CBC senior defensive lineman Triston Abram is one of the top edge rushers in the area.Â
The No. 16 recruit on the Post-Dispatch Super 30 football countdown, Abram has consistently displayed the ability to change a game with his prowess on the defensive line.Â
"He's an animal out there," CBC senior linebacker Jacob Grunwaldt.
The 6-foot-4, 230-pound Abram is coming off a stellar junior campaign that caught the interest of NCAA Division I college coaches around the country.
Known for his quickness off the ball, Abram has verbally committed to continue his career at Indiana University of the Ben Ten Conference, one of 19 scholarship offers he received.
"I feel good about the things I can do," Abram said.
Abram came into his own last season.
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He attended Edwardsville High as a freshman before transferring to CBC prior to his sophomore campaign. He spent much of that year on the junior varsity level.
Through hard work in the offseason, Abram developed into a totally different player.
"My parents told me that if football is what I want I had to go out there and chase my dream," Abram said. "Training in the summer made me so much better."
Abram turned heads during a preseason jamboree last year and then took off in a season-opening win against Carmel, Indiana.
He had four tackles, three assists and helped take control of the contest from the outset.
"All the pieces started falling into place," Abram said. "Once you get the confidence that I got, you start taking your game up to level one, then level two. Then I just started balling out."
Abram finished last season with 66 tackles, including a team-best 14 for losses as the Cadets finished second in Class 6. He also led the team with six quarterback sacks.
Most importantly, he shined down the stretch. Abram recorded eight tackles, three for losses, and two sacks in a 35-23 quarterfinal round win at traditional power Jackson.
Abram is also a top-notch wrestler. He just missed qualifying for state last season and will move up and compete in the heavyweight division this winter.
But football has been his passion since Day One.
"In kindergarten, when we had to write down what we wanted to be when we grow up, I put that I wanted to be an NFL player," Abram recalled.
That one-time far-fetched dream is now a potential reality, partly because of his rapid progression after just one full season.
The sky could be the limit down the road.
"I'm just grateful that I have the talent to do what I love," Abram said. "I'm not going to waste it. I'll just keep working and working until I reach my goal."
These are the top high school football players in the ºüÀêÊÓƵ region.