Wittenberg Football Welcomes More Than 80 Recruits In Class of 2018

Springfield, Ohio — Wittenberg University Football Head Coach Joe Fincham has announced that 85 student-athletes will join the Tiger program in August 2014. 

The new recruits join a team that 10-2 overall and 9-0 in the North Coast Athletic Conference (NCAC) a year ago. The Tigers won their fourth league title in the last five years and advanced to the second round of the NCAA Division III Tournament for a second consecutive season before falling to eventual national runner-up Mount Union. 

Wittenberg is expected to return 39 letterwinners to the roster in 2014, including 12 starters. The Tigers will begin their quest for the third NCAA Division III championship in program history Sept. 6 against Butler at Edwards-Maurer Field. 

The new recruits are: 

• Demaree Allen (Lima, Ohio/Central Catholic)
• Timmy Bates (Westerville, Ohio/South)
• Sam Bell (Newark, Ohio/Catholic)
• Damon Black (Lakeland, Fla./Lakeland)
• Logan Bliss (Miamisburg, Ohio/Miamisburg)
• Kyle Bruner (Greenville, Ohio/Greenville)
• Zack Buchanan (Tampa, Fla./Thomas Jefferson)
• Trey Casaburo (Fort Wayne, Ind./Bishop Dwenger)
• Butch Chaney (West Chester, Ohio/Lakota West)
• Taylor Clark (Tipp City, Ohio/Tippecanoe)
• Tanner Clarke (Lebanon, Ohio/Lebanon)
• Quin Cook (Fort Wayne, Ind./Bishop Luers)
• Brandon Daniels (Cincinnati, Ohio/Winton Woods)
• Darius Davis (Tampa, Fla./Alonso)
• Dimitrious Dimitroff (Springfield, Ohio/Catholic Central)
• Rufus Dixon (Columbus, Ohio/Whetstone)
• Nigel Dixon (North Port, Fla./North Port)
• Nick Dunkelly-Allen (Lehigh Acres, Fla./Gateway)
• Noah Durst (Lewis Center, Ohio/Olentangy)
• Ryan Eldridge (Greenville, Ohio/Greenville)
• Trey Ellis (Jamestown, Ohio/Greeneview)
• Wesley Escobar (Kissimmee, Fla./Gateway)
• Tyler Everidge (Dayton, Ohio/Bellbrook)
• Nate Fairand (Dublin, Ohio/Jerome)
• Chandler Ferko (Plain City, Ohio/Jonathan Alder)
• Jonathon Forster (Royal Oak, Mich./Brother Rice)
• Ryan Fulmer (Mount Orab, Ohio/Western Brown)
• Eli Goolsby (Indianapolis, Ind./Scecina Memorial)
• Marquis Gordon (Springfield, Ohio/Greenon)
• Alex Grashel (Portsmouth, Ohio/Portsmouth)
• JT Grega (Lewis Center, Ohio/Olentangy)
• Dylan Griffin (Elizabethtown, Ky./Central Hardin)
• Walker Hamilton (Galloway, Ohio/Hilliard Bradley)
• Carter Harris (Grove City, Ohio/West Jefferson)
• Evan Hartman (Newark, Ohio/Catholic)
• Jake Hatfield (West Jefferson, Ohio/West Jefferson)
• Jeff Helt (New Carlisle, Ohio/Tecumseh)
• Jalen Herd (Sidney, Ohio/Sidney)
• Devon Hightower (West Hartford, Conn./William Hall)
• Andrew Houliston (Fort Thomas, Ky./Highlands)
• Devon Howard (Lehigh Acres, Fla./Gateway)
• Caleb Howell (Delaware, Ohio/Hayes)
• Jahmal Hughes (Columbus, Ohio/Eastmoor)
• Dylan Jagodzinski (Fremont, Ohio/Ross)
• Luke Jahnke (Indianapolis, Ind./Roncalli)
• Trey Jones (Wimauma, Fla./Earl J Lennard)
• Jermaine Jordan (Brooklyn, NY/Fort Hamilton)
• Ian Jump (Lookout Mountain, Tenn./Baylor School)
• Aaron Jurden (Newark, Ohio/Catholic)
• Brenden Jurden (Newark, Ohio/Catholic)
• Jack Kayser (Portsmouth, Ohio/Notre Dame)
• Tyler Kelley (Chillicothe, Ohio/Chillicothe)
• Kyle Knudsen (Columbus, Ohio/Hilliard Darby)
• Jesse Kolinac (Boca Raton, Fla./Saint Andrews)
• Kendall Kramer (Fort Thomas, Ky./Highlands)
• Kalan Kumpf (Cincinnati, Ohio/Western Brown)
• Remington Larsen (Granville, Ohio/Granville)
• Keenan Leichty (Warren, Ind./Huntington North)
• Ryan Maguire (Maineville, Ohio/Kings)
• Richard Marinacci (Clermont, Fla./East Ridge)
• Jonah Markovits (Cape Coral, Fla./Mariner)
• Ryan Mathis (Chillicothe, Ohio/Chillicothe)
• Alex McCarty (Lebanon, Ohio/Lebanon)
• Christopher Mills (Middletown, Ohio/Madison)
• Nate Moellering (Fort Wayne, Ind./Concordia Lutheran)
• Casey Nelson (Marion, Ohio/Harding)
• Alex Pridemore (Galloway, Ohio/Westland)
• Zach Restau (Fairborn, Ohio/Greenon)
• Tyler Rothbauer (Salem, Ohio/South Range)
• Damon Roush (Springfield, Ohio/Springfield)
• Sherby Saimplice (Lakeland, Fla./Lakeland)
• Nick Skordilis (Columbus, Ohio/Ready)
• Aaron Smith (Cincinnati, Ohio/Winton Woods)
• Darius Southern (Sidney, Ohio/Sidney)
• Andre Spillers (Sidney, Ohio/Sidney)
• Tyler Steward (Xenia, Ohio/Xenia)
• David Still (Hilliard, Ohio/Darby)
• Skylar Taphorn (Tampa, Fla./Olentangy Liberty (Ohio)
• Andrew Tate (Reynoldsburg, Ohio/Reynoldsburg)
• Scott Turner (Fort Thomas, Ky./Highlands)
• Kyle Van Dyne (Springfield, Ohio/Tecumseh)
• Zach Ward (Cincinnati, Ohio/Purcell Marian)
• Josh Wilson (Westerville, Ohio/South)
• Keenan Wilson (Eaton, Ohio/Eaton)
• Troy Zimmerman (Columbus, Ohio/Dublin Scioto) 

“I am looking forward to welcoming this outstanding group of young men to the Wittenberg University community,” Fincham said. “I look forward to working with them to succeed both academically and athletically.”

Written By: Ryan Maurer