being fair and he was very right, he taught me a lot about life and I’m grateful for that.” The biggest piece of advice I can give is to forget the “high school you” and treat college as a blank slate, leave all your mistakes or accomplishments no matter how big they were, and focus on being a good person over anything else and building meaningful relationships with people. — Ben Houselog
“Every teacher I had at Liberty has taught me some things that I will remember for the rest of my life, as well as the administrators, janitors, librarians, and every other adult in the building. Though I wish Liberty had prepared me for real-world living and spending habits, now that I have a job I sometimes spend too much money on food or clothes that could be better serviced elsewhere.”
“The biggest piece of advice I can give is to forget the “high school you” and treat college as a blank slate, leave all your mistakes or accomplishments no matter how big they were, and focus on being a good person over anything else and building meaningful relationships with people.”
“My high school experience didn’t have much to do with being a social media influencer, I just kinda wish it never happened honestly, probably the most it did was get me chants from other student sections. My plans after graduating are still not very certain but I would love to become a college football coach, I’m majoring in financial management so maybe there is some of that in my future but I would love to be a football coach.”
Brylee Klosterman – Class of 2020
Brylee is a sophomore at the University of Iowa. She plays on the Iowa Women’s Softball team as a centerfielder. In high school, she was a Three-time All-Conference honoree and graduated in 2020.
“The coaches I have had in the past are a huge reason why I am where I am today. I am glad they pushed me and saw the potential in me when I couldn’t see it myself. I think the staff as a whole at Liberty showed that they care about their students, and that has pushed me to get to know my teachers in college, and have good relationships with them. Making that effort has helped me succeed in my classes and allows the teachers to get to know me as well. I honestly think Liberty did a good job preparing me for college, but I wish schools would teach more real-world things such as how to manage money and manage your time, as that can be difficult once you get to college.”
“Being a student-athlete has been such a blessing, even though the harder times. It can get very busy trying to balance school and sports and is something that is learned over time, but I wouldn’t change what I am doing for the world. Being a student-athlete has developed me into the person I am and has given me so many life skills that I would have never had without it. It isn’t always sunshine and rainbows, but I am thankful that I can do something I love every day. My favorite part about being a student-athlete at Iowa is that I get to represent my hometown and that my family is so close. I love that they can come to every game and that I get to play for something bigger than myself. My other favorite thing is that it has brought me to some of my best friends and I get to play next to some amazing female athletes.”
“One tip I would give students now is to cherish every moment, it flies by so fast. I know that sounds cliche, but it is true. A tip I would give them for life after high school is to put yourself out there, take those risks to chase your dreams, and always be yourself because you never know where it could take you.”
“My plans after graduating college are to hopefully get a job at a larger business and to eventually run my own business one day and stay in Iowa as well.”
A student who graduates from Liberty is always a Liberty student. Past and present bolts can take pride in the impact our Liberty alumni has and is making.
Noah is a senior at Liberty. He is in newspaper, broadcasting, and yearbook. He is a part-time Starbucks barista and a full-time baddie.
