Index of Sports Press Releases

Feb. 4, 2009

No. 23 DWU receives 24 commitments on ‘Signing Day’

Coach Brad Pole

MITCHELL, S.D. – Great Plains Athletic Conference Football Coach-of-the-Year Brad Pole and the 23rd-ranked Dakota Wesleyan University football team celebrated National Signing Day Wednesday by announcing 24 student-athletes who have signed Letters of Intent to join the Tigers for the 2009 season.

Pole’s latest recruiting class features several South Dakota and Mitchell-area stars, including eight players who received Sioux Falls Argus-Leader “Elite 45” honors or “Elite 45” Honorable Mention status and eight players who earned All-State honors in high school. Pole’s class also features 10 players who helped their high school team win a State Championship.

“I’m really pleased with this recruiting class,” Pole said Wednesday. “Not only do we have a number of local kids, but a lot of them are high-profile local kids. It’s big for us to have eight kids that earned at least honorable mention Elite 45 status, and when we add a few more kids going forward, this has the potential to be a banner recruiting year for Dakota Wesleyan.”

Headlining the National Signing Day commitments are a trio of South Dakota stars: Hanson’s Tyson Gau (QB, 6-1, 170), Sioux Falls Lincoln’s Derek Carlson (WR/TE, 6-4, 205) and Aberdeen Central’s Nathan Little (DL/OL, 6-3, 260).

Gau quarterbacked Hanson to the 2008 Class “9B” State Championship and earned All-State and “Elite 45” honors in the process. His older brother, Jordan, is already an All-GPAC defensive back for the Tigers. Carlson helped Lincoln capture the Class “11AA” State Championship, and he was an All-State First Team and “Elite 45” Honorable Mention selection as a senior. Little was a two-time All-State Honorable Mention selection for Aberdeen Central, and an “Elite 45” pick as a senior.

Four other area players also have Pole excited about his incoming class. Hanson’s Matt McManus (DB, 6-0, 160), Ethan’s Tanner Duba (DB, 6-0, 165), Bon Homme’s Austin Koch (QB, 6-2, 175) and Winner’s Jack Kerner (OL/DL, 5-11, 265) were all All-State First Team selections as seniors. Duba and Koch were both “Elite 45” selections and McManus and Kerner earned “Elite 45” Honorable Mention status. McManus and Duba also won state titles during their high school careers and Kerner played for the Class “11A” runner up.

With this recruiting class, Pole has also reeled in his biggest haul of Sioux Falls-area talent during his four years at the helm of the Tigers. Augustana College transfer Tom Jarding (DB, 5-9, 190) was an “Elite 45” selection following his standout high school career at Sioux Falls O’Gorman, and four teammates from Sioux Falls Roosevelt will bring a top-notch football pedigree to Pole’s program. Jesse Bennett (WR, 6-0, 185), Denet Christopher (DB, 5-11, 190), Riley Lynch (LB/DE, 6-0, 205) and Marcus Watson (DB, 6-0, 175) all helped the Rough Riders win a pair of Class “11AA” State Championships.

Pole was able to add a hometown recruit to his program in Mitchell High School standout Travis Salmonson (WR, 6-3, 165), and he also likes the potential of two other Eastern South Dakota Conference standouts, Aberdeen Central’s Tyler Severson (LB, 6-1, 190) and Huron’s Eric Witte (OL, 6-0, 255).

Other incoming freshmen recruits from South Dakota are: West Central’s Kevin Calsbeek (TE, 6-5, 235), Parker’s Cody Duerksen (QB, 6-0, 165), Gayville-Volin’s Kevin Kellum (WR, 6-0, 165) and Tri-Valley’s Nick Richards (DB, 5-10, 160).

Incoming freshman from out-of-state are: Minnesota’s Alex Anderson (TE/DE, 6-4, 215, Redwood Valley High School), California’s Alejandro Bobadilla (DL, 6-1, 235, San Gabriel High School) and Texas’ Daniel Pulliam (RB, 5-9, 185, Taylor High School).

In addition to Jarding, the Tigers’ two other transfers are East Los Angeles College’s Mario Palencia (OL, 6-1, 270) and Lyndon Scheveck (LB, 6-2, 205), who rejoins the Tigers after a season at Montana State University. Jarding and Palencia will both have sophomore eligibility and Scheveck will have junior eligibility.

This year’s recruiting class features 21 players from South Dakota, two from California, one from Texas and one from Wyoming. Out of this group, 11 project to play on offense at this time, 10 project to play defense and three could go either way.

The biggest position addressed during recruiting this season was defensive back, with six signees. The class also features four wide receivers, three quarterbacks, three offensive linemen, three linebackers, two tight ends, two defensive linemen and one running back.

Though Wendesday’s Signing Day announcement signaled a big part of the Tiger coaches’ recruiting efforts, Coach Pole and his staff won’t finalize the class for some time. DWU hopes to add 15 to 20 more players before the team goes to camp in early August with a total of 40 to 45 new recruits.

Dakota Wesleyan is coming off its best season in 15 years as it finished in a third-place tie in the GPAC with a 7-3 record. Pole was named the league’s Coach-of-the-Year, 19 players earned All-Conference honors and three players earned All-American honors. The Tigers spent three weeks in the Top 25, including a final ranking of 23.