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By Paul Lecker
MarshfieldAreaSports.com
SPENCER – Spencer High School senior Logan Zschernitz made it official on Wednesday morning, signing a national letter of intent to play college football at Division I Northern Illinois University.
The Spencer/Columbus Catholic lineman was named Cloverbelt Conference Offensive Player of the Year this past season, helping the Rockets to a second-place finish in the conference, an 11-2 overall record, and a trip to the WIAA Division 5 state semifinals.
Zschernitz attended camps at a number of schools last summer, including North Dakota State, South Dakota State, Northwestern and Wisconsin, but he said he enjoyed the coaching style at NIU the most.
“Once we went out to Northern Illinois, I met my coach, Coach (Joe) Tripodi, he seemed like a really cool guy, a really chill guy, and we started talking,” Zschernitz said. “Right after the camp, he offered me (a scholarship) and two days after that I did my verbal (commitment).”
The Huskies play in the Mid-American Conference and won the conference championship game this season, beating Buffalo 30-29 on Nov. 30. Northern Illinois finished its season with an 8-6 overall record after losing to Alabama-Birmingham 37-13 in the Boca Raton Bowl on Tuesday.
“I looked at their past success, I guess,” Zschernitz said. “They were in the Orange Bowl a couple of years ago (following the 2012 season), conference champs this year. They family feeling there, all the guys I got to meet, really set in stone where I wanted to go, at Northern Illinois.”
Zschernitz, a 6-foot-4, 295-pound lineman who could play center or guard for the Huskies, is part of a 16-player signing class that includes two other Wisconsin players – offensive lineman Leif Engstrand of Oconomowoc and defensive tackle Reece Heyerdahl of Neenah.
Zschernitz is in the midst of the wrestling season and is currently 11-0 as he tries to defend his WIAA Division 2 285-pound state title that he won last February.
Focusonmarshfield.com contributed to this story.