Brennan Wack consistently ran through defenses during a decorated career at Wheeling Park.
All the while, Wack never lost sight of what was most important, and maintained a 4.5 grade-point average throughout his time as a Patriot.
Wack feels he has an ideal fit at the next level to combine his athletic and academic prowess, and on Wednesday, he signed his National Letter of Intent to continue on at Yale.
“It’s a super well-rounded place,” Wack said. “Obviously, the academics are top-tier. The football team won the Ivy League last year and they have a great culture and coaching staff. I had fun with the players during my visit and they’re great guys that I’d love to be around.”
Wack is the first two-time winner of the Curt Warner Award, presented annually since 2014 to the top running back in West Virginia.
As a senior, he amassed 2,079 rushing yards and 26 touchdowns over 10 games, missing a pair of contests near the midway point of the regular season due to injury.
That allowed Wack to finish as Wheeling Park’s all-time leader in rushing yardage and rushing touchdowns as it followed a junior campaign with 2,258 yards and 31 touchdowns on the ground.
“My one cut and go ability can definitely translate to college,” Wack said. “A huge part of playing college football is not dancing around, seeing where you have to go and bursting through the hole. My receiving ability can translate, too, because I played receiver growing up and my first couple years of high school.”
Wack was also an impact defender for WPHS while being utilized in somewhat of a hybrid linebacker/defensive back role.
Perhaps no game better demonstrated Wack’s impact as a two-way player than his last one, when he rushed 28 times for 204 yards and two touchdowns, threw a TD pass and recorded 10 tackles with an interception during the Patriots’ 55-35 loss at Martinsburg in a state quarterfinal. One week earlier, he’d led the Patriots to an opening-round playoff win over Woodrow Wilson and become Wheeling Park’s all-time leading rusher in the process.
There was also a 341-yard, six-touchdown performance in a 42-35 regular season win over previously unbeaten University, which wound up a state semifinalist.
“I was being recruited as a running back, and that’s what I plan to play, but I’d be open to whatever gets me on the field,” Wack said.
Wack was on his official visit at Yale last weekend — the third time he’d been on campus. The first instance came in the summer of 2025 when he was a participant at Yale football camp, and Wack returned during the season to take in a 24-10 victory over Columbia on November 1.
Three weeks later, Yale topped Harvard 45-28 for a share of the Ivy League title. The Bulldogs went on to defeat Youngstown State 43-42 in the opening round of the FCS Playoffs before being eliminated by eventual National Champion Montana State, 21-13.
Wack also took an official visit to Morehead State and had offers from other local Division II and Division III programs.
“A huge part of the decision was thinking about the next 40 years of my life and how going to a good school could affect that,” Wack said. “On top of that, it’ll be a lot of fun to play for a winning program and I’m really excited to play at that level.”
Wack has yet to finalize his major but is leaning toward biology or chemistry.
“Being well-rounded is a huge aspect of life,” Wack said. “I want to be good at everything I do and that includes football and academics.”