Mount Vernon senior Ethan Wood didn’t want to leave North Dakota State on Saturday, June 22, without giving them his verbal commitment to play football for them in 2025.
“I’ve thought about it and I just wanted to make my decision with what I have now,” Wood said. “I like where I’ve ended up.”
Wood, a 6-foot-4, 220-pound, 3-star (247sports.com) defensive end, picked NDSU over offers from Boise State, Northern Iowa, North Dakota and South Dakota, among others. He didn’t want to wait to see if a Big Ten or Big 12 school got interested.
“NDSU does this thing with their D-line where they get a lot of freedom,” Wood said. “And I’ll have the opportunity to play a little bit earlier.”
Mount Vernon coach Brad Meester, who played at UNI before a 14-year career in the NFL, thinks going to the top FBS school is a great call.
“I think it is an awesome choice by him,” Meester said. “It all came down to the right fit. They are the right program, and the right culture. It’d be tough not to go there. A great tradition and lots of championships.”
And he may be just the first in a chorus line of Mustang senior linemen deciding to play in college. Nova Lane (6-foot-4, 220 pounds), Tyler Williams (6-foot, 240 pounds) and Joe Briesemeister (6-foot-5, 220 pounds) are all also drawing interest from colleges and universities.
“We have several guys that could play at the next level,” Meester said. “It is pretty awesome.”
While Meester wasn’t sure all four will play both ways this fall, the Mustangs are poised to have one of the best D-line units in Class 3A.
“We’ll be really good,” Wood said. “It’ll be fun.”
“It’ll be tough for teams to have to gameplan for something like that,” Meester said. “It’ll be fun to watch them do their thing.”