The Wayland High School community is reeling from the news this morning that senior athlete Ethan Mutschler was killed in a traffic accident.

Mutschler was perhaps best known as a three-year starter on the offensive line for the Wildcat varsity football team and as a member of the varsity basketball team. He was a good-sized red-headed young man at 6-7 and more than 200 pounds.

He was killed in a two-vehicle crash at 6:30 p.m. Friday in southern Kent County on Wilson Avenue at 92nd Street SW, in Byron Township. The Kent County Sheriff’s Office said in a news release a preliminary investigation shows Mutschler was driving a Ford Taurus eastbound on 92nd Street when he stopped for the stop sign at Wilson Avenue, and then proceeded into the intersection. “A southbound Volvo on Wilson struck the Taurus, killing the driver of the Taurus.”

Police say alcohol was not involved, and the investigation continues. The 19-year-old driver of the Volvo, Coulter Rounds of Byron Center, suffered minor injuries, according to the Sheriff’s Office.  Both young men were wearing seatbelts.

Wayland Board of Education member Dan Cassini posted on Facebook today, “Ethan was a very special young man, much more than one of our football/basketball players. He touched so many and left a great impression on everyone that knew him in his, too short a life. This season/year will not be the same without him but we’ll carry on in remembrance of who and what he was.”

It wasn’t just Wayland people affected, as Evangelina Helderop, Hopkins’ 400-meter regional champion, sent along condolences on Facebook.

(Cover photo courtesy of This Is Wayland)