Wisconsin Football Eyeing 6-foot-7 Tight End on the Recruiting Trail

Wisconsin Badgers head football coach Luke Fickell and his recruiting department have struggled to gain traction with some of the program’s top tight end targets in the 2025 cycle.

Thus far, the Badgers have missed out on several top recruits high on their board, such as in-state product James Flanigan, who picked Notre Dame, and Marshall Pritchett, who wound up at UNC.

Position coach Nate Letton has been pursuing Reiman Zebert out of Nebraska — and Brock Schott from Indiana — but things have started to heat up between the Badgers and three-star tight end Tyler Kielmeyer out of Westerville, Ohio.

Honored to receive a scholarship offer from The University of Wisconsin! Thank you to @NateLetton for reaching out! pic.twitter.com/Wrm4Fnce8P

— Tyler Kielmeyer (@KielmeyerTyler) January 24, 2024

According to the composite recruiting rankings, Kielmeyer has an 85 rating, positioning him as the 46th-ranked tight end and the 38th-ranked prospect from Ohio in the class of 2025.

Kielmeyer currently holds 19 scholarship offers. Among his suitors are schools like Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Purdue, Akron, Boston College, Cincinnati, Colorado State, Eastern Kentucky, Eastern Michigan, Louisville, Michigan State, Minnesota, Ohio, Rutgers, Toledo, West Virginia, and the Wisconsin football program, which got involved in January.

During his junior season at Westerville South High School, the 6-foot-7, 235-pound tight end hauled in 18 passes for 383 yards and two touchdowns on 21.3 YPC, per MaxPreps.

Coach Letton has served as the lead recruiter for the Ohio native, while Director of Player Personnel Max Stienecker has done his part, per usual. Kielmeyer plans to take an unofficial visit to check out the Wisconsin football team on April 20, he shared with Badgernotes.com.

“I have a really good relationship with the Wisconsin football coaches,” Kielmeyer said. “There are also a lot of Columbus guys around the program. But the main thing is to get up to campus and check things out.”

The Badgers took two tight ends in the 2024 recruiting class: four-star Grant Stec and in-state product Robert Booker. Wisconsin will likely take one in this cycle — but these things remain fluid.

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