Kyle Schmauch, 20, was reading newspapers on a daily basis by fifth grade, according to his mother.

“He became completely amazed at how the media has an impact in influencing people,” Kathy Schmauch said.

Now he’s part of that impact.

Kyle Schmauch and fellow journalism student Alexandra Schwier earned national recognition in broadcast journalism after winning the Fox News College Challenge.

Schmauch is a 2010 Glacier High School graduate who is concluding his second year at the University of Montana, where he majors in broadcast journalism and political science.

The pair each won a $5,000 scholarship and $10,000 grant for the university for their segment on the wolf-hunting controversy in Montana.

They flew April 26 to New York along with University of Montana Radio-Television Professor Ray Ekness and were presented checks live on “Fox & Friends” the next day.

Schmauch was interviewed for an internship with Fox News Network as part of the prize.

Ekness hadn’t heard about the contest until Schmauch and Schwier approached him about entering.

“They saw an opportunity and went for it. We’re proud of them,” Ekness said. He added that it is great that a national audience was able to see the quality of work coming out of the universities journalism department.

Before choosing a topic, Schmauch and Schwier reviewed suggested topics such as health-care reform or legalization of marijuana on the contest Website, but the pair wanted to report on a topic that would be fresh to a national audience.

“We did not want to do a topic that has been covered from every angle in the book,” Schmauch said.

A hunter himself, Schmauch was familiar with the wolf controversy.

After a couple of weeks of research, they interviewed John Meyers, owner of Shining Mountain Ranch; Marc Cooke, co-president of the National WolfWatcher Coalition; and Randy Newberg, hunter, conservationist and host of the national TV show “On Your Own Adventures.”

After shooting two to three hours of footage, the students condensed the piece to the three minutes, the maximum time limit for contest entries.

“Condensing such a controversial issue with that many sides — you’re going to lose information — but you pick out the essence, the best sound bites, and try to make the most comprehensive story you can,” Schmauch said.

Schmauch added that is was difficult to get straight statistics on wolf population and confirmed kills.

“Different sides had different statistics,” Schmauch said.

Schmauch said high school helped shape what he wanted to major in.

As a Glacier High student, he participated in We The People, a group that competes about knowledge of the U.S. Constitution. He also took Advanced Placement courses in government and became involved in the high school in-house TV broadcast station, Glacier Television.

Schmauch plans to graduate in one and a half or two more years and may go into political reporting or public relations or apply for law school.

 To view the segment on the wolf-hunting controversy, go to www.foxnews.com/fncu/college-challenge.

Reporter Hilary Matheson may be reached at 758-4431 or by email at hmatheson@dailyinterlake.com