Recruiting Report: Grant Louwagie (2021)

Making the jump to the next level in any sport can be tough. The pressure intensifies, and so do the athletes. Marshall linebacker <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="18130" first="Grant" last="Louwagie"]</strong> found out shortly before the 2019 season started that he was moving up a level. Louwagie made the transition so successfully that he is getting interest from – you guessed it – the next level. "I didn’t know what to expect," Louwagie said. "I played special teams sophomore year. During the summer, I hit the weight room hard and put on thirty pounds. Going into the season, I didn’t know what was going to happen, and one day one of the coaches said something to me about starting, so I just kept working from there." The work paid off. "JV games are kind of relaxed. They are a great learning experience and gave me time to learn," Louwagie explained. "The jump to varsity – that first game – everything is faster, and everyone is stronger. I progressed and got more comfortable. From the summer to the fall, the season was fun. It was fun to get to know the seniors even better and to play alongside those guys and get the experience from them. I learned a lot from them about football and how to be a good teammate." The Tigers completed an undefeated regular season and won their first playoff game. "I thought our defense was tremendous this year," the junior said. "Through the first five games, I think we allowed negative rushing yards. Our front seven played well. On offense, we had a lot of options." Louwagie played linebacker in Marshall’s 5-2 defense. "I thought I blitzed well – usually through the middle. I am pretty good in pass coverage, but I think my strength is my tackling. Wrestling has helped me a lot with that." Louwagie is a two-time state entrant on the mat. "I had a good season, but I was banged up from time to time. As a team, we came up a little short at Sections, but we sent nine guys to State. I went to State as an individual for the second straight year. We didn’t go as a team, but with that many guys going to State, it was almost like we went as a team. A low single is my go-to takedown." This spring, the 6’0" 200-pound junior has been focused on football. "I have done some freestyle and Greco wrestling in the past, but I don’t usually play a spring sport. I decided a couple of years ago to focus on the weight room in the spring. We had some weights at the house and have been able to do workouts. I am not able to do a lot of weight, but I do a lot of high rep workouts. I have been running and doing some footwork stuff." The footwork stuff is perfect for his offseason focus. "I would like to improve my pass coverage," Louwagie told prepredzone.com. "I need to improve my drops and recognizing routes. I need to become a leader on the defense." Louwagie expects to have a more significant role on the team in 2020. "It sounds like I will be playing fullback as well as linebacker. Fullback is what I played on JV." Although playing on both sides of the ball appears to be in his immediate future, defense is where he will be playing after high school. "A couple of months ago, I started to get some messages (from colleges), and it blew up from there. It has been fun to go through the process. It has been cool to have colleges coming to me to talk, and I don’t need to go to them. It has been a great experience even to have a chance to play college football. I am excited to see where it can go." Louwagie has an offer from Southwest Minnesota State. He is also getting interest from Concordia-Moorhead, Wisconsin-River Falls, Bemidji State, Minnesota State-Moorhead, Minnesota-Duluth, and St. Johns. "I have heard they like how physical I am and my tackling," Louwagie said. "Some of them say I have football smarts and have a feel for the ball." With the interest he is getting, they also think Louwagie is ready to jump to the next level.