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PITTSBURG —
The defending national champions have nearly 140 players starting preseason camp and over 40 incoming freshmen checked in and moved in Wednesday.
Savoy Santiago, Mason Snow, Ian Tucker and Bo Weber all played high school football together at Bentonville, a Class 7A power in Arkansas which finished 2011 state runner-up to Fayetteville.
All four reported for preseason camp at Pittsburg State.
“There’s four of us playing football and then there’s another guy coming up, another friend,” Weber said. “He wants to come to college with us. We’re all kind of hanging together.”
Bentonville finished its 2011 season 12-1, outscoring its opponents 552-136. The Tigers won a Class 7A state title in 2010, finishing 13-0 with a 49-28 win over Fayetteville in the championship game.
Santiago (6-foot, 197 pounds) played an “undersized” defensive end in high school and now will be in the Pitt State defensive backfield. Snow (6-0, 165), a Class 7A All-State selection at wide receiver, caught 79 passes for 1,307 yards and 14 touchdowns his senior year. Weber (6-4, 260) and Tucker (6-4, 275) were starting offensive tackles for the Tigers; Weber, a two-year starter, earned All-Conference first team his senior year.
Santiago and Weber both expressed their enthusiasm for preseason camp on Wednesday, six days away from their first two-a-day practice session.
“Oh my goodness, I’ve waited for this all summer,” Santiago said.
“I love football,” Weber said. “I can’t wait to start.”
Blake Woellhof (6-2, 200) started three years for the Panthers of Concordia High, recording 187 career tackles.
“I’m excited,” Woellhof said. “I know we have to wake up and do some endurance testing. At least, it’s in the morning and not the hot afternoon.”
Woellhof earned All-State honorable mention in Class 4A and Concordia finished its 2011 season 8-2; he recorded 48 tackles (35 solo), four interceptions, 609 rushing yards and averaged 31.1 yards punting. Woellhof balanced gridiron success with hard work in the classroom, becoming a honor roll student and Kansas Honor Scholar. He’s listed at safety for Pitt State.
Jordan Wiedemann (6-2, 190), another honor roll student and Kansas Honor Scholar in high school slotted for defensive back duty at Pittsburg State, earned All-City and All-Conference honors three years playing for the Wichita Northwest Grizzlies. Wiedemann played on four district championship teams.
“I’m excited to get started,” Wiedemann said. “It’s been a while since I’ve been on the field. It’s gone by fast. I’m excited to get back on the field and to start putting in some work.”
The defending national champions have nearly 140 players starting preseason camp and over 40 incoming freshmen checked in and moved in Wednesday.
Savoy Santiago, Mason Snow, Ian Tucker and Bo Weber all played high school football together at Bentonville, a Class 7A power in Arkansas which finished 2011 state runner-up to Fayetteville.
All four reported for preseason camp at Pittsburg State.
“There’s four of us playing football and then there’s another guy coming up, another friend,” Weber said. “He wants to come to college with us. We’re all kind of hanging together.”
Bentonville finished its 2011 season 12-1, outscoring its opponents 552-136. The Tigers won a Class 7A state title in 2010, finishing 13-0 with a 49-28 win over Fayetteville in the championship game.
Santiago (6-foot, 197 pounds) played an “undersized” defensive end in high school and now will be in the Pitt State defensive backfield. Snow (6-0, 165), a Class 7A All-State selection at wide receiver, caught 79 passes for 1,307 yards and 14 touchdowns his senior year. Weber (6-4, 260) and Tucker (6-4, 275) were starting offensive tackles for the Tigers; Weber, a two-year starter, earned All-Conference first team his senior year.
Santiago and Weber both expressed their enthusiasm for preseason camp on Wednesday, six days away from their first two-a-day practice session.
“Oh my goodness, I’ve waited for this all summer,” Santiago said.
“I love football,” Weber said. “I can’t wait to start.”
Blake Woellhof (6-2, 200) started three years for the Panthers of Concordia High, recording 187 career tackles.
“I’m excited,” Woellhof said. “I know we have to wake up and do some endurance testing. At least, it’s in the morning and not the hot afternoon.”
Woellhof earned All-State honorable mention in Class 4A and Concordia finished its 2011 season 8-2; he recorded 48 tackles (35 solo), four interceptions, 609 rushing yards and averaged 31.1 yards punting. Woellhof balanced gridiron success with hard work in the classroom, becoming a honor roll student and Kansas Honor Scholar. He’s listed at safety for Pitt State.
Jordan Wiedemann (6-2, 190), another honor roll student and Kansas Honor Scholar in high school slotted for defensive back duty at Pittsburg State, earned All-City and All-Conference honors three years playing for the Wichita Northwest Grizzlies. Wiedemann played on four district championship teams.
“I’m excited to get started,” Wiedemann said. “It’s been a while since I’ve been on the field. It’s gone by fast. I’m excited to get back on the field and to start putting in some work.”
Wiedemann intercepted five passes his senior year, including three against Wichita East on Sept. 16. He also served as the starting quarterback.
Santiago, Weber, Woellhof and Wiedemann found a similar calling to PSU.
“They’ve had a good program, a lot of success, a lot of conference titles,” Santiago said. “I was always interested in the program, then I came up here for a camp one time and that helped out. I love the coaches, I love the atmosphere, I love the city. There’s no reason not to be here.”
“Probably the atmosphere,” Weber said. “I went to a few schools and went to a couple games. This one, everybody’s so supportive of this team. I remember watching the (first) Washburn game and I went to the one at Arrowhead and watched them come back and win it, that was awesome.”
“Obviously, the DII National Championship but the facilities are nice and I’ve heard they’re putting in that new indoor facility soon,” Woellhof said. “That will be nice. The tradition and the facilities are what brought me down here. The coaches seem nice, the people seem welcoming so it seems like a great place to be. I went on an official visit back in January. I haven’t been down here since.”
“The overall atmosphere,” Wiedemann said. “This town lives and breathes football. I’ve gone to Washburn and all those places and it doesn’t compare on gameday. They don’t pack the stands like Pittsburg State does and everybody’s behind the football team. It’s a good atmosphere and it’s a good program. I watched the (first) Washburn game and then I watched the National Championship Game on TV.”
