Waukon football's new triple threat: Senior trio signs talents on with Division I programs

Even though the 2013 Iowa High School football season is over, history continues to be made by members of this past season’s Waukon football team. Having already played to historical measures this past fall on the high school gridiron, not one but three of this year’s senior team members have now penned their names to letters of intent to continue their playing careers with NCAA Division I football programs - the most Division I commitments ever in the history of the program.
“It is really a tribute to their individual talents,” Waukon football varsity head coach Chad Beerman said of his former charges who will be taking their talents on to the highest level of NCAA football.
Glyeb Ewing, Parker Hesse and Marcus Weymiller each signed their names to National Letters of Intent on NCAA Signing Day Wednesday, February 5, making their commitments to their respective programs official. Ewing inked his commitment to Oregon State University as a defensive lineman prospect, Hesse finalized his commitment to the University of Iowa as a linebacker, and Weymiller signed his official declaration to play runningback at the University of Northern Iowa (UNI).
“You have three young men who all functioned well within the team concept, while coming from different circumstances,” Coach Beermann furthered. “Glyeb came late to the game from an experience standpoint, and is still developing his knowledge of the game while realizing his potential. Parker is a four-sport athlete who probably was really more of a basketball prospect until the last year but showed the ability to take over games. And finally, you have Marcus, who has great talent, but struggled with injuries during his career.”

WEYMILLER TO UNI
Continuing a family tradition, of sorts, Weymiller’s new commitment will allow him to join his two older brothers in continuing their football playing careers after high school. Ross and Frank Weymiller each completed stellar careers at Coe College in Cedar Rapids, with Frank first having tested the walk-on waters at Iowa State University before transferring.
Although he posted considerable offensive numbers in the past two seasons that were cut somewhat short by injuries, the Division I pursuit of the youngest football Weymiller only got serious recently. “They said a big factor in them pursuing me was when they watched the game we played in the State semifinals in the Dome,” Weymiller shared of his recruiting experience with UNI and their head coach, Waukon native Mark Farley. “Coach Farley said I had a great attitude, and that he likes the grit I showed, how hard I play the game and the potential I would bring to his program.”
Also getting late consideration from Iowa State, it all came down to the impact Weymiller felt he could make on his future team, and how soon he could get an opportunity to do so. “I sat down with Coach Farley this past week when I visited the campus, and we talked about a lot of things that were important to me,” Weymiller said. “It looks like I will have a real good opportunity to play there and make the kind of impact on the team that I want to make.”
While Weymiller feels honored to be able to play for a coach like Farley, he doesn’t think there was - and doesn’t ever want there to be - any special consideration made for him just because they share the same high school alma mater. “I’m sure it will give all the newspapers a good headline to write about, but there wasn’t any special consideration there,” he explained. “And I certainly don’t expect to be treated any differently, I know I need to work just as hard as everyone else and earn everything that I want to achieve.”
Although his football abilities and goals are now being taken to the next level, the foundation for Weymiller’s overall goals remains very similar. “I want to become the best runningback I can be, get on the field down there as quickly as possible, and try and help UNI win a national championship to continue to build on the strong tradition of success for that program,” he said.
But Weymiller knows that being granted the opportunity to continue his football career at the college level isn’t something he accomplished solely on his own. “I’d like to thank my family and this community for all the support they’ve shown me all these years, and I thank my Lord Jesus Christ for giving me the opportunities he has and for the help He’s given me along the way,” Weymiller summarized.

BECOMING A BEAVER
Having made a verbal commitment to play at Oregon State University as early as June of last year, Ewing stayed true to that commitment with his February 5 letter signing. For him, it was a combination of football and location that solidified his commitment.
“I fell in love with the coaches, they really showed a lot of interest and seem to really care about their players more than the other schools I visited,” Ewing said of his decision. “And Oregon is just beautiful, it just really felt like home and like a family out there for me.”
And when asked the question of how a young man from Iowa even finds himself being pursued by, or wanting to play at, a school so far away from home, Ewing replied, “It started with e-mails from the coaching staff, and then phone calls before they offered me. Once I visited out there I knew it was the place I wanted to be.”
Being pursued with intentions of continuing his career as a defensive end, Ewing is excited about the possibilities his experience at the next level may hold. “The coaches said I have a real good possibility of playing my first year out there, either on special teams (coverage) or in the rotation at defensive end,” he said.
When asked what he would like to accomplish at this next level of gridiron play, Ewing shared some pretty lofty goals that he feels are attainable if he continues to work hard. “Hopefully I will be playing three to four years at Oregon State, and I have my goals set at becoming All-
Conference and hopefully All-American,” he said. “My ultimate goal is to be playing somewhere on Sundays in the NFL.”
Like Weymiller, Ewing also appreciates the foundation he gained from his days in Waukon that opened up so many opportunities and made those days so memorable. “I’d like to thank everyone for supporting all of us throughout our careers,” he said. “It was awesome to be playing in front of such huge crowds these past couple years, we really appreciate it.”

HAWKEYES FOR HESSE
Also having made an earlier verbal commitment to his college team of choice, Hesse says he will be living out a dream that he feels he’s shared with a lot of young Iowa boys when he suits up for the Iowa Hawkeyes. He says the whole idea of growing up in the Hawkeye state was an added incentive to his recruiting experience with Iowa.
“The coaching staff and players in the program right now were a big influence in my decision,” he said. “And just the tradition and the nostalgia of being a part of the Iowa Hawkeyes. As a kid growing up, I always thought about it, so it’s like a dream come true for me.”
However that dream may play out, Hesse has intentions of doing everything he can to make it a reality as soon as he possibly can. “I’ll get down there and see what I can do, my number-one priority would be to become the best football player I can be to help them out where I can,” he said. “If I don’t redshirt my first year, then I’m obviously going to make as big of an impact as I can for the team. But if I end up redshirting, I am going to work as hard as I can and do everything I possibly can to become the best player I can so I am ready to contribute to the program when they need me.”
Hesse said the coaches he talked to during his recruiting process not only liked the physical abilities he brings to the game of football, but also his physical features that they feel will allow him to further develop and contribute to their program. “They look for guys with a little more height to them to play outside linebacker, the shorter guys usually play in the middle,” Hesse explained. “They said they wanted someone who’s good on their feet and versatile, and they said I had the frame where I could easily put the weight on that they would want me to be playing at without having much impact on my other abilities.”
In fact, Hesse said it was that entire package that he brought to the football field that made Iowa’s coaches feel as if he could make contributions to the continued tradition of the Hawkeye linebacking position. “When I talked with the coaching staff, they compared me a lot to (former Hawkeye and current Minnesota Vikings linebacker) Chad Greenway, who was from an even smaller school than Waukon and whose dad was also a mailman,” shared Hesse, whose father works for the U.S. Post Office in Waukon. “I wish Christian Kirksey (graduating Iowa senior linebacker and team captain) was going to be there one more year so I could pick his brain. The linebacker corps down there the last 10 years or more has set a very high standard, and I look forward to the challenge of helping continue that tradition.”

Having made so many memories for Waukon football fans to recall during their high school careers, all three will now look to continue that trend of memory making at an even greater level of ability. “Their talent has given them this opportunity, but it will be their work ethic that determines what they do with it. Based on that, I believe they will have a great chance to succeed,” Coach Beermann finalized.