ALMA CENTER, Wis. (WEAU/Gray News) – A high school senior in Wisconsin died from an injury suffered during Thursday night’s football game.
Superintendent Drew Semingson said 17-year-old Adam Massman was hurt during the game and received medical care from emergency personnel on the field before being taken to the hospital.
The district learned Saturday afternoon that Massman had died from the injury, Semingson said.
“This loss touches our Lincoln family in many ways,” Semingson said.
The superintendent said Massman was active throughout the Lincoln community and participated in multiple sports, clubs and activities.
Adam Massman as a student-athlete
The senior played quarterback and defensive back for Alma Center Lincoln and also competed in basketball and baseball.
During the 2025 football season, Massman threw for 858 yards and 10 touchdowns in six games while rushing for another 280 yards and three touchdowns, according to MaxPreps statistics entered by the team’s coach.
He accumulated 1,138 total yards during the season.
Massman was also named to the Wisconsin Basketball Coaches Association’s 2025 Boys Basketball Academic All-State list.
Friends remember Massman
Massman’s friend Megan Steussel said the teen will be remembered as a “friend, a fierce competitor and someone who followed his convictions and his passions.”
His teammates have already created a highly personal tribute at Lincoln High School, painting Massman’s school parking spot in his honor. Across the top are the letters “LLA” for “Long Live Adam.”
The tribute also features images representing the Massman family’s cattle business and tire tracks made with Adam’s own truck.
Semingson said the loss reaches into nearly every corner of the district because of Massman’s involvement in school and his family’s extensive ties to Lincoln schools.
His mother is an elementary school counselor, a sibling attends the junior high school, and several other relatives work for the district or serve on the school board.
‘Tell your kids you love them’
For Steussel, Massman’s death also carries a message she hopes other families will hear.
“Tell your kids you love them. Tell your kids’ friends you love them. Tell them that you appreciate them being friends to your kids,” she said.
Steussel said the Massman family is deeply connected not only to Alma Center, but throughout Jackson County.
“You know, to feel this kind of loss is definitely one that will hurt for a long time,” Steussel said. “And as the kids have kind of quoted up, ‘Long Live Adam.’”
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