by Bill Seals
An Iowa State offer at the end of January helped pave the way for an unofficial visit to Ames last weekend for a Minnesota prep defensive end.
Barnesville junior Hunter Zenzen earned his first offer of the recruiting process from the Cyclones and followed that up with a trip to Ames this past Saturday, saying he enjoyed the connections he made with members of the staff.
“When I first got there, we went into the weight room and practice facilities,” said Zenzen. “I talked to one of the strength coaches and he showed me everything in the weight room which was very nice. We went out to the stadium and drove around campus.
“My family and I had lunch with (Matt Campbell, Tyson Veidt, Derek Hoodjer and Colby Kratch) and talked a while. They’re great, real people. I think they’re very interested in me. The way Coach Campbell talks just shows he actually cares. He’s the type of guy that wants to be there for a while.”
The visit served to solidify the Cyclones’ early standing with the 6-foot-3, 215-pound Zenzen, who has also secured offers from North Dakota, North Dakota State and South Dakota to go along with interest from Iowa.
After evaluating junior season highlights and sending Kratch to Barnesville for an in-school visit, ISU decided to become the first school to offer the defender.
“(Kratch) was up in my area of western Minnesota and he messaged me that he was going to be at my school,” Zenzen said. “He wanted to sit down and talk for a bit, so we talked for an hour and things went well. I was invited down there.
“A few weeks after that, (Veidt) was going to come up here for a workout but his flight got delayed and he couldn’t make it. Later that day, he said that since my conversation with Coach Kratch went so well that they wanted to offer me. They said I have big potential. That’s how things kind of got rolling.”
The ability of Zenzen to play on the line or out in space appealed to the Cyclone coaches, according to the 2020 prospect.
“They like the adjust-ability I have on defense, transitioning from a flex defensive end, to linebacker, to defensive end…sitting in that slot there,” he said. “My regular season, I played defensive end all year long and as soon as playoffs rolled around I switched to flex defensive end and outside linebacker. Things went really well. We lost in the state final. I posted my highlights and Iowa State loved what they saw, like the ability to move around, read the field, hit hard and have mental composure.”
As a junior last season, Zenzen recorded 94 tackles and eight sacks during his team’s run to the state championship game.
An Iowa State offer at the end of January helped pave the way for an unofficial visit to Ames last weekend for a Minnesota prep defensive end.
Barnesville junior Hunter Zenzen earned his first offer of the recruiting process from the Cyclones and followed that up with a trip to Ames this past Saturday, saying he enjoyed the connections he made with members of the staff.
“When I first got there, we went into the weight room and practice facilities,” said Zenzen. “I talked to one of the strength coaches and he showed me everything in the weight room which was very nice. We went out to the stadium and drove around campus.
“My family and I had lunch with (Matt Campbell, Tyson Veidt, Derek Hoodjer and Colby Kratch) and talked a while. They’re great, real people. I think they’re very interested in me. The way Coach Campbell talks just shows he actually cares. He’s the type of guy that wants to be there for a while.”
The visit served to solidify the Cyclones’ early standing with the 6-foot-3, 215-pound Zenzen, who has also secured offers from North Dakota, North Dakota State and South Dakota to go along with interest from Iowa.
After evaluating junior season highlights and sending Kratch to Barnesville for an in-school visit, ISU decided to become the first school to offer the defender.
“(Kratch) was up in my area of western Minnesota and he messaged me that he was going to be at my school,” Zenzen said. “He wanted to sit down and talk for a bit, so we talked for an hour and things went well. I was invited down there.
“A few weeks after that, (Veidt) was going to come up here for a workout but his flight got delayed and he couldn’t make it. Later that day, he said that since my conversation with Coach Kratch went so well that they wanted to offer me. They said I have big potential. That’s how things kind of got rolling.”
The ability of Zenzen to play on the line or out in space appealed to the Cyclone coaches, according to the 2020 prospect.
“They like the adjust-ability I have on defense, transitioning from a flex defensive end, to linebacker, to defensive end…sitting in that slot there,” he said. “My regular season, I played defensive end all year long and as soon as playoffs rolled around I switched to flex defensive end and outside linebacker. Things went really well. We lost in the state final. I posted my highlights and Iowa State loved what they saw, like the ability to move around, read the field, hit hard and have mental composure.”
As a junior last season, Zenzen recorded 94 tackles and eight sacks during his team’s run to the state championship game.
