Recruiting Report: Jonah Vierstraete (Marshall 2023)

Oliver West November 21, 2019 @ 04:12 AM

One of the cooler and more underrated aspects of writing for Northstar Football News is uncovering, tracking, and hyping up the younger upcoming prep recruits the state of Minnesota has to offer. Getting ahead on the recruiting trail of a future potential highly rated recruit and helping to disperse their film and get their name out there as a underclassmen is a very cooling feeling as a writer in my position. I also can't help but think a good one has been found with this newest recruit for this report: Marshall Tiger 2023 grad Jonah Vierstraete. The 6'0, 160 lb. freshman just finished his first high school season and is poised to make some waves coming up in Minnesota. Vierstraete has the measurable and attitude of a future scholarship athlete, and I'm very fortunate to be one of the first writers he contacted. Check out this first-look, exclusive interview with the 2023 grad as we discuss his football career thus far, playing at Marshall, and some of his hopes for recruiting. Hope you enjoy! NFN: Hello and thank you for your time, Jonah. Share with us a little bit about yourself, your freshman year at Marshall, and any recruiting hopes as of now. Vierstraete: "My name is Jonah Vierstraete, I am a freshman from Marshall. I started playing football when I was in preschool with my friends and organized flag football in second grade. What I like about playing football is the hitting, offseason work, touchdowns, and playing as a team. I’m 6’0” 160 lbs. My 40 time is around a 4.9 but I haven’t timed it in a while. I squat around 265 and bench 155. Some interesting facts about me are I play basketball and run track. I played AAU basketball for SWMN Stars and MN Comets. My season at Marshall this year was pretty good. Some highlights were a pick and a pick six and I had around 35 tackles, 2 forced fumbles and 2 fumble recoveries. I also caught 3 or 4 touchdowns. (On the freshman team) I learned to set my standards and my goals high. I grew from my freshman year physically by knowing I have to stay in the weight room to get my body to the next level. I thought it was pretty good coming into the program as a freshman because my older brother, Jackson, is a senior captain so he helped me with anything I needed. I grew up playing flag and tackle football in junior high. Some people that I looked up to on our team was my brother J.V., our linebacker/ TE Trey Steinbach who is committed to NDSU, our offensive tackle and defensive tackle/ end who is committed to iowa, Yahya Black, a junior receiver Bryce Lance, and I also looked up to our outside linebacker that is committed to Concordia-St. Paul, Brayden Hilgemann. The off-season for me at Marshall is a lot of lifting and training. The 2019 season went pretty well. What I am working on to make the next step as a sophomore is getting bigger faster stronger in the weight room. I haven’t really thought about colleges or visits yet. I have been to a few camps like SDSU team camp." Although still early on in his prep career, his genetics and the tradition at Marshall makes me confident more news will be coming soon from Vierstraete.