SPORTS

Merrill seniors highlight signing day

Tim Johnson
USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin
Merrill's Jake Collinsworth officially accepted a preferred walk-on offer from Wisconsin on Wednesday.

MERRILL - Jake Collinsworth's senior-year football season came to an end in early September as the Merrill running back/linebacker dislocated his knee and ruptured multiple ligaments while being tackled in a game against Lakeland.

But his recovery from the injury appears to be progressing quicker than originally predicted. In fact, the Bluejays standout said Wednesday he expects to take the field when the University of Wisconsin football opens preseason camp in August.

Jake 
Collinsworth

"I had surgery in November and the surgery went extremely well," said Colllinsworth, who sported a red Badgers cap while wearing a dark suit and a red, white and black checkered tie  "It was scheduled for a 10-hour surgery and it went so well it only went six. (The surgeon) actually bumped my recovery down three months it went so well. The recovery has been going really well the past few months and I'm pretty close to being able to run around and get a little bit back to normal. The timetable right now is the surgeon said I will be back to full pads by August so I should be able to go by camp. That's the goal"'

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Collinsworth officially accepted a preferred walk-on offer from the University of Wisconsin on Wednesday during a short ceremony at Merrill High School on Wednesday morning as his teammate, offensive lineman Jonathan Gruetzmacher, signed a letter of intent with South Dakota State University.

The Bluejays duo were among four Wausau area athletes who made their collegeate athletic intentions official. Edgar's Alec Hafferman signed a letter of intent with St. Cloud State University, while D.C. Everest's Kendra Wolfgram signed with the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay women's soccer team.

Collinsworth, who was recruited as an inside linebacker for Wisconsin, said he had had interest from other college football programs, notably at the Division II level, but he said playing for the Badgers is something that he had dreamed about since his youth football days. He accepted the preferred walk-on offer from Wisconsin in July and shortly afterward let other interested programs know that his decision had been made

"This has been a dream since I was 10 years old," Collinsworth said. "It is something I have worked for every day for the past eight years."

Gruetzmacher, a 6-foot-9 offensive tackle, had received interest from Wisconsin as well as Iowa, Illinois, Northern Illinois and Michigan State among other notable programs. But he selected the Brookings, S.D., program in part because of the comfort level he felt there.

"It felt so much like home when I was there. It's a town of about 33,000 when school is in session," said Gruetzmacher, who plans to pursue a major in mechanical engineering  . "The one thing that really sticks out is we were driving down the main street and it looked exactly like downtown Tomahawk, right around where we go down to go fishing."

The lineman could also get some playing time early with the Jackrabbits.

"I actually could have a chance at being second string (this fall)," Gruetzmacher said. "But if I redshirt this year I should be able to take over the spot at left tackle (in 2018). If I get the second string position (this fall) I'll be working at right tackle."

Hafferman expects to play free safety at St Cloud State and eventually transition to strong safety for the Huskies. The Wildcats standout committed to the Division II program after a short recruitment process which began after this fall.

Edgar High School's Alec Hafferman is heading to St. Cloud State University for football.

Hafferman attracted the Huskies attention after he helped the Wildcats capture the WIAA Division 7 state championship. The Edgar running back/safety rushed for more than 500 yards in the postseason run and rushed for at least three touchdowns in each of the five playoff games.

"(Edgar assistant) Coach (Zach) Paul, I have to thank him a lot He talked to one of (St. Cloud's) coaches and it all kind of kicked off from there," Hafferman said. (St Cloud State defensive coordinator Mark) Sipple came to our school and I met with him. The next week I'm talking a visit to the campus. (Sipple) said it was one of the quickest recruitments he has ever had."

D.C. Everest's Kendra Wolfgram  signed a national letter of intent with the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay women's soccer team Wednesday.

Wolfgram has been a member of the Everest girls soccer team since her freshman year, and been a second team all-Wisconsin Valley Conference selection the past two years. UW-Green Bay started showing interest in her roughly a year ago, spurred in part by her performance in a summer camp which the Phoenix hosted.

She also had interest from UW-Milwaukee and Winona State but made her decision to be part of the Phoenix program shortly after a campus visit in October.

Making made that decision official Wednesday.

"It feels amazing," Wolfgram said. "I've had this dream of playing college soccer for the longest time,"

Tim Johnson: 715-845-0731, or timothy.johnson@gannettwisconsin.com; on Twitter@timmyjo11